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See what a partner earns and what each referred customer costs you, for one-off, monthly or yearly prices, with refunds taken out.
What a referred customer pays each month.
Billing
A share of each payment that earns one.
The share of payments you expect to refund.
Commission is paid on
Payments in this many months earn commission.
How long a referred customer keeps paying, on average.
New paying customers one partner refers each month.
Partners referring at that pace.
78 is how many commissioned payments one month's worth of new customers makes inside the first year, added up over the 12 months: customers who arrive in month 1 have more of the year left to pay in than those who arrive in month 12. Amounts are counted in the month the customer pays. A refund hold moves the payout later, not the amount.
What a referred customer pays, and whether that is once, every month or every year.
The rate you pay, how long it runs, how long customers stay and the share of sales you expect to refund.
What one customer earns a partner, a partner's first year, your monthly payout and the cost as a share of revenue.
Five ways to pay a partner, and what each suits.
| Structure | How it pays | Suits |
|---|---|---|
| Percentage, once | A share of the first payment only. | One-off products, or subscriptions where the first payment is the large one. |
| Percentage, for set months | A share of every payment for a fixed period, such as 12 months. | Subscriptions, when you want a known ceiling on what one customer can cost. |
| Percentage, for life | A share of every payment for as long as the customer pays. | Subscriptions with customers who stay. The strongest pull for partners, and the highest long-run cost. |
| Flat amount per sale | A fixed sum for each sale. | A product with one price, or partners who want an easy number. |
| Flat amount per signup | A fixed sum when someone signs up, before they pay. | Free trials or free plans where a signup has value. The most exposed to fake signups. |
Bolt Claw’s referral programs can pay any of these: a percentage or a flat amount, on a sale or a signup, once, for a number of months or for the customer’s lifetime.
Start from what a customer is worth, not from what others pay.
The cost share in the calculator is the check: it shows what part of a referred customer’s revenue the commission takes.
Pay for the sales that stuck, and only those.
A refunded sale should earn nothing, and the simplest way to make sure it does not is to wait. Hold each commission until your refund window has passed, then approve it. Nothing has to be clawed back, because nothing was paid early.
In a Bolt Claw referral program, each commission is held through the refund window you set before it is approved. Approved commission goes into a payout batch that you export and pay yourself, by whatever method your partner gave you. Bolt Claw never holds or moves partner money: the merchant pays.
What people ask before they use it, answered plainly.
There is no single right number. Work back from what a customer is worth to you: what they pay over their lifetime, times your margin. The commission per customer should sit comfortably below that, and near what you would pay to win the same customer another way.
Recurring commission suits subscriptions: partners earn while the customer keeps paying, which rewards sending customers who stay. One-time commission suits one-off purchases and keeps the cost fixed. A recurring commission for a set number of months sits between the two.
A refunded sale should not earn a commission. Holding each commission until your refund window has passed means you approve only the sales that stuck, instead of asking partners to pay money back later.
Monthly is a common rhythm: each commission is paid once its hold has ended, with a minimum amount so small balances roll over to the next month. Whatever you choose, write it into the terms partners accept when they join.
No. Bolt Claw tracks clicks, sales and commissions, holds each commission through your refund window and builds payout batches you can export, but the money goes from you to your partners directly. Bolt Claw never holds partner money.
No. The numbers are worked out in your browser and are not sent anywhere or kept.
To run the program itself, Bolt Claw’s referral program software gives each partner a link and an optional discount code, records sales from your own Stripe account, and holds commission through your refund window before it is approved.
Bolt Claw runs referral and affiliate programs on every plan, Free included, and never holds your partners' money.