How does commission-based influencer marketing work, and what does it cost?

1. You decide what you pay for: an amount per click, a percentage per sale, or both. That includes what the percentage is based on, for example the net order value after returns.
2. You set up tracking through an affiliate network, your own tracking software or a platform that is connected directly. Each creator gets their own link and, if you like, their own discount code.
3. You give creators a reason to post, such as a product sample, a promotion period, a personal request or a budget shared out by results. Without one, many partners in a programme stay inactive.
4. When someone clicks the link or uses the code, tracking assigns the click and the sale to the creator. A per-click fee is earned at this point, even if nobody buys.
5. Sale commissions stay pending at first. Online shoppers in Germany usually have a 14-day right of withdrawal, which for goods generally starts on delivery (§ 312g(1), § 355(2) and § 356(2) no. 1 BGB, the German Civil Code). You deduct returns and cancellations before approval.
6. Then you approve the commission. Depending on your setup, it is paid out through the network, through the platform or by you directly.

Commission alone rarely gets posts. With pure sale commission, the creator carries the risk that their video sells nothing, and creators with a large audience in particular seldom post without a reason. An affiliate programme, a network listing or products that creators can pick on a platform don’t change that on their own. The real task is to get creators active, many at once, and then see who actually sells.

For a launch or a season, you can combine commission with a base fee (hybrid model) or with a campaign budget that is shared out by results. According to the Künstlersozialkasse (KSK, the German artists’ social insurance fund), a fee you pay self-employed influencers for advertising with photos, videos or texts they create themselves counts towards the Künstlersozialabgabe, the levy businesses pay on fees to freelance creatives, while commission from an affiliate partnership does not. Before you start, check with your tax adviser how this applies to a base fee or a budget split by KPIs, and if the levy applies to you at all.

A worked example with assumed figures: you send 20 creators a sample each, costing you €30 including shipping, so €600 in total. Their links bring in 80 orders worth €60 each in net value after returns, so €4,800. At 15% commission you pay €720. Altogether that is €1,320, or €16.50 per order and 27.5% of net value, not counting network fees or your time. If nobody posts, you have spent €600 on samples without a single order.

So your commission rate is not your cost rate. As a reference point for the rate itself: according to the LTK FAQ (read on 22 October 2026), brands there usually offer 10 to 25% commission. How high you can go without losing money depends on your contribution margin per order, meaning what is left after the cost of goods, shipping and returns.

With wyrld Boost, you put a campaign budget behind creators who feature your products in their own videos and add them to their storefronts. That gives creators the reason to post that pure commission often lacks, and many can take part at the same time. Payouts follow KPIs you set before the start, such as sales, clicks, watch time or reach, and you decide in which shops people buy. Creators label campaign videos as advertising. The budget is fixed in advance; the KPIs decide how it is split between the creators.

If your affiliate programme runs through one of the large affiliate networks, wyrld appears there as a single partner, through which creators can usually already pick your products. The brand and shop subscription shows you every day which creators behind that partner feature your products, who brings clicks and, where your shop reports sales, who sells. wyrld sets up individual terms with those creators. Unlike commission, the subscription doesn’t depend on results; it runs monthly. wyrld quotes prices for the subscription and Boost on request.

The creators on wyrld are mainly in fashion, beauty and interiors, and their audience is largely young. How many of them join your campaign, if any, is up to them, so wyrld makes no promise on participant numbers, reach or sales. Through your affiliate programme or directly, with the subscription or Boost: we are happy to talk through what fits you.