Guides · For shops and brands

How do I start an affiliate programme for my online shop?

To start an affiliate programme, first decide what you pay for: per click, per sale or both. Then choose the route: an affiliate network, your own software or a direct connection to platforms. Set up tracking, which in Germany usually needs consent for cookies under § 25 TDDDG, provide product data, write your programme terms and decide how long sales stay pending. Sales only follow once partners actually post, and that usually takes targeted outreach.

Last updated: 22 October 2026

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From the first decision to active partners

Set your goal: should partners mainly bring new customers, sell specific products or make your brand better known? That decides what you pay for.
Choose the payment model: CPC (cost per click) pays for the visit to your shop, CPA (cost per acquisition) pays a commission on the sale, often a percentage of the order’s net value. You can combine both. Work out the rate from your margin after returns.
Choose the route: an affiliate network, your own software or a direct connection to a platform. The table below shows what each one involves and what stays hard.
Install and test the tracking: the tracking code often sits on the order confirmation page. Place a test order through a partner link and check that the order number, net value and partner come through correctly. While you’re at it, check how your cookie banner handles the tracking.
Provide product data: a feed with name, brand, variant, GTIN, price, availability, images and a link straight to the product. Without the variant, people easily end up on the wrong colour or size.
Write the programme terms: who can join, allowed channels and ad formats, rules for vouchers and for search ads on your brand name, the duty to label advertising, how long a click counts, reasons for cancellation, payouts and termination.
Set rules for approval and payouts: how long sales stay pending, when you cancel (return, withdrawal, unpaid order) and how you reduce commission on partial returns. If you pay partners yourself, pay against their invoice, or issue a Gutschrift (self-billing credit note) if you have agreed this with them in advance (§ 14(2) sentence 5 UStG).
Win partners and get them going: invite creators and sites that suit your products. Expect that many partners who sign up never place a link, and that the creators you want most rarely post without a reason. That reason can be a product sample, a higher commission for a fixed period or a campaign budget. After a few weeks, check who brings clicks and sales and adjust your terms.

Network, your own software or a direct connection

Route	What you do yourself	How partners start posting	What stays hard
Affiliate network	set up the programme, install tracking, approve partners; payouts often via the network	some find your programme there, others you approach	many partners who sign up never become active, sought-after creators rarely post without a reason
Your own software	tracking, partner management, approval, paperwork and payouts	mainly through your own outreach	finding, winning and looking after every partner yourself
Direct connection	contract, product data and sales reporting for each platform	creators on the platform pick your products themselves	they decide if they post; getting many to post at once takes a reason, such as a campaign budget

The routes can be combined. A network programme makes you visible to many partners, but that alone doesn’t mean they promote you. Direct agreements pay off for a few partners who sell a lot. Your own software gives you the most control, but you carry the tech, the paperwork and the payouts yourself.

How long sales should stay pending

Only approve a commission once it is clear the goods are staying. For orders from private buyers in Germany who have a right of withdrawal, that takes at least as long as the withdrawal period plus the return. If you voluntarily offer a longer returns window, the wait grows accordingly. If the last day of a period falls on a Saturday, Sunday or public holiday, the next working day takes its place (§ 193 BGB).

An example with correct withdrawal information, counted from the day the order arrives:

Day 0: the goods arrive. If you have given proper information about the right of withdrawal, this starts the 14-day withdrawal period (§ 355(2) and § 356(2) no. 1 and (3) BGB). Without that information the period does not start, and the right of withdrawal expires at the latest 12 months and 14 days after the goods arrive (§ 356(4) BGB).
Day 14: the withdrawal period ends.
Day 28: anyone who withdrew on the last day must have sent the goods back by now. The 14 days for the return start with the withdrawal, and posting the parcel in time is enough (§ 355(3) and § 357(1) BGB).
After that: the parcel comes back, you check it and confirm or cancel the commission. With two to three days each way for shipping, that comes to just under five weeks from the order in this example.

Do you need consent for the tracking?

To match a later sale to the right partner, tracking usually stores an identifier in the browser, for example in a cookie. Under § 25(1) TDDDG, storing information on a user’s device or accessing it is only allowed with consent. Of the two exceptions in § 25(2) TDDDG, only no. 2 is relevant to tracking: where access is strictly necessary to provide a digital service the user has explicitly asked for.

Germany’s data protection authorities read this exception narrowly. According to the guidance of their joint conference, the DSK (November 2024), it is not enough that access is economically necessary for the business model. So before you launch, check with your data protection adviser how the tracking fits into your cookie banner. Partner-specific discount codes can also attribute sales without a cookie.

What you answer for if partners don’t label

Anyone who publishes affiliate links is promised a commission for them and must make the commercial purpose clear unless it is directly apparent from the circumstances (§ 5a(4) UWG). For affiliate links, Germany’s state media authorities recommend an asterisk with an explanation right next to the link (guide, May 2025). Put this duty in your programme terms.

If agents of a business break competition law, the owner of the business can also be required to stop the infringement and remove its effects (§ 8(2) UWG). In a case about an affiliate programme, the Federal Court of Justice (BGH) rejected this liability in 2023 (judgment of 26 January 2023, I ZR 27/22). There, the partner ran its own website with editorial-style articles, had signed up itself without any prior vetting and decided freely if and how to link. According to the BGH, an independent business such as an advertising agency can still be an agent. The test is how far the partner is integrated into your business: its success has to benefit you, and you have to have decisive influence over the activity in question. If you invite partners selectively, vet them in advance or give them instructions, the assessment may turn out differently.

How it works on wyrld

A programme on its own doesn’t get anyone posting. With wyrld Boost you take a campaign budget straight to creators who feature your products. Many creators can take part at the same time, payouts follow the KPIs you set beforehand, such as sales, clicks, watch time or reach, and you decide in which shops people buy. Creators label campaign videos as advertising. Each creator decides for themselves if they take part.

If your programme runs through one of the major affiliate networks, wyrld appears in it as a single partner, and creators can usually pick your products today. The brand and shop subscription shows you every day which creators behind it feature your products, who drives clicks and, where the shop reports sales, who sells. wyrld sets up your own terms with those creators. Without a network programme, you talk to wyrld about a direct connection.

The sale happens directly in the shop. If other shops also stock your product, the community sees the offers side by side with their prices and decides where to buy. You pay for results on your own terms, per click, per sale or both. Pricing for the subscription and Boost is on request. Connection, subscription or Boost: what suits your shop is something to discuss with wyrld.

FAQ

Frequently asked questions.

How do I get creators who actually promote my affiliate programme?

Usually not just by letting them sign up. Approach creators who already use your products or suit your audience, and give them a reason, such as a product sample, a higher commission for a fixed period or a campaign budget. Then check who brings clicks and sales and offer those creators their own terms.

How long should a commission stay pending before I approve it?

At least until the withdrawal period and the return are over. For private buyers in Germany that is 14 days from receiving the goods, then up to 14 more days to send them back (§§ 355 to 357 BGB). Add shipping times, and a longer returns window if you offer one voluntarily. Without correct withdrawal information, the period does not start at all.

What does an affiliate programme cost besides the commissions?

That depends on the route. Before signing, ask networks and software providers if there is a set-up fee, a monthly fee or a mark-up on each commission. Then there is your own time: contacting partners, approving sales, checking ad labelling and, without a network, producing paperwork and payouts every month.

Am I liable if my affiliates break advertising rules?

That depends on the case. If agents break competition law, the business owner can also face claims to stop and remove the infringement (§ 8(2) UWG). In 2023 the Federal Court of Justice found a programme operator not liable for a partner with its own offering (I ZR 27/22). That partner signed up without vetting and linked as it saw fit. Choosing and instructing partners may change the picture.

How do I check that my affiliate tracking works?

With a test purchase through a real partner link: click the link, accept in the cookie banner, place the order and check that the order number, net value and partner show up in the system. Repeat it without consent and on a phone. Then you know which sales are attributed in which case.