FAQ Affiliate Admin
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Frequently Asked Questions by Affiliates, for Affiliates - Admin
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Administrative Issues
How long will it take my application to be approved?
We look to approve all affiliate applications 2 working days after they have been received. If after this period you have not received an email to the email address that you registered with, please contact victoria.limpenny@affiliatewindow.com
For more information on the approval process, please see our Sign Up Guide
Why has my application to become an affiliate been rejected?
Click here for information on why Affiliate Window may reject applications.
How do I retrieve my login details?
If you have forgotten your password then you will need to visit http://darwin.affiliatewindow.com enter in your e-mail address and then click on the ‘Forgotten Password’ link. This will send a temporary replacement password to your registered email address.
If you are unable to use this facility please contact Technical Services via email at support@affiliatewindow.com and we will assist you.
How do I change/update my account details?
All changes to contact, address, company, bank and VAT details can now be made through Darwin. To open a Darwin account and set up a Darwin profile, please see our Step by Step Guide to Using Darwin.
If you are unsure on how to do this then please contact the Partnerships Team using the Ticketing system and they will be able to make amendments for you.
Where can I find information on merchant commission rates?
Merchant commission rates can be located in two main areas:
- There is a full merchant directory available through the Affiliate Window website, located here: http://www.affiliatewindow.com/merchant_directory.php
- If you have already signed up as an affiliate, you can find this information in the Current Merchants section of your account by typing the name of the merchant into the search box and clicking
Click on MORE to see the details of a merchant program.
How do I find out why a commission has been declined?
Select the report 'Commission details' by 'Month', in the following search criteria box change the "Show" option to declined and click "Generate Report". Any declined commissions for that month will be reported here. You can find the reason for the decline by hovering your mouse over the circles on the left hand-side. If you would like a clearer explanation we would suggest you contact the merchant directly.
How can I contact a merchant directly?
Is it possible to add an additional website to one account or is it necessary to open an additional account for another website?
You do not need to create additional affiliate accounts to promote merchants on the other web sites that you may run. You can add details about all your different web sites on your Darwin affiliate profile by going to https://darwin.affiliatewindow.com then clicking on ‘Profile’, ‘Promotional’ and ‘Add Site’. From here you can categorise and describe each one in detail. If you require additional help using Darwin, please take a look at our Step-by-step guide to using Darwin
What's the difference between an Impression and a Click?
An impression is recorded when one of your web pages is loaded and a banner is displayed to the visitor. Every time a banner is loaded your impressions count increases. A click is recorded when a visitor to your site clicks one of your linking methods and is referred to a merchant site.
Why aren’t my text links recording Impressions?
It is not possible for us to track impressions on a text link. Impressions can only be recorded when using a merchant’s banners.
Why can’t I find the details of a merchant’s programme that I am promoting?
It could be that the merchant has closed on the network or that they are hidden to stop new affiliates joining their programme. Please find the merchant in the ‘Current Merchants’ page and you will be able to see if their programme is active.
Why have I been rejected by a merchant?
This could be for many reasons such as the content of your website or your methods of promotion. If your application to join a programme has been rejected you should first of all read the merchant's programme description and terms and conditions to see if they refer to any kinds of affiliates not allowed to promote the programme. For an exact reason as to why your application to join a merchant’s programme has been rejected please contact the merchant directly from your affiliate account using the form provided on the merchant details page or adding in a Support Ticket explaining your site/methods of promotion.
Why was this commission rejected by a merchant?
A commission may be rejected for a number of reasons. The most common reasons for rejecting commissions are:
- The order was cancelled by the customer.
- The order was returned by the customer in accordance with the merchant's returns policy.
- The commission was duplicated. Commissions can appear duplicated if the customer refreshes or prints the confirmation page.
- The transaction was fraudulent.
If you believe a commission was rejected when it should have been approved, please add in a Support Ticket providing as much information as possible.
What is the PPC policy of merchant ‘X’?
You can check this by looking in the merchant's programme description via your affiliate account. Most merchants will include a section dealing with paid search or keyword policy. This informationn may also be included in the Terms and Conditions that are applicable. A link to these can be found underneath the programme description.
How can I close my affiliate account?
Please notify the Technical Services Team by adding in a Support Ticket - we shall aim to close your ticket and ask Finance to send through any relevant payments.
Financial Issues
Untracked sales
Unfortunately from time to time you may encounter untracked sales. This may happen for a number of reasons. Anti-virus packages, certain software used for content filtering and removal/deletion of cookies can lead to sales going untracked. If you believe that your sale should have been tracked as an affiliate link was used, please provide us with the following information in a Support Ticket so we're able to add this into our system.
- Merchant Id/Name
- Banner/Link used
- Sale amount
- Commission amount or item purchased
- Order Ref
- Date and Time ordered
- Click Ref used if available
We are able to send this information on to the merchant for review, please allow 75 days for validation. If you do not hear anything before this time for this transaction, your untracked query will be auto approved.
Can I get a receipt for the £5 joining fee?
We do not raise invoices for the £5 deposit when you join Affiliate Window.
This £5 is credited back to your account when you join the network and is paid back with your first affiliate commission payment, when you have met the pay threshold. Once the threshold has been met, a payment is generated in the system and can be viewed in the payment history. Through this link you are then able to view the details of the payment including the individual commissions, which will also include the £5 subscription fee. This is the self-billing invoice that we raise that enables us to make payment on the commissions. You will be able print this off yourself once your first payment has been generated.
For your information you can view what commissions you have generated through the Commission Details link in your account.
Why aren’t my pending sales being approved?
It is up to a merchant to decide if a commission is approved or declined to an affiliate. We do ask merchants to validate as regularly as possible to ensure affiliates get the commission as quickly as possible. Some merchants approve on a daily basis and some monthly. Please allow until then end of the month before contacting a merchant for a reason why commissions are not being validated.
When do Affiliate Window pay affiliates?
Affiliate Payments are as follows;
1st - 15th validated commissions (e.g. June 2010) Payment generated on 1st July (or first working day after) - to credit affiliates bank account after 3 working days.
16th - 31st validated commissions (e.g. June 2010) Payment generated 15th July (or first working day after) – to credit affiliates account after 3 working days.
My commission has been validated; why haven't I been paid?
Please click here for information regarding our Merchant Payment Statuses and your Payment Details page.
What are the payment thresholds?
1st - 15th validated commissions (e.g. April 2010)
- Bacs minimum £25 Threshold - self billed invoice (payment date visible via the Payment Detail link in your account) generated 1st May (or first working day after) -.to credit affiliates bank account after 3 working days.
- Cheque minimum £100 Threshold - self billed invoice (payment date in payment history) generated 1st May (or first working day after) - Cheque authorised and posted out 15th May.
- International minimum £100 Threshold – self billed invoice (payment date in payment history) generated 1st May (or first working day after) – can take a bit longer to credit affiliates bank account
Please note: We will only pay the remitter’s international bank transfer fees if the payment is over £500, otherwise this fee will be charged against the affiliate's payment (we do not pay any charges made by the affiliate's own bank) .
16th - 31st validated commissions (e.g. April 2010)
- BACS £25 Threshold - self billed invoice (payment date visible via the Payment Detail link in your account) generated 15th May (or first working day after) – to credit affiliates account after 3 working days.
- Cheque £100 Threshold - self billed invoice (payment date visible via the Payment Detail link in your account) generated 15th May (or first working day after) - Cheque authorised and posted out 1st June.
- International minimum £100 Threshold – self billed invoice (payment date visible via the Payment Detail link in your account) generated 15th May (or first working day after) – can take a bit longer to credit affiliates bank account.
For BACS, Cheque and International payments the affiliates must reach the threshold by the 15th or the last day of the month to receive payment for that respective half of the month, otherwise it will then rollover to the next period.
If an affiliate selects to be paid monthly (rather than twice monthly) they will only receive payment in the second half of the month i.e. commissions up to 30th April and paid 15th May.
What currency is commission paid in?
Affiliate Window pay all commission in GB pounds sterling and at this time there are no other options available.
I haven't received my BACS payment. What should I do?
Please check when the payment was sent to you in your Payment Details section. If the payment was by BACS and was not received within 4 working days please submit a ticket. Please also check that we have the correct bank details, address or payment details. Please check these details via the ‘Update account details’ section within your affiliate account. This also could be due to the merchant's payment status - indicated by the colour of the 'traffic light' under 'Payment Status' on the merchant's information page - so please check that the merchant is green before you add a Support Ticket. For more information on this please see: [Merchant Payment Statuses]
I have not received my cheque, what should I do?
Firstly you will need to contact Finance and inform them of the situation; they will then contact our bank to get the original payment cancelled. Once they have confirmed that this has been done, Finance can then generate and send you another cheque. You will be notified once this has happened.
I am an international affiliate, can I be paid by bank transfer?
Affiliate Window can only pay non-UK accounts by international wire transfer.
I have recently become VAT registered, can I get any VAT back?
When you get your VAT number you can enter the information into the payment details section of the affiliate provider area. The self-billed invoices when generated each month will then automatically add VAT.
If there are payments already made before you were able to enter the VAT details then you can be paid backdated VAT. In order to do this you need to supply us with a copy of the certificate and then raise an invoice to Affiliate Window just for the VAT amount.
Where have the commissions that I had pending in my account gone?
If you notice that you no longer have pending commissions in your account this will be because they have either been approved or declined. Please check the Commission Details report and change the report to show commissions either confirmed or declined.
How long do commissions remain pending?
Validating commissions is the responsibility of the merchant and commissions will remain pending until a merchant validates them. If the commissions remain pending for a lengthy time, please inform Affiliate Window by adding in a Support Ticket so that we can ask the merchant to validate them.
Incorrect commission rates
If you have checked the programme description and commission rates of a merchant's programme and find that you have generated enough sales to warrant being awarded the next tier of commission, please raise a support ticket which can then be passed to the merchant account liaison to action on your behalf. Please provide as much information as possible.
When is the next payment?
Please check your affiliate account for the details on your next payment. Please select 'Payment History' which will direct you to a page containing current and previous invoices along with details of when your next payment is due.
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