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What Is MLM and How It Works in AffiliatePro

What is MLM?

MLM (Multi-Level Marketing) is a commission structure where affiliates earn not only from their own direct sales and actions, but also from the activity of affiliates they have recruited into the network. This creates a referral chain — each affiliate can have an upline that receives a percentage of their earnings.

How it works in AffiliatePro

When an affiliate (A) refers another affiliate (B) who joins and starts promoting campaigns, affiliate A earns a referral commission every time affiliate B generates a sale, click, action, or registration. If B also recruits affiliate C, then both A and B can earn commissions from C’s activity — depending on how many levels are configured.

The admin controls everything: how many levels are active (1 to 20), what the commission rate is at each level, and what types of events trigger a referral commission.

Commission types supported per level

Type Label Triggered by
CPS Cost Per Sale A sale is made through a campaign by a referred affiliate
CPC Cost Per Click A click event is recorded from a referred affiliate’s campaign
CPA Cost Per Action A custom action (form, lead, download, etc.) is completed
CPR Cost Per Registration A new affiliate registers via a referred affiliate’s link

Does MLM apply to vendor campaigns too?

Yes. By default, the admin’s global MLM level settings apply to all campaigns on the platform — including campaigns created by vendors. The admin can optionally restrict whether vendors can view or change the MLM configuration on their own campaigns. See the guide MLM for Vendors — Admin-Controlled Distribution for details.

What you need to get started

  1. Enable the MLM Admin module from Settings → Add-Ons.
  2. Configure global status and payout settings from Marketing → MLM.
  3. Set your commission levels from Marketing → MLM → Levels.

The MLM module is optional and is disabled by default. It must be enabled from Add-Ons before any MLM settings or levels appear in the admin panel.

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