Most beginners join affiliate programs the wrong way.
They see a high commission percentage, get excited, and sign up. Three months later, they have published content, burned through their credibility, and made exactly zero dollars. Or worse, they promoted something that turned out to be garbage and now their audience does not trust them anymore.
I have been there. And it is a painful lesson that costs you more than time.
After building TriggerTrail to over $20K per month, I have vetted hundreds of affiliate programs. I have said yes to many, and I have walked away from plenty of high-paying ones that looked great on paper but had red flags I learned to spot early.
This post is my exact checklist. The same one I run through every single time, in roughly 15 minutes, before I commit to promoting anything.
Let’s get into it.
Why Vetting Matters More Than Commission Rate
Before the checklist, I want to address the thing beginners fixate on: the commission percentage.
A 50% commission on a $10 product is $5 per sale. A 10% commission on a $500 product is $50 per sale. Raw commission rates mean nothing without context.
What actually matters is whether the program is sustainable, trustworthy, and aligned with what your audience actually needs. A program that pays you well but wrecks your reputation is one of the worst deals in affiliate marketing. And your reputation, once damaged, takes years to rebuild.
So yes, we look at commission rate. But it is one data point among many.
The 15-Minute Affiliate Program Vetting Checklist
Minutes 1 to 3: Check the Company and Product First
Open the company’s website. Not the affiliate landing page. The main website.
You are asking yourself three questions here. First, does this look like a real, established business? Second, can I find a contact page, a physical address, or real social proof? Third, is there a clear explanation of what the product actually does and who it is for?
A legitimate company invests in their brand presence. If the website looks like it was thrown together in a weekend and there is no trace of a real team or business behind it, that is your first red flag.
Then go one level deeper. Search the company name plus the word “reviews” and “complaints” on Google. Not the affiliate review pages written by other affiliates. Look for real customer reviews on Trustpilot, Reddit, or G2 if it is a software product. What are actual buyers saying about their experience?
This three-minute check alone has saved me from promoting several programs that paid well but had furious customers on the other end.
Minutes 4 to 6: Evaluate the Commission Structure
Now you look at the numbers with context.
Start with the commission rate and whether it is one-time or recurring. Recurring commissions from subscription-based products are generally more valuable over time because one customer compounds into multiple payouts. A 20% recurring commission on a $50 per month software tool can be worth far more than a 40% one-time commission on a $30 product.
Check the cookie duration. This is how long after someone clicks your link the company will credit you for a sale. Thirty days is standard. Anything less than 14 days is worth noting. Some programs run 90 days or longer, which significantly improves your chances of getting paid, especially in niches where people research before buying.
Look at the minimum payout threshold. Some programs hold your earnings until you hit $100 or more. That matters for beginners who are building up slowly.
Finally, check payment frequency and method. Monthly payments via PayPal or direct bank transfer are normal. Programs that pay quarterly or only by check without explanation are worth investigating further.
Minutes 7 to 9: Assess Affiliate Support and Resources
This is where most beginners skip entirely, and it is a big mistake.
Log into the affiliate portal or check the affiliate program page for what they provide. The best programs give you swipe copy, banners, product images, landing page assets, and sometimes even training. Why does this matter? Because it tells you how seriously the company takes their affiliate channel.
A company that invests in support materials is one that depends on affiliates and wants to help them succeed. A company that dumps you into a portal with nothing but a link and a commission rate is not thinking about your performance.
Also look for a dedicated affiliate manager contact. The ability to email a real person with questions, negotiate rates when your traffic grows, or get early access to promotions is genuinely valuable. It signals a mature affiliate program with real infrastructure behind it.
Minutes 10 to 12: Investigate Reputation Within the Affiliate Community
Spend two minutes searching for the program specifically within affiliate marketing communities.
Look on Reddit in subreddits like r/affiliatemarketing. Search Facebook groups for affiliate marketers. Check if the program has been discussed on affiliate marketing forums. You are specifically looking for patterns: complaints about not getting paid, sudden program shutdowns, unexplained commission clawbacks, or cookie stuffing issues on the company’s end.
Most good programs have little drama. When there is a pattern of complaints, those patterns are usually real and consistent across multiple people.
I also check at this stage if the product has genuinely good organic reviews. These reviews should be outside of affiliate content. If every single review online is clearly written by affiliates, it means something. There are no actual user reviews. This tells you who is actually buying this product. It also indicates whether the market is real or manufactured.
Minutes 13 to 15: Verify Fit With Your Audience
The final check is the most personal, and it is the one that separates ethical affiliates from people who treat their audience like an ATM.
Ask yourself honestly: would I buy this product given my own situation and goals?
Then ask: does my audience actually have the problem this product solves? Not “could they theoretically benefit from this” but “is this something they are actively looking for?”
Check the product’s pricing against your audience’s stage. If you write for complete beginners in affiliate marketing, promoting a $2,000 course may not be suitable. There is a mismatch. Your audience is probably not ready or funded for that purchase. This means your conversion rates will be low. You will have spent significant effort on content that does not perform.
Alignment is not just ethical, it is strategic. Programs that match your audience’s specific needs and budget convert at dramatically higher rates, which makes both the commission math and the trust math work in your favor.
Red Flags That Should Make You Walk Away
I want to give you a fast list of the things I have learned to treat as automatic dealbreakers, regardless of how appealing the commission looks.
No verifiable product or company information online is a serious warning sign. A program with no affiliate reviews, no user reviews, and no traceable company presence is worth skipping entirely.
Vague or inconsistent terms around when you get paid and how commissions are calculated create risk that is not worth taking. You need clarity on these things before you invest weeks of content into promoting a program.
An extremely short cookie window combined with a long customer decision cycle is a mismatch that will cost you sales you genuinely earned. If the product takes time to evaluate and the cookie lasts only three days, you are working against yourself.
Excessive restrictions on how you can promote including prohibiting honest reviews, comparison content, or mention of alternatives can be a sign that the company does not want scrutiny.
Finally, any program promising extraordinary commissions without a clear, verifiable product behind those numbers deserves extra skepticism. Real programs make money by selling real things to real customers. If the economics feel impossible, they probably are.
One More Thing Before You Commit
After you run this checklist and the program passes, there is still one step I take before I write a single piece of content.
I use the product myself when it is possible and affordable.
First-hand experience transforms your content from technically accurate to genuinely persuasive. You can describe specific features, share your real results, and answer the exact questions your audience has. That specificity builds trust in a way that recycled product descriptions never will.
It also protects you. You will occasionally find that a product that looked great on paper is actually mediocre or worse. Better to discover that with a $30 purchase than to find out after publishing 10 articles and sending your email list to it.
Want the Complete System?
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Final Thought
The 15 minutes you spend vetting an affiliate program properly can save you months of wasted effort. More importantly, it protects the thing that makes affiliate marketing work long-term: the trust your audience places in your recommendations.
Be selective. Be consistent. Use the checklist every time, not just when something feels suspicious.
The programs worth promoting can stand up to scrutiny. And your audience deserves to only hear about the ones that do.
