Setting commission rates
Strategy for choosing rates per product, how creator tiers gate visibility, and how to think about the economics.
Commission rates are the most important field
Set them too low and no creator picks your product up — your affiliate listing sits invisible. Set them too high and you're losing margin you didn't need to give away.
The right rate depends on your category, your margins, the competition, and how badly you want creator pickup.
This guide is how to think about it.
The legal range
KampalaSnap enforces a 2-30% range on commission rates. Below 2%, the math doesn't work for creators (Pesapal fees alone could eat the commission). Above 30%, you're losing too much to be sustainable.
Most products land in 8-20%. The sweet spot for most categories is 10-15%.
How creator tier gates your visibility
The tier system on the creator side matters here. Each creator tier has a minimum commission rate floor they can see:
| Tier | Sees products with rate ≥ |
|---|---|
| Hustler | 2% (sees everything affiliate-listed) |
| Influencer | ~10% (only mid-margin and up) |
| Partner | ~15% (only premium-margin products) |
So if you set your commission at 8%: - All Hustler-tier creators see it. - Influencer-tier creators don't (it's below their floor). - Partner-tier creators don't either.
Conversely, if you set at 20%: - Every tier sees it. - You attract all tiers including Partner (the top creators with the biggest audiences).
This means: higher commission → more creators eligible to promote you. The trade-off is on every individual sale.
The exact floor numbers (set on the Pricing Hub) shift over time. The principle stays: higher rates attract more tiers.
How to think about the math
Don't just pick a number. Run the math on your specific product.
Example A — A 50,000 UGX product at 30% margin
You buy/produce it for 35,000 UGX. You sell at 50,000 UGX. Your margin is 15,000 UGX before platform fees.
| Component | Without affiliate | With 10% affiliate | With 20% affiliate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sale price | 50,000 | 50,000 | 50,000 |
| Platform fee (5%) | 2,500 | 2,500 | 2,500 |
| Commission | 0 | 4,750 | 9,500 |
| Your net | 47,500 | 42,750 | 38,000 |
| Your margin after cost | 12,500 | 7,750 | 3,000 |
At 10%, you keep 7,750 per sale (about 16% margin). Reasonable.
At 20%, you only keep 3,000 per sale (about 6% margin). Tight.
For this product, 10-12% is the sustainable rate.
Example B — A 100,000 UGX product at 50% margin
You buy/produce it for 50,000. You sell at 100,000. Margin is 50,000 before fees.
| Component | Without | With 15% affiliate | With 25% affiliate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sale price | 100,000 | 100,000 | 100,000 |
| Platform fee | 5,000 | 5,000 | 5,000 |
| Commission | 0 | 14,250 | 23,750 |
| Your net | 95,000 | 80,750 | 71,250 |
| Your margin after cost | 45,000 | 30,750 | 21,250 |
At 25%, you still keep 21,250 per sale — over 20% margin. Very healthy.
For this product, 20-25% is sustainable and will attract Partner- tier creators.
Example C — A 10,000 UGX product at 20% margin
You buy/produce it for 8,000. You sell at 10,000.
| Component | Without | With 10% affiliate | With 5% affiliate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sale price | 10,000 | 10,000 | 10,000 |
| Platform fee | 500 | 500 | 500 |
| Commission | 0 | 950 | 475 |
| Your net | 9,500 | 8,550 | 9,025 |
| Your margin after cost | 1,500 | 550 | 1,025 |
At 10%, your margin is squeezed. At 5%, the commission may be too low for any creator to bother.
For low-margin cheap items, the affiliate program may not fit. Stay self-listed and use ads instead.
Rate-setting principles
1. Match the rate to the product class
Different categories have different normal commission rates:
| Category | Typical commission |
|---|---|
| Fashion / clothing | 12-20% |
| Beauty / cosmetics | 15-25% |
| Electronics | 5-12% (margins are tight) |
| Home goods | 10-18% |
| Food (single items) | 8-15% |
| Premium / luxury items | 20-30% |
These are starting points. Adjust based on your specific margin.
2. Reserve higher rates for products you really want creator-driven
If you have one flagship product you want to push through creators: set it at a higher rate (20%+) to attract Partner-tier creators with big audiences.
Use lower rates on supporting products that benefit from being adjacent to the flagship in the catalog.
3. Don't undercut yourself across categories
If most products in your category are at 12% and you set yours at 5%, no creator will pick it up — they'll go to the 12% options instead. Match or exceed the category norm to compete.
4. Test and adjust
You can change rates over time (with admin approval — see Price changes). Start at a reasonable rate, see who picks it up, and adjust if needed.
When to go above 20%
High commission (20-30%) is a launch-strategy or a special-tier move. Use it when:
- You're launching a new product and want creator buzz fast.
- The product is high-margin (luxury, electronics with markup, artisanal pieces).
- You want Partner-tier exclusivity — only the top creators see it.
- You can sustain the margin loss for the volume gain.
Don't use high rates as a desperate "please someone promote my product" move on a low-margin item. Creators are picky and the math has to work for both sides.
When to stay below 10%
Low commission is sustainable when:
- The product is high-volume (creators get smaller per-sale but many sales).
- The brand is already strong (creators want to be associated with a known brand even at low commission).
- The product has viral potential (creators promote for the audience-building, not the commission).
Most new affiliate sellers don't have these conditions yet. Default to the 10-15% range.
How to change rates
Once a product is approved, changing its commission rate goes through the same workflow as changing the price:
- Open the product → Edit → change rate.
- Tap Submit change request.
- Admin reviews within 48 hours.
- During review, creators promoting it see a "pending change" notice and decide whether to keep promoting.
- After approval, the new rate is live.
See Price changes for the full mechanics — they apply to commission changes too.
Tracking commission performance
Seller Hub → Insights → Affiliate analytics shows:
- Average commission paid per sale (UGX).
- Total commission paid over the period.
- Which products generate the most commissions (often your bestsellers).
- Which creators drove the most sales (your top promoters).
Use these to find your sweet spot. If a product at 15% is selling strongly with mostly Influencer-tier promoters, you could experiment with raising to 20% and see if Partner-tier picks it up (driving even more sales).
A few common mistakes
Setting one rate for the whole catalog
Different products have different economics. Set rates per product, not a blanket rate.
Matching the highest commission in the category to be safe
You don't need to be the highest. You need to be competitive. A 12% rate in a category where most are 10% is plenty.
Forgetting to factor the platform fee
The 5% platform fee comes off before the commission is paid. Don't calculate commission as a percentage of the gross sale — it's a percentage of (sale - platform fee). Most commission tools handle this automatically, but the math example tables above factor it.
Setting a rate without checking margins
If you don't know your unit cost, you can't set a sustainable commission. Spend an hour calculating your real margin per product before setting rates.
Common questions
Can I see what other sellers in my category charge?
Not directly — competitor commission rates aren't public. But you can browse the affiliate catalog as a buyer and see which products have which commission rates (visible to creators in the catalog browse).
A common approach: scout a few competing products, note their rates, and price competitively.
Can I have different commission rates for different creator tiers?
No. One rate per product. The tier system gates which creators can SEE the product based on their floor; the rate is the same for all tiers who do see it.
Can the commission rate include a sign-up bonus for the creator's first sale?
No — rates are simple percentages. Bonuses or special structures aren't supported.
What if a creator promotes a product and a sale goes through but the buyer disputes?
The commission is reversed if the dispute results in a refund. The creator doesn't keep commission on refunded sales. (Detailed in the creator earnings guide.)
Can I temporarily boost a rate (e.g., for a flash sale)?
Submit a change request for the temporary period — admin will approve / disapprove as usual. There's no "auto-revert" feature; you'd need to change again at the end of the period.
For most flash-sale dynamics, the lift in volume from the sale price itself drives traffic without needing a commission bump.
What's next
- Attracting creators — how to get creators to pick up your products once rates are set.
- Price changes — how to adjust rates over time.