To exclude products from affiliate commission, turn off referrals on the product or on its category. Affiliates then earn nothing on those products, while every other product in the same order still pays the normal rate. You can also do the opposite and pay more on the products you want affiliates to promote.
Typical products to exclude are gift cards, deposits, donations and items you sell at cost. This page shows the WooCommerce settings first, then the method that works with every store through Product Rates. For the full calculation, see How commissions are calculated.
Before you start
- Ultimate Affiliate Pro installed, with your license active.
- WooCommerce for steps 1 and 2. For Easy Digital Downloads, Ultimate Membership Pro or Ultimate Learning Pro, go to step 3.
What happens to an order with excluded products #
- Cork Yoga Mat
- $49.00, earns 15% = $7.35
- Gift Card
- $50.00, earns nothing
- Referral for Liam
- $7.35
- Order with only the Gift Card
- No referral is created
Turn off referrals for a WooCommerce product #
Go to Products›All Products and edit the product. In the Product data box, open the Ultimate Affiliate Pro – Custom Referral Rate tab.
The tab with the product’s affiliate settings.
Check it to stop commissions on this product. It takes priority over every rate: rank rates, product rates and category rates.
Default: Unchecked
Click Update. Repeat for each product you want to exclude.
Turn off referrals for a whole category #
To exclude many products at once, put them in one category. WooCommerce shows how in its product categories guide. Go to Products›Categories, edit the category and scroll to Affiliate Program – Custom Referral Rate.
Check it to stop commissions on every product in this category, including products you add to it later. A product is excluded when any of its categories has this option on.
Default: Unchecked
Click Update. You can set the same option when you create a new category.
Tip
Create a category such as No commission and add it to the products you want to exclude, next to their normal categories. Excluding or including a product is then a single checkbox in the product editor.
Exclude products from affiliate commission in other stores #
For Easy Digital Downloads, Ultimate Membership Pro and Ultimate Learning Pro, use a product rate of zero:
- Go to Ultimate Affiliate Pro›Product Rates and click Add New Rate.
- Enter a name, for example No commission, and set Rate to
0. - Leave Active Period empty, so the rate is always active.
- In Particular Products, pick the store, then select the products, levels or courses to exclude. Leave Specific Affiliates empty to apply it to all affiliates.
- Click Save Changes.
- Go to Settings›General Settings and set Which Rate should be used? to Lowest Amount, so the zero rate wins over the rank rate.
Note
Lowest Amount applies to every rate comparison on your site. If you also use product rates to pay more on some products, those higher rates stop applying. In that case, raise the rank rate instead, or use the WooCommerce options above.
An order made only of excluded products then creates a $0 referral. Turn off Save Zero Value Referrals in General Settings if you do not want to keep these.
Pay more on the products you want to promote #
To focus affiliates on some products, give those products a higher rate and keep the normal rate for the rest:
- Create a product rate for the products, with a rate higher than your rank rates, and keep Which Rate should be used? on Biggest Amount. See Commission rates per product.
- Add a date range to run it as a limited-time campaign.
- Tell affiliates about it and ask them to link straight to the product pages. They can build a referral link to any product in the Affiliate Portal. See Affiliate referral links.
- Give them banners and text links for the products in Creatives. See Affiliate creatives.
Test it #
- Open a referral link of a test affiliate in a private browser window.
- Buy an excluded product together with a normal product.
- Go to Ultimate Affiliate Pro›Referrals and open the referral: only the normal product is counted.
Frequently asked questions #
Does excluding a product cancel the whole order’s commission?
No. Only the excluded product is left out. The other products in the order still earn the normal rate. When every product in the order is excluded, no referral is created.
Can I exclude a product for one affiliate only?
Yes. Create a product rate with Rate 0 for that product, add only that affiliate in Specific Affiliates, and set Which Rate should be used? to Lowest Amount.
Does Disable Referrals also stop clicks from being tracked?
No. Visits through referral links are still recorded in Clicks. Only the commission on that product is removed.
How do I pay commission only on a few products?
In WooCommerce, turn on Disable Referrals for Category for the categories you do not want to pay on. The products in your other categories keep earning.
