Affiliate marketing glossary
Hold period
In one sentence
The hold period is the interval between a sale being recorded and the commission becoming available for payout, allowing time for returns and validation.
Typical hold periods run 30 to 60 days in retail and 60 to 90 days in travel. This is separate from the payment schedule: a network paying weekly still cannot release commission that the advertiser has not yet validated.
The practical consequence is that the first two months on any new program feel worse than the program is. Clicks and pending commission accumulate while nothing becomes withdrawable, and the steady state only appears once the first cohort of sales has cleared validation.
Worked example
Why weekly payouts do not mean weekly money
A sale on 1 March in a category with a 45-day hold validates around 15 April. If your account is on weekly payouts and clears the threshold, it is paid in the run after that. The payout frequency decides how quickly validated money reaches you; it cannot release money the advertiser has not yet confirmed.
Common questions
Hold period, answered
Why is there a hold period at all?
Because a sale is not final until the customer can no longer return it. The advertiser is holding the commission for the same reason you would: a payment made before the return window closes is a payment that may have to be reclaimed.
Can the hold period be shortened?
Not by the publisher or the network. It is set by the advertiser and follows its returns policy, so a category with a 60-day returns window is not going to validate in 14 days regardless of who asks.
Does the hold period apply to every program?
Yes, though the length varies widely by category. Retail and fashion sit at 30 to 60 days, home and furniture nearer 45 to 60 because commission often waits on delivery, and travel at 60 to 90 because the stay has to complete first.
Keep reading
More from the glossary
Every term here is written to answer one question completely, then point at the next one worth asking.
Sub-affiliate network
A sub-affiliate network is a company that holds approved relationships with affiliate programs on major networks and lets smaller publishers and creators promote those programs under its account, sharing the commission it receives.
Affiliate network
An affiliate network is a platform that connects advertisers running affiliate programs with publishers who promote them, handling tracking, reporting and payment between the two.
EPC (earnings per click)
EPC is the average commission earned per click sent to an advertiser, calculated as total commission divided by total clicks over a given period.
Cookie window
The cookie window is the length of time after a click during which a resulting purchase is still credited to the affiliate, commonly ranging from 24 hours to 90 days.
Last-click attribution
Last-click attribution credits the entire commission to the final affiliate link clicked before a purchase, which is the default model across almost all affiliate networks.
Attribution
Attribution is the process of determining which marketing touchpoint receives credit for a conversion, and therefore which affiliate is paid.
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