When is an affiliate commission paid out, and why does it stay “pending” for so long?

Say someone buys a jacket through your link on 3 March 2026. This is how it plays out under German law and the programmes’ own rules:

1. 3 March: click and purchase. The shop reports the order, and the commission shows as pending in your programme’s dashboard.
2. 5 March: the parcel arrives. The 14-day withdrawal period starts now (§ 355(2) and § 356(2) no. 1 BGB), and the day of delivery does not count (§ 187(1) BGB). If several items from one order arrive separately, the last parcel counts.
3. 19 March: last day to withdraw (§ 188(1) BGB). Sending the withdrawal in time is enough (§ 355(1) BGB). If a deadline falls on a Saturday, Sunday or public holiday, it moves to the next working day (§ 193 BGB). In 2026 that does not apply to any of the dates here.
4. 2 April: anyone who withdrew on 19 March must send the jacket off by this date (§ 355(3) and § 357(1) BGB). Until the goods arrive or proof of dispatch is shown, the shop may hold back the refund (§ 357(4) BGB). This does not apply if the shop has offered to collect the goods; the buyer then does not have to send them back either (§ 357(4) sentence 2 and § 357(6) BGB).
5. A few weeks later, for shops with their own confirmation window: the shop confirms the sale or cancels the commission. For Linktree Shops, which are only available in the US, Linktree says retailers set this window themselves, and it can take 60 days or longer.
6. After that: the programme pays on its own schedule. For Amazon Associates (the Amazon Partnerprogramm), Amazon says it pays for products sold and delivered in a month about 60 days after the month ends, so March earnings arrive at the end of May. If something is returned later, Amazon deducts the commission from the following month’s payment.

The labels vary by programme; German dashboards often say “offen” for pending. According to Linktree, it takes affiliate networks a while to turn pending sales into closed commissions. Only then is the money released.

These details come from the providers’ own pages, read on 20 October 2026. Other programmes have their own rules, and some only pay out once the shop has paid them.

Linktree lists, among the reasons for a missing payment, an account that is less than 40 days old and a balance under $10. The balance then rolls over to the next month.

While a commission is pending, it can disappear in full or in part, for example if only part of the order is sent back. Some shops also voluntarily allow returns for longer than the law requires, so the commission can stay pending for longer too.

The statutory right of withdrawal applies to distance contracts with consumers (§ 312g(1) BGB), with exceptions. For example, there is none for sealed goods that are unsuitable for return for health or hygiene reasons once the seal has been removed after delivery (§ 312g(2) no. 3 BGB).

Even after confirmation, a figure is not always final. Amazon’s help pages say commission on returned products is deducted from the following month’s payment. If returns exceed the new earnings, the account goes into a negative balance, which Amazon deducts from future payments.

Occasionally a withdrawal comes very late. If the shop did not inform the buyer properly about the right of withdrawal, the period does not start. The right then expires at the latest twelve months and 14 days after the goods were received (§ 356(3) and (4) BGB).

None of this affects click earnings, because nobody can send a click back. There are conditions here too: under Stylink’s terms (§ 3), only genuine clicks count, so duplicate clicks and click fraud, for example, do not. When click earnings are paid depends on the programme’s billing cycle and terms.

On wyrld, you get one credit note a month instead of separate statements from each shop or network. At the start of each month, wyrld settles the previous month with a Gutschrift (self-billing credit note), covering clicks, sales or both, depending on the shop. The credit note is the invoice wyrld issues on your behalf; you’ll find it in your dashboard under “Abrechnung” (billing). In the dashboard you can also follow clicks and commission live.

Commission on sales is paid out once the shop or affiliate programme has paid it to wyrld. It is calculated on the net value after returns and cancellations. If a purchase is cancelled after the payout, wyrld can offset the commission against your next credit notes under the creator terms.

Creators in other EU countries add their VAT ID; until they do, payouts are on hold. If something on a credit note is wrong, let wyrld know in writing within 14 days. After that, the creator terms treat the credit note as accepted.