Affiliate Terms That Are Clear and Fair

1. Agreement and parties

In plain English: These terms are the contract between you and Store Design Expert for the affiliate program. By applying or promoting us, you accept them.

These affiliate terms and conditions (the “Affiliate Terms”) form a contract between Store Design Expert (“we”, “us”) and you, the person or company applying to or taking part in the affiliate program (“Affiliate”, “you”).

The Affiliate Terms apply in addition to, and are separate from, our Terms of Service, which govern the use of the site and the purchase of services. They also incorporate our Privacy Policy and the information on the affiliate program page. If you apply for a company, you confirm that you may bind it. If these terms and the Terms of Service conflict about affiliate matters, these Affiliate Terms come first.

2. Definitions

In plain English: Short definitions for the words used throughout these terms.

• Affiliate link: a tracking link issued to you that identifies you as the source of a visit.
• Qualifying order: a paid order for our services, including a custom quote or invoice paid through our website, placed by a customer who reached the site through your affiliate link within the cookie window and who is not excluded by these terms.
• Net order value: the amount the customer actually paid for the order, after discounts, credits and refunds, and excluding taxes and payment fees charged on top.
• Commission: the amount we owe you for a qualifying order, calculated under these terms.
• Cookie window: the period after a click during which an order can be credited to you.
• Approval hold: the period after an order is paid during which its commission stays pending, so that a refund or chargeback can still reverse it.
• Creatives: the banners, text, logos and other materials we make available in your dashboard.

3. Eligibility

In plain English: You must be an adult or a business that can sign contracts, and you must not already be barred from the program.

To join you must be at least 18 years old (or the age of majority where you live) or a duly organized business, able to enter into a binding contract, and not subject to sanctions. You must provide accurate information and keep it current. One person or business may hold one affiliate account unless we agree otherwise in writing.

We may decline an application, or later end an account, if the promotional channels do not suit the program, if the content is unlawful, adult or deceptive, or for any other reasonable business reason. We are not required to explain the decision.

4. Application and approval

In plain English: Apply through the form. We review each application by hand and reply by email. Being approved is not guaranteed.

Apply with the form on the application page. You must describe the websites, channels and audiences you will use. We may ask for more information and may check your channels. An account becomes active only when we approve it by email or in your dashboard.

Until approved, you may not use an affiliate link or call yourself an affiliate of Store Design Expert. Approval is personal: you may not transfer or share your account, link or login.

5. Links, attribution and cookies

In plain English: Your link sets a cookie. The last affiliate click before an order gets the credit, for a set number of days.

We track visits with a cookie or similar technology when a visitor arrives through your affiliate link. The default cookie window is 60 days. If a visitor clicks more than one affiliate link before ordering, the last click before the order is credited (last-click attribution).

Tracking depends on the visitor’s browser, cookie settings and devices. We do not promise that every referral will be recorded, and we may reject credit that we cannot verify. Our records are the basis for all commission calculations.

6. Commission

In plain English: You earn a percentage of the paid net order value, up to a maximum per order.

For each qualifying order we pay a commission of 5% of the net order value. Commission on any single order is capped at $250. We calculate commission when the order is paid, and we may adjust it later for refunds, credits or reversals.

No commission is earned on taxes, shipping or payment fees, on free or fully discounted orders, on orders placed by you or on your behalf, or on orders that we reasonably judge to be fraudulent, abusive or placed in breach of these terms. The rate, the cap and the cookie window are defaults. We may change them for new orders on notice, and any rate we agree with you in writing or show in your dashboard applies to your account.

7. Approval hold, refunds and chargebacks

In plain English: Commission is payable 45 days after the order is paid. Any refund reverses the commission, in full or in proportion.

Every commission is pending when created. It becomes approved 45 days after the order is paid, provided the order has not been refunded, credited, disputed or charged back. Approved commission is payable: it is paid at the next payout batch once your approved balance reaches $100. An order that is refunded during the hold never becomes approved.

Any refund reverses the commission for that order. If an order is refunded in full, the commission is reversed completely and no commission is paid. If it is refunded in part, the commission is reduced in proportion to the amount refunded. If an order is disputed and the dispute is lost, or is charged back, the commission is reversed in full. If a commission has already been paid when a refund or chargeback happens, the amount reversed is recorded as a clawback balance and deducted from your future payouts; if there are none, you agree to repay it on request.

8. Payouts

In plain English: We pay in batches once your approved balance reaches the threshold.

When your approved balance reaches $100, it is included in the next payout batch. Smaller balances roll over. We pay using Stripe (the default), Payoneer or local bank transfer, depending on what is available for your country and what you set up in the dashboard. You must give accurate payout details; we are not responsible for payments sent to details you provided incorrectly.

Payouts are made in US dollars. If you are paid by bank transfer, you pay all bank, transfer and currency-conversion fees: they are deducted from the payout and you receive the amount net of fees. Fees charged by Stripe or Payoneer on your own account are also yours. We may withhold a payout while we investigate suspected breaches, or if required to by law. Unclaimed balances may expire after a long period of account inactivity, to the extent the law allows, and only after we have tried to contact you.

9. Taxes

In plain English: You are responsible for your own taxes. We may ask for a tax form before paying you.

You are an independent business and are solely responsible for all income taxes, VAT or sales taxes, social contributions and other charges on the commission you earn. We do not withhold tax from payouts unless the law requires it. Before the first payout we may ask for a tax form, and we may delay payment until we receive it.

Nothing on this site is tax advice. Ask a qualified accountant about your own situation.

10. Permitted promotion

In plain English: Promote us honestly in the places your audience already trusts.

You may promote Store Design Expert through:

• articles, guides, comparisons and honest reviews on websites and blogs you own or control;
• social media posts, recordings made by you, podcasts and community posts, where the rules of the platform allow affiliate links;
• email and newsletters sent only to people who have opted in to receive them from you;
• personal recommendations to your own clients and contacts.

Everything you say must be truthful, current and fair. You may quote only the claims we approve in your dashboard, and you must not promise results, prices or delivery times that we have not published.

11. Disclosure of the relationship

In plain English: Tell your audience you earn commission. Clearly, near the link, every time.

You must clearly and conspicuously disclose that you receive a commission, in line with the US Federal Trade Commission Endorsement Guides, the UK Advertising Standards Authority and CAP Code, and any other rules that apply to you. Place the disclosure next to the recommendation, not buried in a footer, and use plain wording such as “#ad”, “sponsored”, or “I earn a commission if you buy through this link”.

Mark every affiliate link with rel="sponsored" (and nofollow where appropriate) where your platform allows it. Do not present paid recommendations as independent editorial opinions.

12. Prohibited conduct

In plain English: No spam, no tricks, no pretending to be us, and no gaming the tracking.

You must not, and must not allow anyone else to:

• send spam or unsolicited bulk or commercial messages, post spam in comments, forums or direct messages, or email people who have not opted in;
• stuff cookies, force or hide clicks, use pop-unders, auto-redirects, frames or any technique that places a link without a real, informed click by a person;
• order through your own link, place or pay for fake or test orders, or arrange for relatives, employees or affiliates to order in order to earn commission;
• make misleading, exaggerated, false or unsubstantiated claims, or guarantee savings or results;
• impersonate Store Design Expert, claim to speak for us, or create the impression that you are an employee, partner or official representative;
• promote on, or link from, sites or content that are adult, hateful, defamatory, infringing or illegal, or that breach any law or platform rules;
• register or use typo, look-alike or misleading domains, social accounts or apps that include our name or marks;
• use our logo, name or marks except in the creatives we provide, or alter the creatives;
• offer cash back, rewards or incentives for orders, or run coupon, voucher, deal, cashback or other incentivized-loop sites or browser extensions, unless we have approved that in writing for your account;
• interfere with the site, tracking, or our systems, or collect personal data of visitors beyond what the law and these terms allow.

13. Brand keywords and paid search

In plain English: Do not bid on our name in paid search.

You must not bid on, buy or use as keywords, in any form of paid search or paid social targeting, the terms “Store Design Expert”, “storedesignexpert.com”, our service names, or any misspelling, plural or variation of them or of our trademarks. You must not include our trademarks in advert text, display URLs or domain names. You may run paid advertising on generic, non-branded terms only if we have approved the advert and the destination in writing first. We may ask you to stop any activity that we believe diverts traffic from our own channels.

14. Privacy and data protection

In plain English: Follow privacy law. Do not collect personal data on our behalf.

You must comply with all privacy, anti-spam and consumer laws that apply to your promotion, including the GDPR and the UK GDPR, the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) and CAN-SPAM. You must have a lawful basis and valid consent for any data you collect or any email you send, and give notice of your own cookies and tracking.

You must not collect, store or ask visitors for personal data on our behalf, or pass personal data about visitors to us except through the tools we provide. We act as an independent controller of the data we collect through our own site and the program. Our Privacy Policy explains how we handle your own data as an affiliate.

15. Creatives and intellectual property

In plain English: We license the creatives to you only for promoting us. Everything else stays ours.

All trademarks, names, logos, content and creatives belong to Store Design Expert or its licensors. While your account is active, we give you a limited, revocable, non-exclusive, non-transferable license to use the creatives exactly as supplied in your dashboard, solely to promote Store Design Expert under these terms. You may not alter them or use them in a way that suggests endorsement beyond the program. All goodwill from your use belongs to us. When your account ends, you must remove the creatives and links promptly.

You keep ownership of your own content. You give us permission to display your name, site and approved content in a neutral way for the program, such as in your dashboard, and nothing else without your consent.

16. Monitoring and records

In plain English: We check traffic and may ask you to show where it came from.

We may monitor your promotion, check your channels and review the traffic and orders you generate, including by using third-party tools. You must give us accurate information about how you promote us when we ask, within a reasonable time. Our records of clicks, orders, commission and payments are conclusive unless there is an obvious error. If you believe a commission is wrong, tell us through the contact page within 60 days.

17. Suspension, termination and clawback

In plain English: Either side can end this. If you breach the rules, we can freeze payments and recover commission.

You may end your participation at any time by telling us. We may suspend or end your account at any time, with immediate effect, if we reasonably believe you have breached these terms or the law, or if we end or change the program.

If your account ends for a good-faith reason, we will still pay commission that was properly earned and becomes approved under these terms, subject to the minimum payout. If it ends because of a breach, such as spam, self-referral, fake orders or misleading claims, we may cancel unpaid commission, recover commission already paid for the breaching activity, and take any other action the law allows. Clauses that by their nature should survive, including those on payments owed, intellectual property, liability and law, continue after termination.

18. Independent relationship

In plain English: You work for yourself. This is not a job, a partnership or an agency.

You and Store Design Expert are independent parties. Nothing in these terms makes you our employee, agent, partner, franchisee or joint venturer, and you may not make commitments for us or bind us. You are free to promote other products, as long as you follow these terms. You pay your own costs and are solely responsible for your own staff, advertising, equipment and expenses.

19. Disclaimers

In plain English: We run the program in good faith but cannot promise earnings or uninterrupted service.

The program and everything in it are provided “as is” and “as available”. To the fullest extent the law allows, we disclaim all warranties, express or implied, including fitness for a particular purpose, and we do not promise any level of traffic, orders or commission, or that tracking or the dashboard will be uninterrupted or error-free. Any earnings figures, calculators or examples are illustrations and are not guarantees.

20. Limitation of liability

In plain English: Our liability is limited, and we are not responsible for indirect losses or lost profits.

To the fullest extent the law allows, Store Design Expert is not liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential or punitive damages, or for lost profits, revenue, data or goodwill, arising out of or related to the program. Our total liability for all claims relating to the program is limited to the commission paid or payable to you in the three months before the event giving rise to the claim. Nothing in these terms limits liability that cannot be limited by law, such as for fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation.

21. Indemnity

In plain English: If your promotion causes a claim against us, you cover the cost.

You agree to defend, indemnify and hold harmless Store Design Expert and its owners, officers, employees and agents from claims, losses, damages, fines and expenses (including reasonable legal fees) arising from your promotion, your content, your channels, your breach of these terms or of the law, or your infringement of any third party’s rights.

22. Changes to these terms and the program

In plain English: We can update the terms or the rates. Material changes are announced first.

We may change these terms, the commission rate, the cap, the cookie window, the hold, the payout threshold, the payout methods and the creatives. We will tell you by email or in your dashboard before material changes take effect. Changes apply to orders placed after the change takes effect. If you do not agree, you should stop promoting us and end your account. Continuing to promote us after a change means you accept it.

23. Governing law and disputes

In plain English: Talk to us first. These terms follow the same governing law as our Terms of Service.

If you have a concern, please contact us first so we can try to resolve it directly. These Affiliate Terms are governed by the laws that apply where Store Design Expert is established, without affecting any rights you have under mandatory consumer law where you live. If you are entitled to mandatory protections under the law of your country of residence, nothing here removes them.

24. General

In plain English: The usual housekeeping.

• Entire agreement: these terms are the whole agreement about the program.
• Assignment: you may not assign your rights without our consent. We may assign ours in a business transfer.
• Severability: if a clause is unenforceable, the rest stays in force.
• No waiver: failing to enforce a right is not a waiver of it.
• Notices: we notify you by the email on your account or in your dashboard; you notify us through the contact page.
• Language: these terms are in English, and the English version controls.

25. Contact

In plain English: Questions about the program or these terms? Write to us.

Ask about the program, a commission or these terms through our contact page. You can read about the benefits on the affiliate program page and apply on the application page.