Behind the deals · Shopping guide
How Affiliate Deal Websites Work and Earn Commissions
Most deal websites, OfferNab included, are paid by retailers through affiliate programs. Here is how that works, what it means for the price you pay, and how to judge a deal site you have not used before.
Deal websites are free to use, so it is reasonable to ask how they are paid. For most, including OfferNab, the main answer is affiliate marketing: when you follow a link from the site to a retailer and buy something, the retailer may pay the site a commission for the referral.
Understanding how that works helps you use any deal site well. It explains the small print near "buy" buttons, why some links pass through an intermediate address, and what questions to ask about whether a site's recommendations are independent.
How affiliate programs work
- A retailer runs an affiliate program, either itself or through an affiliate network, a company that manages programs for many retailers, handles tracking and pays publishers.
- A publisher joins the program. Publishers include deal sites, review sites, newsletters and creators. Retailers can approve or decline each one.
- The publisher links to the retailer with a tracking link. The link identifies the publisher, and often passes through the network's address before reaching the retailer's page.
- You buy something. If the retailer's tracking credits the referral under its program rules, the publisher earns a commission, usually a percentage of the sale or a fixed amount.
- Commission is confirmed later. Returns, cancellations and orders that break the program's rules usually reverse it.
Programs set their own rules: how long after your click a purchase still counts, which products earn commission, and what happens when more than one site referred you. A common rule is that the last qualifying click before purchase gets the credit.
Do you pay more through an affiliate link?
Normally, no. The commission comes from the retailer's marketing budget, and the retailer shows you the same price it shows other customers. Prices can differ for other reasons, such as your location, being signed in to a membership, or a promotion that changed between visits, but following an affiliate link is not designed to change the price.
An affiliate relationship also does not change how a retailer treats your order: checkout, payment, shipping, returns and warranty are all handled by the retailer under its own terms.
A discount and a commission are different things
Whether a deal is good for you and whether a site earns money from it are separate questions. A product can be a genuine bargain on a store with no affiliate program at all, and an affiliate link can point to a product at its ordinary price. Similarly, a coupon code can be valid for customers while a retailer's program excludes the order from commission. Useful deal sites keep these questions apart.
The same vacuum is $199 at Store A, which has an affiliate program, and $179 at Store B, which does not.
A deal site focused on shoppers should still show Store B as the better price, even though it earns nothing from that link. If a site only ever shows stores that pay it, its results are a curated selection rather than a market comparison. (Prices are illustrative.)
How to judge a deal website
- Clear disclosure. U.S. rules from the Federal Trade Commission require publishers to disclose material connections such as affiliate commissions clearly. Look for a disclosure near links, not only in a footer.
- Evidence, not adjectives. Prefer sites that show what they checked, such as the price, the date and the condition, over sites that only say "amazing deal".
- Honest comparisons. Watch for discounts calculated against inflated reference prices. Our guide to price history explains how to check them.
- No invented testing. Be skeptical of hands-on review claims for dozens of products a small site could not plausibly have tested.
- You still buy from the real store. A deal site should send you to the retailer's own website, not ask for payment itself.
How OfferNab handles affiliate links
- Some outbound retailer links on OfferNab are affiliate links, and OfferNab may earn a commission if you buy, at no extra cost to you. Deal pages say "We may earn a commission" next to the retailer button, and outbound retailer links carry a sponsored link attribute for search engines.
- Commission is not an input to the score OfferNab uses to order deals, compensation does not guarantee a deal favorable ranking or placement, and stores without an affiliate relationship can be listed too.
- When you click through, we check that the link uses a secure (HTTPS) address approved for that retailer, or, for an affiliate network's tracking link, that it leads to the retailer's own website. If the check fails, we do not redirect you.
- You always complete your purchase with the retailer, which controls price, stock, shipping and returns.
Read the full Affiliate Disclosure and how OfferNab works for details.
Common mistakes to avoid
- Assuming an affiliate link means a worse price.
- Assuming a site with affiliate links cannot be trusted at all, or that it can be trusted blindly.
- Treating a deal site's ranking as a full market comparison without checking other stores.
- Paying a deal site directly instead of buying from the retailer.
- Ignoring a missing or hidden disclosure.
Shopping checklist
Run through this before you buy.
- I know whether the site earns commission and where it discloses it.
- The site shows evidence such as price, date and condition, not just praise.
- I have compared the price with at least one store the site may not feature.
- The final link takes me to the retailer's real website.
- I am buying from the retailer, under the retailer's terms.
Put this guide to work
Compare current online deals and discounts on OfferNab. You always complete your purchase on the retailer's own site.