Affiliate commission rates vary enormously by industry, and a lot of “affiliate marketing income” content online skips this — treating one niche’s rates as if they apply everywhere. They don’t.
Physical products (Amazon Associates and similar) typically pay 1–10%. Electronics tend toward the low end (thin margins), while categories like luxury beauty or home goods sit higher. Because average order values are often modest, the dollar amount per sale is usually small — volume matters more than rate here.
Digital products and software (SaaS, online courses) commonly pay 20–50%, sometimes as a one-time payout, sometimes as recurring revenue for as long as a referred customer stays subscribed. Recurring commissions are generally more valuable long-term than a single flat payout, even at a similar headline percentage.
High-ticket services (finance, insurance, education leads) can pay flat fees of $50–$500+ per qualified lead or sale, rather than a percentage — the tradeoff is usually a stricter definition of what counts as a “qualified” conversion.
A few things that actually move the needle more than the headline rate:
- Cookie duration (how long after a click you still get credit for a sale) — this ranges from 24 hours to 90+ days depending on the program.
- Whether the commission is one-time or recurring.
- Your traffic’s actual buying intent, not just its size — a small, highly targeted audience often converts better than a large, general one.
There’s no universal “affiliate income” number, because the variables above compound differently for every program and audience. If you want to model a specific deal’s numbers rather than rely on industry averages, our Affiliate Income Calculator lets you plug in your own commission rate, conversion assumptions, and traffic to see a rough estimate — not a guarantee, just your own math made visible.