Net Payment Terms

Net Terms (e.g. Net-30, Net-60) describe how long after the close of a period the advertiser pays. Net-30 means payment 30 days after month end. The delay covers refund and validation windows, so longer terms reduce the program's chargeback risk but slow the affiliate's cash flow.

Net payment terms describe the lag between a conversion being confirmed and the commission actually landing in the affiliate's account. Expressed as Net-15, Net-30, Net-60 and so on, the number is the count of days after a period closes before payment is due. The delay exists on top of any pending or hold period, so total time from click to cash can be considerably longer than the net figure alone suggests.

Advertisers structure net terms around their own cash flow and, critically, their refund and chargeback windows: paying an affiliate before the return window closes risks paying commission on a sale that later reverses. Longer terms protect the advertiser from clawback losses and ease their working capital, which is why higher-refund categories tend to carry longer nets. Affiliates, meanwhile, must finance their own ad spend across that gap.

The cash-flow strain is the core issue for affiliates running paid traffic. Buying ads today and getting paid Net-60 means fronting two months of media spend, so tight terms materially affect how fast an affiliate can scale. Reliability matters as much as length — a dependable Net-30 beats an erratic Net-15 — and affiliates should confirm whether the clock starts at conversion, period close, or approval.

Net-30 is a common baseline, with iGaming often paying monthly in arrears and some retail networks stretching to Net-60. The spread of faster and even weekly payout options reflects competition for affiliates who need working capital to reinvest quickly.