Different products can pay different commission. In Affiliate and Referral Program for WooCommerce you set a rate on an individual product, or on a whole category, and it overrides your store-wide rate for anything it matches. This guide covers both, including which one applies when a product is caught by more than one rule. For the full precedence ladder, see How to Set Up Referral Commission Rules. Part of the plugin documentation.
Choose how product commission is expressed
↑ Back to topBefore entering any amounts, pick the form product rates take. Go to: WooCommerce > Affiliate & Referral > Commission and set Commission per Product: to one of:
- Percentage – each product carries a percentage of its line total.
- Fixed Price – each product carries a cash amount, paid per unit sold. Two of the same item in one order pays it twice.
- Percentage + Fixed Price – each product carries both, and they are added together.
This choice decides which fields appear on your products, so set it first and Save Changes.
Product and category rates exist only while Commission Based On: is set to Products. If you switch the store to Users — performance-based direct commission, run from the User Levels screen — the commission box disappears from your products and level rates take over instead (see Performance-Based Direct Commission with Affiliate Levels).
Set a rate on one product
↑ Back to top- Go to: Products and open the product you want to change.
- Scroll to the Add Commission box below the product data panel.
- Enter Percentage Commission, Fixed Commission, or both — whichever fields your chosen mode shows.
- Update the product.
Set rates for many products at once
↑ Back to topThe Products list gains a commission column matching your chosen mode, and each cell is editable in place — type the rate and click away to save it. This is the fastest way to price a catalogue, and the column doubles as an overview of which products carry their own rate.
The in-list fields accept whole numbers only. For a rate with decimals, open the product and use the Add Commission box.
Pay nothing on a product
↑ Back to topEntering 0 is a deliberate instruction, not an empty value: that product pays no commission and does not fall back to your category or store-wide rate. Leaving the field blank is the opposite — the product has no rate of its own and inherits whatever applies next.
Use 0 for loss leaders and heavily discounted lines you never want to pay on. To exclude products from the program more broadly, the Exclude products from affiliate commission setting on the Commission screen does the same job in one place.
Set a rate for a category
↑ Back to top- Go to: WooCommerce > Affiliate & Referral > Commission.
- In Commission per Category, pick one or more entries under Categories.
- Enter a Percentage, a Fixed Price, or both — on a category rule the two are added together.
- Add more rows with the plus button for other categories, then Save Changes.
Which rate applies
↑ Back to topRates never stack. For each product in an order, the most specific rule wins:
- A rule for a named affiliate, if one matches.
- A dated category promotion that is currently running.
- The product’s own rate.
- A category rate.
- Commission for All Products, your store-wide fallback.
A product in several categories is matched on one of them only, so avoid giving two categories that share products conflicting rates. If you need a specific product to pay a specific amount, set it on the product — a product rate always beats a category rate.
FAQ
↑ Back to topWhy is there no commission field on my product?
↑ Back to topBecause the store is in performance-based mode. Set Commission Based On: back to Products on the Commission screen and the Add Commission box returns.
Does a fixed product rate pay once per order or once per item?
↑ Back to topOnce per item. A $5 fixed rate on a product bought three times pays $15.
What is the difference between 0 and an empty field?
↑ Back to top0 means “pay nothing for this product, and stop looking”. Empty means “this product has no rate of its own”, so your category or store-wide rate applies instead.
Can I set a rate on a single variation?
↑ Back to topNo — commission is set at product level and applies to every variation of that product. Split the variations into separate products if they genuinely need different rates.
