ShareASale's own affiliate agreement is now Awin's

The revenue mechanism

ShareASale describes a familiar affiliate-network mechanism: a publisher applies once, then requests individual merchant programs inside one dashboard, and the network tracks referred sales on shared infrastructure so the publisher does not have to negotiate separately with each retailer it promotes. That description used to live on ShareASale's own domain. Today, the link this site once used for its affiliate sign-up agreement now redirects to a page titled 'ShareASale Is Now Awin,' which states that Awin has owned ShareASale since 2017 and invites new applicants to sign up with Awin directly rather than with ShareASale as a separate business.

What the documents show

Awin's migration page sets out a short process: describe the business, wait up to a business day for a reply, then launch, without publishing approval criteria. The contract that actually governs a publisher who joins through it is Awin Ltd's Standard Terms for Publishers, dated August 2025 in its filename and retrieved 16 September 2026. It states that the Application Form 'may require payment of a small deposit,' called the Sign Up Deposit, in an amount set on that form rather than in the public terms; that acceptance is 'subject to the sole discretion of' Awin; and that the deposit 'will be refunded to the Publisher with the first Commission payment.' Payment is conditioned on Awin having first received the corresponding sum from the advertiser, and on 'any minimum payment thresholds implemented by Awin from time to time' being satisfied.

The assumptions exposed

A publisher searching for 'ShareASale's affiliate agreement' can reasonably expect one distinct from Awin's. The redirect and the terms above show otherwise: one contract now applies under both brand names. The Sign Up Deposit amount is not a figure this entry can state, since it is published only on the Application Form a prospective publisher sees mid-signup; naming a number here would be a guess dressed as fact. The payment mechanism also assumes the advertiser pays Awin promptly. Because Awin only owes the publisher once it has itself been paid, a slow advertiser delays the publisher's payout regardless of when a sale was approved, a distinction easy to miss once a dashboard already shows that sale as validated.

What to check before you rely on it

This is an editorial checklist, not Awin's guidance, for anyone treating a ShareASale or Awin account as a stable income source: confirm which country-specific legal entity's terms apply, since Awin runs several regional versions; check the live minimum payment threshold rather than a marketing-page figure; and confirm the Sign Up Deposit is credited back with the first commission.

• Which Awin legal entity is named on my Application Form, and does its terms match the one described here?
• What is the current minimum payment threshold on my account?
• How long does an advertiser's payment typically take to reach Awin after a sale is approved?

None of this tells a publisher what they will earn. It only clarifies whose contract, and whose payment timeline, governs the money once a sale is made.