Changing Rules After Sales Exist
What you can safely change, what locks after first use, and what happens when you downgrade.
Commission rules behave differently before and after they've been used to calculate a real commission.
Rules that lock after first use
When a rule is first used on a real sale, Partnersify locks it. It becomes grandfathered.
Grandfathered rules:
- Continue applying to future payments on subscriptions they already matched (e.g. recurring commissions)
- Cannot be edited in ways that would change the terms retroactively
- Editing rates on locked rules is blocked in the UI
This protects affiliates. They can rely on the rate they agreed to when they started promoting you.
What you can safely change
- Add new rules: existing subscriptions keep their grandfathered paths; new sales use the new rule
- Disable or archive unused rules: has no effect on existing subscriptions
- Create a campaign: run a time-limited promotion without touching your portal defaults
See Campaigns for the cleanest way to run a temporary rate change.
Changing tier thresholds
Changing tier thresholds affects tier calculations going forward only. It does not retroactively change which tier existing affiliates are in.
Plan downgrade
If your subscription lapses:
- Your rules and settings stay in the database
- Gated rule types (tags, specific prices, performance tiers on Advanced) are preserved but ignored in calculations
- Re-upgrading restores full behavior without re-entering anything
See Partnersify plans for what each plan unlocks.
Updated