> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://www.referly.so/docs/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.
# Product-based commissions
> Restrict your Referly base commission plan to specific products, or use a custom commission plan with Product conditions to pay a different rate per product, service, or Shopify collection.
Most programs pay one commission rate on every sale. But sometimes you want to pay only on certain products, or pay more on a high-margin product and less on a discounted one. Referly handles those two jobs in two different places, and it helps to know which one you need before you start.
* **Pay on some products but not others?** Your **Base Commission Plan** can do that on its own.
* **Pay a different rate depending on which product was bought?** That needs a **custom commission plan**.
Here's how each one works.
## Limit your base plan to certain products
Your program has one **Base Commission Plan**, set under **Program Settings** → **Program Details** → **General**. It has a single **Commission Type** (percentage or flat) and one **Commission Rate**, and it does have a product field: **Customer buys any of these products/plans**.
That field is a filter, not a rate picker. It decides *whether* the commission is paid, not *how much*:
* **Leave it blank** and the commission applies to every referred purchase, whatever the customer bought. This is the default.
* **Add one or more products** and the commission is paid only when the purchase includes something on your list. If the customer buys anything that isn't on the list, the affiliate earns nothing on that sale.
Filling this in is stricter than it looks. There is no fallback rate behind it — a sale that doesn't match your product list pays no commission at all, rather than dropping back to a lower rate. If you want unlisted products to still earn something, use a custom commission plan instead.
The field appears when your base plan gives a **Cash Reward** and pays when a **Customer Makes a Payment**. It searches the same connected integrations described in the next section.
## Why different rates per product need a custom plan
The base plan has one **Commission Rate**, so it can't pay 20% on one product and 10% on another. It's one rate, with an optional product filter in front of it.
To pay by product, you create a **custom commission plan**. Custom plans let you add several rates in one plan, each with its own **conditions** that check what was bought, plus a default rate for everything else. That's the piece the base plan doesn't have.
A custom plan is also the safer choice when you want unmatched products to still earn a normal rate, since its **Default** commission catches everything your product rules don't.
## Connect where you sell
So you can search for products by name instead of typing IDs, connect the platform your sales run through first. Referly pulls your product list from these connected integrations:
* [Stripe](/docs/help-center/integrations/stripe)
* [Shopify](/docs/help-center/integrations/shopify)
* [WooCommerce](/docs/help-center/integrations/woocommerce)
* [Polar](/docs/help-center/integrations/polar)
**Collections** are a Shopify feature, so the option to target a collection only appears when Shopify is connected. With Stripe, WooCommerce, or Polar you target individual products.
You don't strictly need an integration to build the rule, but without one you'd have to enter product IDs by hand. See [connect an integration](/docs/help-center/integrations/overview) to link a platform.
## Create a custom commission plan
Open **Program Settings** → **Program Details** → **Commission Plans**. At the top you'll see your **Base Commission Plan** with a **Default Plan** badge. To make a new plan, select **Add Commission Plan**.
The plan builder opens. It has three parts:
* **Commissions** tabs across the top. Every plan starts with a **Default** commission, and you add more as **Commission 1**, **Commission 2**, and so on. Each tab is one rate.
* A **Conditions** panel on the left, where you decide when a commission applies.
* A **Reward** panel on the right, where you set what the affiliate earns when it applies.
Give the plan a name so you can recognize it later, then move to the commission you want to attach the product rate to.
## Add a Product condition
Product-based rates work by adding a **commission** with a **Product** condition, then giving it the reward you want for those products. Pick the **Add** tab to create a new commission (for example **Commission 1**), or select an existing one.
In its **Conditions** panel, select **Add condition**. Two dropdowns appear:
Open the first dropdown (**Rule type**) and choose **Product**. This tells the commission to look at what the customer bought.
Open the second dropdown (**Condition**) and pick how to match:
* **Any of** — the reward applies when the purchase includes one of the products you select.
* **None of** — the reward applies to everything except the products you select.
## Search and select your products
A search box appears below the condition. Start typing a product name and Referly searches your connected integrations, then shows matching results to pick from. You can select more than one.
* If **Shopify** is connected, the box reads **Search products or collections...** and collection results are marked with `(collection)` so you can tell them apart from individual products.
* With other integrations, the box reads **Search products...** and shows individual products only.
* **Leave the box blank to apply the rate to all products.** That's useful for a catch-all rate paired with **None of**, or when the condition is really about something else.
Under the box, a **Connected integrations** banner confirms where products are coming from, with a **Manage integrations** button. If you haven't connected anything yet, it reads **No product integration connected** and offers a **Connect Integration** button — you can still type product IDs manually in the meantime.
## Set the reward for those products
In the **Reward** panel on the right, set what the affiliate earns when this commission's conditions match — a percentage of the sale or a flat amount. This is the rate that will apply to the products you chose.
Every plan also keeps a **Default** commission. It has no required conditions and catches any sale your other commissions don't match, so nothing goes unpaid. Set the Default to your normal rate, and let each product commission override it for its own products.
Commissions are checked in order, left to right, and the first one whose conditions match wins. The **Default** applies to anything left over. So put your most specific product rates first, and keep the Default as your fallback rate.
## Add more than one product rate
To pay several different rates by product, add a commission for each one. Use the **Add** tab to create **Commission 2**, **Commission 3**, and so on, and give each its own **Product** condition and **Reward**.
You can also combine a product with another check inside a single commission — for example a product **and** a minimum order amount. When a commission has two or more conditions, a selector appears:
* **ALL conditions must match** — every condition has to be true.
* **ANY condition can match** — the reward applies if at least one is true.
For most product-based rates a single **Product** condition is all you need.
## Save and assign the plan
Save the plan when it looks right. A custom plan only affects affiliates once it's assigned to them. You can:
* Set it as the **default** plan new affiliates get, from the Commission Plans page.
* Assign it to an [affiliate group](/docs/help-center/manage/affiliates/groups).
* [Change the plan on an individual affiliate](/docs/help-center/manage/affiliates/change-commission-plan) or on a [referred customer](/docs/help-center/manage/customers/change-commission-plan) using the **Change Commission Plan** option.
Once the plan is assigned, referred sales that include your chosen products pay the product rate, and everything else pays the plan's Default rate.
## Related
See how Referly decides what an affiliate earns on each sale.
Vary commission by order amount, landing page, coupon, and more.
Assign a custom commission plan to specific affiliates.
Link Stripe, Shopify, WooCommerce, or Polar to search products by name.