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Creator Desk
For creators
Written for the person choosing which programme to join and what to post. Rates and terms come from the networks’ own published figures, dated, with the awkward parts left in.
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Is it too early to build your Q4 gift guide?
Christmas stock was live at 12 US retailers and advent calendars at 36 on 2 September. But one popular seed term collapses to a single retailer.
7 min read · Read the guide →How do you write about a product you have not tested?
The evidence ladder, what a listing genuinely cannot tell you, five data traps we hit this week, and phrasing that stays honest without sounding hedged.
7 min read · Read the guide →How should a product roundup actually be structured?
One heading, one image and 2-4 bullets per item, a comparison table on top, and the method section almost nobody writes. Plus the ordering that wastes time.
8 min read · Read the guide →How to keep a link archive that survives a platform change
Your links live inside apps that change the rules without notice. A four-column record you own turns a platform change into an afternoon of work, not a loss.
6 min read · Read the guide →How do you choose which products to feature?
Four checks before you write: listing durability, retailer depth, price band fit, and whether you can say anything specific. All measured from live listings.
7 min read · Read the guide →What happens to your commission when the buyer sends it back?
Commission is provisional until the return window closes. Which categories carry the most reversal exposure, measured across 4,600 live listings.
7 min read · Read the guide →How many products should you link in one post?
Every link is a maintenance job. We re-requested 665 live retailer image URLs and 246 failed the same day. That is the argument for linking fewer things.
7 min read · Read the guide →Does the banner you link change what your reader pays?
One affiliate catalogue returned a dinnerware set at $159.95, 227.63 Canadian and 249.54 Australian dollars. What that costs a creator, measured today.
7 min read · Read the guide →Does a creator need their own website?
Worth owning for links you control and long-form pages, slow to pay off in search. How to measure a new site’s first months, sourced to Google’s own docs.
8 min read · Read the guide →Do discount codes outperform affiliate links?
We measured how often 3,214 live US listings were already discounted. In some categories two thirds are on sale, which changes what a creator code is worth.
8 min read · Read the guide →Do creators have to disclose gifted products?
Yes, and the FTC is specific. What counts as a material connection, where the disclosure must sit, and the wordings the regulator names as inadequate.
8 min read · Read the guide →Can you put affiliate links on Pinterest?
Yes, and Pinterest says so in writing. The rules its own commercial content guidelines set, and the one about volume that catches creators.
7 min read · Read the guide →What can a vintage resale creator actually link to?
Two kinds of retailer hold vintage inventory, both one-of-one. 55.6% of catalogued Corelle listings were already unavailable, and what to write instead.
7 min read · Read the guide →Affiliate programs for sneaker and streetwear creators
Sneaker and streetwear affiliate programs: what Nike, DICK'S, Foot Locker, Woot, StockX and eBay publish about rates, cookie windows and who gets in.
13 min read · Read the guide →Affiliate programs for jewellery and watch creators
What jewellery and watch affiliate programmes publish: Kay and Jared 5% to 7% on a 1-day cookie, Brilliant Earth 5% or 7% on 30 days, Amazon and eBay 4%.
15 min read · Read the guide →Which affiliate programmes actually fit a fitness creator?
Fitness affiliate programmes on their own published terms: Rogue Fitness pays 4%, Nike up to 15% on US sales, Myprotein up to 8% with a 30-day cookie.
12 min read · Read the guide →Can anyone actually tell you affiliate commission rates by category?
We tried four public routes to a category commission rate on 2 September 2026 and none published one. What the API exposes, and what can be measured.
10 min read · Read the guide →Which affiliate programmes actually carry Y2K fashion?
One marketplace holds 96% of Y2K affiliate inventory. Which 19 advertisers carry it, what each one holds, and which programmes to apply to first.
5 min read · Read the guide →Why do affiliate links break, and how do you check them?
Four failure modes measured in one live feed pull: one-of-one stock, image hosts that refuse you, unreplaced URL macros and titles that are not product names.
6 min read · Read the guide →When should a creator start posting Black Friday deals?
Half the discountable US listings we can see were already marked down on 1 September, 87 days early. What that means for when you publish, and what to publish.
6 min read · Read the guide →What happens when an affiliate link goes dead?
We checked 208 live affiliate links. 3 were dead, 87 could not be checked at all, and the difference is the thing that breaks link checkers.
6 min read · Read the guide →What should a creator contract actually say?
The clauses that cost creators money when they go missing: usage rights, exclusivity, payment terms, kill fees and approvals, explained plainly.
10 min read · Read the guide →