Affiliate Program Terms

1. Acceptance & Program Overview

This page summarizes the HotDealsNearby.com Affiliate Program for applicants and participating affiliates. Under the signed Affiliate / Sales Representative Agreement, you act as a non-exclusive independent contractor promoting our paid services (Premium, Featured, Boosted, Managed Services, Analytics, etc.). Approval is at our sole discretion and may be revoked at any time.

2. Commissions & Calculation

Commission Structure

• Initial Sale Commission: 15% of the net initial sale (first payment or one-time fee) for each paid subscription or service directly attributable to you
• Recurring Commission: 15% of recurring monthly revenue from those clients for as long as they remain active and paying and while this Affiliate Agreement remains in effect

Commission Calculations

Commissions are calculated on net amounts after:

• Applicable taxes
• Discounts
• Refunds
• Chargebacks
• Credits (including referral code discounts)

Non-Commissionable Activities

• Free listings or trials
• Refunds or partial refunds
• Canceled accounts (commissions cease immediately)
• Chargebacks or disputed payments
• Credits issued by us for service failures

3. Referral Codes & Attribution

How Attribution Works

• Affiliates may provide customers with a unique referral code
• Critical Requirement: The customer must enter your referral code at checkout for the sale to be attributed to you
• Attribution applies even if no discount is used; the code alone triggers attribution
• Without a referral code entered, there is no attribution regardless of prior communication

Discounts & Renewals

• Any discount applied via referral code applies only to the initial payment
• Renewals are charged at full price with no discount
• Discount amounts are deducted from commission calculations

Tracking & Verification

• We track sales via referral codes in our system
• We also use a manual verification process against payment records
• Sales must be logged in the Company-designated tracking system within 5 business days of the sale date. Logs submitted after 5 business days are not eligible for attribution. No exceptions without prior written approval from Company.
• We have final authority on all attribution decisions
• Attribution disputes must be submitted within 30 days of the sale; after 30 days, attribution is final

4. Payment & Payouts

Payout Schedule

• Payouts occur monthly via PayPal, ACH, or check
• Verified commissions are generally paid after our standard verification hold, which is up to 60 days after month-end. If additional review is required, payout timing may extend to 90 days total
• Minimum Threshold: Payouts only occur once your balance exceeds $50
• Balances below $50 roll over to the next month

Payout Holds & Verification

Standard verification hold: up to 60 days after month-end. If we detect suspicious activity, fraud indicators, chargeback risk, or other issues requiring additional review, we may extend the hold up to 90 days total. This matches our standard Agreement terms.

5. Chargebacks & Clawbacks

Commission Clawback

If a referred customer cancels, requests a refund, or their payment is charged back, we may claw back (recover) the commission by:

• Deducting it from future payouts, OR
• Invoicing you directly for the full amount

Your Obligation

• You agree to repay any overpaid, disputed, or clawed-back commissions within 30 days of written notice from us
• Failure to repay may result in suspension of payouts, account termination, or collection action

High Chargeback Rate

If more than 10% of your attributed sales result in chargebacks within a 90-day period, we may:

• Suspend your account pending investigation
• Terminate the Affiliate Agreement immediately
• Withhold all pending payouts

6. Affiliate Responsibilities & Independent Contractor Status

Standards of Conduct

• Promote ethically using only approved materials and accurate information
• Do not make false, misleading, or unsubstantiated claims about our services or results
• Use only marketing materials provided or approved by us in writing
• Comply with all applicable laws, including anti-spam (CAN-SPAM, TCPA), data privacy (GDPR, CCPA), and advertising regulations (FTC, ASA)

Independent Contractor Status

• You are an independent contractor — not an employee, partner, or agent
• You have no authority to bind us or enter contracts on our behalf
• You are solely responsible for your own taxes, expenses, insurance, and compliance

Confidentiality

You must keep our information confidential indefinitely: pricing models, customer data, platform strategies, commission percentages, and technical infrastructure. Confidentiality obligations survive termination of the signed Agreement.

7. Prohibited Activities

You may not engage in any of the following (non-exhaustive list):

Product/Service Misrepresentation

• Making false, misleading, or unsubstantiated claims about our services
• Guaranteeing specific results (sales, views, leads, revenue) when no such guarantee exists
• Claiming features or benefits we do not provide
• Testimonial fraud (creating fake testimonials or case studies)

Spamming & Illegal Activity

• Sending unsolicited email, SMS, calls, or messages (violates CAN-SPAM, TCPA)
• Spamming social media, forums, or review sites
• Violating any platform's terms of service with promotional content

Trademark & Brand Abuse

• Bidding on our trademarks or brand names in paid search (Google Ads, Bing, etc.)
• Using our brand names in your domain name without permission
• Creating confusing or deceptive branding implying endorsement

Fraud & Self-Dealing

• Self-referrals: Creating referrals for accounts you control or own (including fictional businesses)
• Abuse of Affiliates: Referring accounts owned or controlled by family members, household members, business partners, or any person or entity in which you hold a direct or indirect financial interest exceeding 3% - regardless of whether a commission benefit to you is the stated purpose.
• Shell Entities & Cutouts: Using any LLC, corporation, trust, or other entity - regardless of who nominally owns it - to route referrals, circumvent the self-referral prohibition, or collect commissions indirectly where a direct referral would be prohibited.
• Artificial Inflation: Any activity designed to artificially inflate referral numbers or commission amounts
• Stolen Referrals: Using affiliate codes or promo codes from other Affiliates
• Impersonation: Claiming to represent HotDealsNearby.com officially

Account Abuse & Manipulation

• Creating multiple affiliate accounts to circumvent limitations
• Manipulating or attempting to hack our tracking systems
• Using bots, scripts, or automation to artificially generate referrals
• Attempting to exploit or reverse-engineer our commission calculation system
• Improper Legal Action: Filing any claim against HotDealsNearby.com in any court or jurisdiction other than Kenton County, Kentucky. All disputes must be resolved exclusively in Kenton County, Kentucky per the signed Agreement. Filing elsewhere constitutes a material breach.

8. Term & Termination

Termination by Either Party

Either party may terminate with 30 days' written notice via email.

Immediate Termination by Us (For Cause)

We may terminate immediately without notice for:

• Breach of Terms or any violation of the signed Agreement
• Prohibited Activities listed in Section 7
• Fraud or Deception, including false claims or misrepresentation
• Non-Compliance with laws, FTC regulations, or advertising standards
• Repeated Violations despite warnings
• Suspected Fraud or unexplained spikes in referrals

Commission Impact Upon Termination

If You Terminate (Voluntary Departure): Recurring commissions stop immediately.

If We Terminate Without Cause: Recurring commissions on existing clients continue for up to 6 months or until the client cancels (whichever occurs first).

If We Terminate For Cause (Breach, Fraud, Violations): Recurring commissions stop immediately, and all pending payouts are forfeited.

9. Indemnification, IP Rights & Legal

Indemnification (Your Responsibility)

You agree to indemnify, defend, and hold harmless HotDealsNearby LLC and its officers, directors, employees, and affiliates from any claims, lawsuits, damages, losses, reasonable attorney fees and costs arising from:

• Your breach or violation of the signed Agreement
• Your promotional activities and marketing claims
• Your violation of law
• Third-party claims related to your actions

Intellectual Property Rights

• We grant you a limited, non-exclusive, revocable license to use our trademarks and logos only for approved promotional activities while you are an active affiliate
• Your license to use our IP terminates immediately upon account termination
• All intellectual property created by us remains our exclusive property

Legal Disputes

• Governing Law: The signed Agreement is governed by Kentucky law
• Jurisdiction: Disputes shall be resolved exclusively in state or federal courts in Kenton County, Kentucky
• Attorney Fees: The prevailing party in any litigation shall be entitled to recover its reasonable attorney fees and costs
• Additionally, if a court finds that you committed fraud or willful misconduct, you are responsible for all of our attorney fees and costs regardless of which party prevails.

10. Taxes & IRS Reporting

Tax Responsibility

You are responsible for all tax obligations, including income tax and self-employment tax. You are not an employee and receive no tax withholding or benefits.

Form W-9 Requirement

You must provide a completed IRS Form W-9 to receive payments. No payments will be issued until a valid W-9 is on file. Sales occurring before a valid W-9 is received are non-commissionable if the W-9 is not submitted within 14 days of your first attributed sale.

1099-NEC Reporting

If you earn $600 or more in a calendar year, we will issue Form 1099-NEC in January. You are responsible for reporting this income on your tax return.

11. Monitoring & Audits

Our Audit Rights

We reserve the right to audit your referrals, marketing practices, and commission calculations. You agree to provide documentation (email campaigns, website screenshots, social media posts, etc.) within 7 days of our audit request.

Anti-Fraud Monitoring

We continuously monitor for fraud indicators:

• Chargebacks exceeding normal rates
• Unusual spikes in referrals
• Low-quality or fake referrals
• Suspicious geographic or behavioral patterns

Cooperation Required

You agree to cooperate fully in any fraud investigation. Refusal to cooperate is grounds for termination.

12. Entire Agreement & Amendments

These web terms are informational only and do not constitute a binding contract. The formal Affiliate / Sales Representative Agreement (HDN_Affiliate_Agreement) that you sign upon acceptance is the complete and exclusive governing document and supersedes this page in its entirety. If you have not signed a formal Agreement, you are not an authorized affiliate and no commissions are owed.

Amendments to the formal Agreement require written signatures from both parties. No email, text, verbal communication, or update to this website - even from Company personnel - constitutes an amendment to a signed Agreement.