What does PPS  mean?

The abbreviation PPS stands for “Pay per Sale“. PPS is a model in the field of online marketing where billing is based on sales. With this billing method, the affiliate operator receives his commission exactly when a visitor has made a purchase on the target page. However, it must also be noted that the revocation period must have elapsed before the commission is paid out.

How PPS works

With the Pay per Sale (PPS) model, an affiliate who participates in an affiliate program such as the Amazon PartnerNet or another affiliate network of a manufacturer receives an affiliate commission if one of the products he advertises on his website was ordered via his affiliate link. As usual, however, he must wait for the withdrawal period to expire before the commission can actually be paid out. Without this additional condition, it could otherwise happen that the customer returns the goods, the seller has to refund the order amount and the commission already paid remains without having generated any sales revenue. The affiliate partner therefore pays in advance and works (on a commission basis) as a kind of intermediary.

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The amount of the commission can be determined individually. A variable commission based on the sales value or a fixed commission per order or unit is also possible. In addition, it is also possible for the affiliate to participate in the sales on the basis of a lifetime commission. The affiliate receives a certain commission for a lifetime (or at least for a longer period of time) for each order or payment made by an acquired customer. Both the seller and the affiliate must decide individually and depending on all general conditions which model is the most sensible for them. Here a multitude of factors have to be considered.

What are the alternatives to PPS?

Besides the billing method “PPS” there are many other models in online marketing, according to which you can calculate the commissions of affiliates. Here are a few of the more prominent alternatives:

  • Pay per Click / Cost per Click (PPC bzw. CPC)
  • Pay per Lead / Cost per Lead (PPL bzw. CPL)
  • Pay per Order / Cost per Order (PPO bzw. CPO)
  • Pay per View / Cost per View (PPV bzw. CPV)
  • Pay per Action / Cost per Action (PPA bzw. CPA)