The percentage of publisher commission charged by affiliate networks to brands as a fee for using the network's infrastructure. Standard rate: 20-30% of the publisher commission value; if the brand pays a publisher $100 commission, the network charges an additional $20-30 override fee, bringing total cost to $120-130. Also called: network override, network margin, network fee. Budget impact: brands must account for the transaction fee when calculating total cost of affiliate revenue; a 10% commission rate with a 25% transaction fee costs the brand 12.5% of revenue (10% commission + 2.5% network fee, calculated as 25% × 10%). Comparison across networks: Impact Radius: transaction fee + monthly platform fee model; Awin: approximately 25-30% override on commissions; ShareASale: approximately 20% override; CJ Affiliate: approximately 25-30% override. Optimization: transaction fees are non-negotiable at standard tiers for most brands, but enterprise-tier programs and high-volume publishers may negotiate reduced override rates with network account managers.
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