Referral and Affiliate Link Differences

On OzBargain we are programmatically making distinguishing between 3 types of links our users might post in the posts and in the comments.

What are the differences between referral and affiliate links & codes?

Generally, affiliate links & codes pay commission based on a sale or signup, whereas referral links & codes pay the referrer a predetermined benefit for each person referred.

• Pays site-credit that cannot be redeemed as real currency to be paid into referrer's bank or PayPal account.
• Don't usually require referrers to have a website or run a business.
• Usually encourage the referrers to share the link via email or social media.

• Pays the affiliates real currency, as a form of commission.
• Usually from affiliate networks (DGM, Commission Junction, LinkShare, etc) given to their affiliates, who run websites or marketing related business. Sometimes directly from merchants.
• There are usually rules affiliates need to abide in terms of where they can place the affiliate links, sometimes differ on merchant by merchant level.

Amaysim deals –

• Referral links via their Refer a Friend program are supported in the OzBargain referral system.
• Affiliate links via affiliate networks (such as DGM) are not allowed/supported.

Green Man Gaming deals –

• Referral links via their Recommend a Friend program are supported in the OzBargain referral system.
• Affiliate links via their Commission Junction affiliate program are not allowed/supported..