Tuning Labs Affiliate Program

01

Program Overview

Tuning Labs's affiliate program lets you earn recurring commissions by referring paying subscribers to the platform. Unlike one-time bounty programs, you earn on every payment — the first subscription and every renewal for the lifetime of that customer.

🔁 Truly Recurring Commissions fire on every Stripe invoice. Refer someone to any plan and earn your commission for as long as they stay subscribed. The rate you sign up at is locked into your agreement — it won't change even if future rates are adjusted.

🏁

No Minimum Threshold

Get paid on every dollar earned — even small commissions are paid out within 48 hours of the 2-day hold period clearing.

🔄

Lifetime Renewals

Once a subscriber is attributed to your affiliate code, every future payment on their subscription generates a commission for you.

👥

Build a Team

Approved Master Affiliates can recruit and manage their own sub-affiliate network with a personalized landing page and team dashboard.

⚡

Fast Payouts

Commissions move through a 2-day hold, then are approved and scheduled for payment within 48 hours via PayPal, ACH, or Stripe Connect.

02

Affiliate Types & Hierarchy

There are three types of affiliates in the Tuning Labs program, organized in a two-level hierarchy.

OWNER (tuninglabs.net admin) │ ├── Master Affiliate A (code: EXAMPLE) │ ├── Sub-Affiliate 1 │ ├── Sub-Affiliate 2 │ └── Sub-Affiliate 3 │ ├── Master Affiliate B (code: PARTNER2) │ └── Sub-Affiliate 4 │ └── Direct Affiliate C (no master)

Status Definitions

Status	What it means
pending_review	Application submitted — awaiting master or owner approval
pending_owner_review	Sub's 7-day master approval window expired — escalated to owner
active	Approved — eligible to earn commissions and share referral links
inactive	Manually deactivated by admin
rejected	Application was denied

ℹ️ 7-Day Master Window When a sub-affiliate applies under a master, the master has 7 days to approve or reject. If the deadline passes without action, the application is automatically escalated to the platform owner for review.

03

Commissions & Earnings

Commissions are calculated as a percentage of every payment received — both the initial subscription and all renewals. The current commission rate is shown below — when you sign up, this rate becomes your locked-in contracted rate.

Commission Rates by Plan

Plan	Billing	Price	Your Cut	Rate
Loading pricing…

Rate Lock Guarantee The commission rate shown above is the current rate. When you sign up and are approved, this rate is locked into your agreement and will not change — even if rates are adjusted for future affiliates.

⏱ Hold Period All commissions have a 2-day hold period after Stripe confirms payment. This guards against refunds or chargebacks before funds are committed.

04

How to Apply

Option A — Direct Application

Apply directly without a referral from an existing master affiliate. Your application goes to the platform owner for review.

1

Fill out the application form

Visit /portal/affiliate-apply.html and complete your name, email, preferred affiliate code, and W-9 tax information.

2

Application sent for owner review

Your application is set to pending_review and the owner is notified by email. You have a 7-day deadline for review.

3

Owner approves your application

Once approved, your status becomes active. A unique portal access token is generated and a Cloudflare email route is created for your affiliate code.

4

Receive your welcome email

You'll receive an email containing your Affiliate Code (e.g. GARAGE01), your Portal Token (tlaff_...), and a login link to your dashboard.

Option B — Apply Under a Master Affiliate

If you were invited by a master affiliate, visit their personalized link. Your application routes to them first before any owner review.

Master Affiliate Referral URL

https://tuninglabs.net/affiliate.html?ref=MASTERCODE

When you apply via a master's referral link, the master_ref field is pre-populated. The master has 7 days to approve or reject your application from their dashboard. If they don't act within 7 days, it escalates to the owner automatically.

✅ After Approval Whether approved by a master or the owner, you receive the same welcome email with your code and portal token. You log in at /portal/affiliate-login.html.

05

Master Affiliate Guide

Master affiliates have a team dashboard in addition to their personal affiliate portal. From it, you can view, approve, and reject sub-affiliates who apply under your code.

Your Personal Recruitment URL

Share this link to recruit sub-affiliates

https://tuninglabs.net/affiliate.html?ref=YOURCODE

What You Can Do as a Master

Action	Details
View your team	See all sub-affiliates under your code — any status (pending, active, rejected, etc.)
Approve sub-affiliates	Within the 7-day window; triggers token generation and welcome email to the sub
Reject sub-affiliates	Decline an application — the sub is notified and cannot reapply under the same code

⏰ Act Within 7 Days When a sub applies under your code, you have exactly 7 days to approve or reject. After that, the application is automatically escalated to the platform owner and removed from your team queue.

Auto-Escalation

Every time you load your team dashboard, the system checks for any sub-applications that have passed their 7-day deadline. Those are automatically moved to pending_owner_review and their master_affiliate_id link is removed, making them direct applications for the owner to handle.

06

Sub-Affiliate Guide

As a sub-affiliate, you operate independently — your portal, your code, and your earnings are entirely yours. The only connection to your master is that they approved your application.

After You're Approved

1

Receive your welcome email

Contains your affiliate code and portal token (tlaff_...).

2

Log into your portal

Visit /portal/affiliate-login.html and enter your code + token.

3

Set up your payout method

Add your PayPal email, ACH bank details, or connect your Stripe account.

4

Start sharing your affiliate link

Add the tracking snippet to your landing pages and share referral links containing ?aff=YOURCODE.

🔐 Token Independence Your portal access token is completely independent of your master's. If the master's token is reset or revoked, your access is unaffected.

07

Tracking & Attribution

Tuning Labs uses a two-part tracking system: a JavaScript snippet on your landing pages, and URL parameter attribution during checkout.

The Tracking Snippet

Paste this on any landing page you own that links to Tuning Labs. It auto-tags outbound links and fires a visit pixel to record the click in your dashboard.

JavaScript · Paste before </body>

Attribution Chain

Once a visitor clicks your link, here's how Tuning Labs attributes that customer to your affiliate account permanently:

→

Visitor clicks your link

Arrives at tuninglabs.net with ?aff=YOURCODE in the URL.

→

Checkout captures the code

The ref_code is stored in Stripe checkout session metadata.

→

Customer is permanently attributed

On checkout completion, a affiliate_attributions record links that Stripe customer ID to your affiliate ID — forever.

→

Every renewal pays you

Each time their subscription renews, the webhook looks up the attribution and creates a new commission record for you.

08

Commission Lifecycle

Each commission passes through defined states from the moment a payment is received until it is paid out to you.

pending → eligible → approved → scheduled → paid

↘ voided

Status	Trigger	Timeline
pending	Stripe payment webhook fires; hold period begins	Immediate
eligible	2-day hold period has elapsed; ready for admin approval	+2 days
approved	Admin runs the approve eligible commissions action	Shortly after eligible
scheduled	Admin schedules a payout batch	Within 48hr of approval
paid	Payment sent and marked complete	Final state
voided	Manually voided (e.g., refund or chargeback)	Any pre-paid state

🔒 Idempotent Webhooks Every Stripe event is logged by its unique event ID. Duplicate webhook deliveries are automatically ignored, so you'll never receive double commissions.

09

Payout Methods & Process

Set up your preferred payout method in your affiliate portal. All methods are supported — choose what works best for you.

💙

PayPal

Add your PayPal email in the dashboard. Most common and fastest to set up.

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ACH Direct Deposit

Enter routing + account number. Stored with AES-256 encryption. US banks only.

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Stripe Connect

Complete Stripe's onboarding flow to receive funds directly to a Stripe account.

Payout Process

1

Commissions reach "eligible" status

After the 2-day hold period, commissions are eligible for payout.

2

Admin schedules a payout batch

All eligible commissions are grouped by affiliate and a payout record is created with status scheduled.

3

Payment is sent externally

Admin sends payment through PayPal, ACH bank transfer, or Stripe Connect based on your configured method.

4

Payout marked as paid

Admin marks the payout complete. Status moves to paid and all linked commissions are closed.

10

Tax & W-9 Compliance

Tuning Labs collects W-9 information to comply with IRS reporting requirements. This is collected during your application in Step 2.

Required W-9 Information

Field	Notes
Legal Name	As shown on your tax return
Business Name / DBA	Optional — only if different from legal name
Federal Tax Classification	Individual, C-Corp, S-Corp, Partnership, LLC, Trust, or Other
Address, City, State, ZIP	Required for all affiliates
TIN Type	SSN or EIN
TIN	AES-256-GCM encrypted — only last 4 digits visible in dashboard
Electronic Signature	Typed legal name + checkbox + IP address + timestamp

IRS Certification

📋 Under penalties of perjury, you certify that: (1) The number shown on this form is your correct taxpayer identification number; and (2) You are not subject to backup withholding; and (3) You are a U.S. citizen or other U.S. person.

TIN Security

Your full TIN is never stored in plain text. It is encrypted with AES-256-GCM before being saved to the database. Only the last 4 digits are displayed in any UI or API response. The full TIN can only be accessed by the platform owner through a dedicated secure endpoint.

11

Admin Workflow

Platform administrators manage the full affiliate lifecycle from a dedicated admin dashboard. Below is a summary of daily and recurring tasks.

Daily Admin Tasks

Review new applications /portal/admin-affiliates.html Daily

Approve / reject applications Admin Affiliates page Daily

Approve eligible commissions Admin Commissions Daily

Schedule payout batches Admin Payouts As needed

Mark payouts as paid Admin Payouts After payment sent

Review W-9 submissions Admin W-9 page On new submission

Export W-9 CSV for IRS Admin W-9 page Tax season

Stripe Catalog Management

Keep the internal product catalog in sync with Stripe's live products and prices. Always run a dry-run preview before executing a sync.

Task	Action
Preview catalog sync	`POST /api/admin/stripe/sync-catalog { dry_run: true }`
Run catalog sync	`POST /api/admin/stripe/sync-catalog { dry_run: false }`
View synced catalog	`GET /api/admin/stripe/catalog`
Override a price ID	`PATCH /api/admin/stripe/catalog`

12

Security & Data Protection

Tuning Labs is built with security-first design throughout the affiliate program.

Portal Token Auth

All affiliate API endpoints require a Bearer token (tlaff_...). Only the SHA-256 hash is stored — the plain token is never persisted.

TIN Encryption

Taxpayer ID numbers are encrypted with AES-256-GCM before storage. Last 4 digits only are displayed in any UI or API response.

ACH Encryption

Bank routing and account numbers are stored with AES-256-GCM encryption. Only the last 4 digits of the account number are shown.

IP Hashing

Visitor IPs recorded in click tracking are SHA-256 hashed — full IP addresses are never stored in the database.

Webhook Idempotency

Every Stripe event is deduplicated by its unique event ID, preventing duplicate commission creation from repeated webhook deliveries.

Team Isolation

Masters can only view and act on sub-affiliates who applied under their code. Cross-master access is enforced at the API level with 404 responses.

13

Frequently Asked Questions

As soon as you're approved and a customer subscribes using your affiliate link or code. The commission is created immediately when Stripe confirms payment, entering a 2-day hold period before becoming eligible for payout.

Both. You earn a commission on the customer's initial subscription payment AND on every renewal payment for the lifetime of that subscription. As long as the subscriber stays active, you keep earning.

There is no minimum threshold. Even a single commission will be paid out within 48 hours of the 2-day hold period clearing.

Your application is automatically escalated to the platform owner for review. Your master_affiliate_id link is removed and you become a direct application. The owner will review and approve or reject your application directly.

Yes. Your full TIN (Social Security Number or EIN) is encrypted with AES-256-GCM before being stored in the database. Only the last 4 digits are ever displayed in any interface. The full TIN can only be decrypted by the platform owner through a secured admin-only endpoint.

Yes. You can update your preferred payout method at any time through your affiliate portal dashboard under Payout Accounts. Changes apply to the next scheduled payout batch.

Yes. You can register multiple landing pages in your portal dashboard. Each page gets its own click tracking, and you can see which pages are driving the most traffic through the click count metrics.

The 2-day hold period exists to protect against refunds. If a refund or chargeback occurs before a commission becomes eligible, the commission can be voided by the admin. Commissions that have already been paid out are handled on a case-by-case basis.

Add ?aff=YOURCODE to any Tuning Labs URL. Alternatively, paste the provided JavaScript tracking snippet on your landing pages — it will automatically append your affiliate code to all Tuning Labs links on the page.

Affiliate ProgramUser Guide