Forex Affiliate Deals – CPA versus Rev Share

Listed Under: Forex Affiliate Marketing

A question often asked by many new forex affiliates is whether to choose a CPA deal or a revenue share deal.

To explain briefly, a CPA also known as Cost Per Acquisition, is where a forex affiliate program pays you a set fee for every trader that you bring in, regardless of their earnings. The only constraint being the set parameters or criteria that could include a minimum deposit amount, or a minimum commission or trading level your traders must reach in order for you to be paid out the CPA.

Revenue share is where you get a percentage, usually starting at 20%, of the trader’s revenue that they generate. There is a difference of opinion and it is suggested that you choose a CPA if you are in for the short term, or look towards revenue share towards a long term benefit.

Although bear in mind that both the deals have their own pros and cons. The truth is that if a forex affiliate wants to be successful, then revenue share would be the better deal.

To better understand this, let’s take the example of the 10Pips Affiliate Program.

Their revenue share model is as below.

• 20% for 0-10 monthly real traders
• 23% for 11-25 monthly real traders
• 28% for over 25 monthly real traders

And the CPA model is:

• 150$ for 0-10 monthly real traders
• 200$ for 11-25 monthly real traders
• 250$ for over 25 monthly real traders

Assuming that you have referred 5 traders in a calendar month (First Month), let’s analyze how both of the above models behave.

Revenue Share:

• Total Traders Referred: 5
• Total combined deposits made: $3000 ($600 per trader)
• Total combined spreads: $2000

The affiliate gains (@20% Revenue Share): 400$

CPA:

• Total Traders Referred: 5
• Total combined deposits made: $3000 ($600 per trader)
• Total combined spreads: $2000

The affiliate gains: $750 ($150 x 5 Traders)

Moving on to the Second Month, let’s assume that there are no new traders refered by you. It is quite evident that in the second month, the CPA paid out would be zero.

Let’s assume the following figures:

• Total Active Traders: 2
• Total combined deposits made: $0
• Trader #1′s total spreads: $300
• Trader #2′s total spreads: $500

The affiliate gains (@20% Revenue Share): $160

So combining the two months, under a CPA deal, a forex affiliate would tend to gain $750 and under a revenue share deal the forex affiliate would gain $560.

In conclusion, a Revenue Share deal always works best for the long term and for a regular income, as compared to a CPA which brings in big money but only for a limited period of time.