Affiliate Terms

1. Who runs this program

SpareForge (spareforge.com) is a brand of Equipment Connections LLC, a Minnesota limited liability company ("we", "us"). These terms cover the SpareForge Affiliate Program. By signing up you ("affiliate", "you") agree to them, along with our general Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.

2. Eligibility

• You must be at least 18 years old.
• You must be a real business, creator, publisher or individual with a genuine way to reach people.
• You need a bank account or debit card you can connect through Stripe in a supported country (currently the United States).
• Accounts are approved right away so your link works immediately. We may review, pause or reject any account at any time.

3. How referrals are tracked

• Your link is any spareforge.com address with ?ref=YOURCODE added.
• When someone clicks it, we save a first-party cookie in their browser for 60 days. The first affiliate link they click gets the credit (first touch). Later affiliate links do not replace it.
• The visitor becomes your referral if they create an account, or make their first purchase, while that cookie is in place. A customer can only be referred once.
• Tracking depends on cookies. If a visitor blocks or clears cookies, switches devices, or never uses your link, we may not be able to credit you. Our records decide whether a referral counts.

4. Commission and tiers

You earn a percentage of what a referred customer actually pays us for paid plans and boosts (after discounts, before tax). Your rate is set by your tier at the time each payment comes in:

• Partner: 15% (0 to 4 active paying referrals)
• Pro: 20% (5 to 14 active paying referrals)
• Elite: 25% (15+ active paying referrals)

"Active paying referrals" means the number of different customers you referred who made a paid payment in the last 30 days, including the payment being credited.

5. The 12-month window and one-time payments

• Subscriptions: you earn on each paid invoice during the first 12 months after the customer became your referral. After 12 months, commission on that customer stops, even if they keep paying.
• One-time payments (such as boosts): you earn the same percentage once on that payment, if it is made within the 12-month window.
• No commission is earned on free plans, sales between users, or anything we do not get paid for.

6. Payouts (Stripe only)

• Payouts are made only through Stripe Connect to the account you set up with Stripe. We do not pay by PayPal, Venmo, check, cash or direct bank transfer.
• On the 1st of each month, if your unpaid commission balance is $50 or more, we transfer it to your connected Stripe account. Stripe then pays it out to your bank on its own schedule. Balances under $50 roll forward.
• Commissions earned before you finish Stripe onboarding are held. They are released to your payable balance once Stripe confirms your account can receive transfers.
• Stripe may ask you for identity and tax details. Stripe's own terms apply to your connected account.

7. Refunds and chargebacks

If a referred payment is refunded, partly refunded or disputed, the commission on that payment is reversed by the same share. If it was already paid out, we reverse that amount from the Stripe transfer or deduct it from future commissions.

8. Rules for promoting

• No self-referrals. You cannot earn on your own account, email, business, or accounts you control.
• No spam: no unsolicited bulk email, texts, DMs, or comment flooding.
• No fake reviews, fake testimonials or made-up results.
• No bidding on our brand names (SpareForge or any Equipment Connections LLC brand, including misspellings) in paid search ads, and no ads that look like they come from us.
• No misleading claims about prices, features, earnings or what customers will get. Use our published pricing and describe the service honestly.
• Disclose that you may earn a commission when you share your link, as the law requires.
• No cookie stuffing, forced clicks, incentivized signups we have not approved, or other tricks.

9. Fraud and termination

You or we may end your participation at any time. If we find fraud, self-referrals, spam or another breach of these terms, we may close your account immediately and cancel unpaid commissions connected to that activity. When an account ends for any other reason, valid earned commissions of $50 or more are paid on the next monthly run.

10. Independent contractor and taxes

You are an independent contractor, not an employee, partner or agent of Equipment Connections LLC. You cannot make promises on our behalf. You are responsible for your own taxes. Stripe may collect tax information from you and issue tax forms where required.

11. Changes to the program

Equipment Connections LLC may change these terms, the commission rates, or end the program. We will post changes on this page and give notice by email or on your dashboard before they take effect. Changes apply to payments made after they take effect.

12. Limits and governing law

The program is provided as is. Our total liability to you under these terms is limited to the unpaid commissions you have validly earned. These terms are governed by the laws of the State of Minnesota, and any dispute will be handled in the state or federal courts located in Minnesota.

13. Contact

Questions about the program? Contact us.