Answers
How do you verify affiliate income before buying a website?
Short answer: Verify affiliate income in each programme's own dashboard, viewed live, for 12 to 24 months, and match the payouts to bank or PayPal deposits. Check revenue by programme for concentration, use paid rather than pending commissions, confirm the tracking IDs belong to this site, and read each programme's terms, since many accounts cannot transfer to a buyer.
Where does affiliate income actually come from?
Affiliate income lives in each programme's dashboard: Amazon Associates, an affiliate network, or a merchant's own programme. Ask the seller for a live screen share of every dashboard for 12 to 24 months, and match the payouts to bank or PayPal deposits. A spreadsheet total is a claim; the dashboards and the deposits are evidence.
Which checks catch inflated affiliate income?
- Earnings by programme and by month. One programme above 60% of revenue is concentration: a commission cut or closure hits the whole business.
- Pending against paid. Many programmes reverse commissions for returns or cancelled orders. Look at paid amounts, not pending.
- Tracking IDs. Make sure the earnings belong to tracking IDs used on this site. A seller with several sites may share one account.
- Earnings per visitor. Divide monthly commission by organic visits. A big jump without a traffic change usually has a one-off cause, such as a seasonal sale.
- Terms. Read the programme's operating policies: Amazon publishes its Associates programme policies, and most programmes forbid some promotion methods. A site that breaks them can lose the account after you buy it.
Can the affiliate accounts be transferred?
Often not. Many programmes need the new owner to open their own account and be approved, and commission rates can differ for a new account. Ask which programmes allow a transfer, and get the rest approved under your name before closing, or build the gap into the price.
What does the checker flag on affiliate listings?
Run the listing through the red-flag checker. Typical flags are dependence on Amazon or another platform, organic search over half of traffic, last month below the average and no connected data source.
Questions to send the seller
- Which affiliate programmes pay this site, and what share of revenue is each, by month, for 24 months?
- Can you screen-share the dashboards and the deposits they paid into?
- Are any tracking IDs shared with other sites you own?
- Has any programme cut rates, warned you or closed your account?
Sources
- Amazon Associates Central, Associates Program Policies, read 12 October 2026
- Google Analytics Help, Access and data-restriction management, read 7 October 2026
- FirstPass Memo, red-flag checker rules, our own rules, published as /rules.json
- FirstPass Memo, seller question bank, October 2026 (general checklist), our own questions
Related
- How to tell if revenue is fake
- How to verify website traffic
- Red flag: depends on a platform
- Is buying a website worth it?
- Glossary of listing terms
- More questions buyers ask
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Composite examples are invented and labelled. Figures from other sites are quoted with a link and the date we read them; FirstPass figures are asking prices and seller-stated profit, not sale prices. Informational screening only, not investment, legal or tax advice.