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Affiliate marketing only works if brands trust that sales are real and creators trust that they’ll be paid fairly. This page explains the protections built into the Freeq Growth Network.

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Only real orders count

Sales, refunds and payment disputes reach us as messages from Shopify, called webhooks. Shopify signs every message with a secret that only it and the Freeq Growth Network know. We check that signature before acting on anything. A message that isn’t signed correctly is rejected. This means nobody can pretend to be Shopify and send us made-up orders or refunds. It proves a message really came from Shopify. It doesn’t stop someone placing a fake order in the store itself; the holding period and the checks below are there for that. We also only pay a creator when an order can be tied to a real, recorded click. See How credit is decided.

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Holding money until a sale is confirmed

Commission isn’t paid the moment a sale happens. It’s held for at least 30 days, so returns and payment reversals can show up first. See Holding periods and disputes.

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The risk check

The Freeq Growth Network looks at several signals together to decide how long a commission should be held. Today these checks run in observe-only mode (see the note below), so the longer holds listed here apply once we switch enforcement on:
  • Shopify’s own fraud rating for the order. Shopify rates each order’s risk. Medium- and high-risk orders get longer holds. While Shopify is still rating an order, we wait for its answer.
  • Unusual orders. An order that is much bigger than usual can get a longer hold.
  • The creator’s track record. We keep a running score based on a creator’s history of chargebacks and refunds. A worse score means longer holds.
  • Real losses. If a creator’s sales have led to real money being lost to late chargebacks, a safety rule steps in.
The strongest signal decides the hold. Holds can only get longer, never shorter. Hold lengths range from 30 days (standard) to 120 days (highest risk).
These risk checks currently observe and record only. For now, they don’t lengthen holds or pause payouts. We switch enforcement on when it’s ready. Until then, normal holds are 30 days.

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Pausing and un-pausing payouts

If a creator’s risk gets very high, their payouts can be paused. Automatic pauses follow the same rule as the risk check above: they are recorded but not yet enforced. Our team can still pause payouts by hand. While paused:
  • none of their held commission is released
  • their sales are still recorded, so nothing is lost
  • the creator sees an amber banner on their Earnings page with the reason
A pause caused by the creator’s running score is reviewed every day. When the score improves enough, and there’s no other reason for the pause, payouts restart on their own. Pauses caused by real losses, or placed by our team, are lifted by our team after review.

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Self-purchase detection

Creators shouldn’t earn commission by buying through their own link. The Freeq Growth Network can spot this with a privacy-safe device match:
  • The store’s tracking helper creates a one-way scrambled code (a pseudonymous device code) from the shopper’s device. It can’t be turned back into the device details it came from.
  • The same kind of code is made for the creator’s own device.
  • If an order’s code matches the creator’s, the order gets the longest hold instead of paying out automatically.
Consent comes first. Before making any device code, the tracking helper asks Shopify whether the shopper has agreed to tracking. If the shopper hasn’t agreed (for example, in regions where consent is required), no code is made.
Device matching is switched off by default. Where it is on, it currently observes and records only. It doesn’t change holds until enforcement is switched on.

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What creators see

When a commission is held longer or paused, creators see a short, plain reason, for example “Shopify flagged this order for an extended review window”. They never see raw scores or private review notes.

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What brands see

Brands can see each attributed order’s status, including returns and chargebacks, on their campaign pages. Orders that couldn’t be credited show the reason.

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A permanent record of who earned what

Each step of a sale’s life is written to a blockchain: a public, shared record that can’t be quietly changed afterwards. This includes the click being credited, the sale being confirmed, the commission being settled, and any return or chargeback.
  • This lets anyone check that the record of who earned what hasn’t been altered.
  • It only records who drove which sale. It holds no money and no personal details like names or emails.
  • Money always moves through Stripe and our own accounts.

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Your data stays yours

  • Every brand and creator only sees their own campaigns, sales and earnings.
  • Live updates are sent only to the people they belong to: a sale goes to the creator who earned it and the brand that owns the campaign.
  • Creators never see another creator’s earnings, and only see their own first-touch credit.