Invitation only
The affiliate agreement, in plain words.
The agreement between you and Kai Kran AS if you promote The Home Bartender's Cheat Code. Written plainly, and binding once you join the programme.
1Who this is between, and who handles the money
This programme is run by Kai Kran AS, organisation number 998235065, Norway, referred to here as "we" or "us". "You" means the person or company we accept into the affiliate programme.
Kai Kran AS is the founding company behind Quenched, the company that makes cocktailclub.com, and it now owns bartendercheatcode.com. You are dealing with an established drinks-technology company, not an anonymous side project.
Two well-known international companies handle the parts that matter to you, and neither depends on us doing anything by hand:
Paddle handles the payment. Paddle is a global payments company that acts as the merchant of record for every sale: it runs the checkout, charges the correct price and tax in each country, and issues the buyer's receipt. The money is processed by a real, established payments business, not by us directly.
Tolt tracks your sales and pays you. Tolt is an international platform that specialises in connecting affiliate programmes like ours to payment systems like Paddle. It records every purchase made through your link, calculates your commission automatically, and pays out through PayPal as its automatic payout engine, so your earnings arrive in your PayPal account on their own once you pass the payout threshold.
You will hold an account with Tolt, and their terms apply to that account alongside these.
2Joining is by invitation, and we can decline
The programme is invite-only. Being sent a link to apply is not acceptance. We approve each affiliate individually and may decline without giving a reason.
Signing up in Tolt is your acceptance of these terms. If you do not accept them, do not complete the signup.
3What you earn
25% of the ex-VAT amount on the book, and 20% on the course, of every sale you refer. Per unit, including gift purchases: a referred gift of five books pays commission on five units.
Two things to be clear about, because they change the number you actually receive:
- It is calculated after tax is removed, not on the price the buyer paid. The book is 29 USD. On a sale with no VAT, commission is 7.25 USD. On a sale carrying 25% VAT, the ex-VAT amount is 23.20 USD and commission is 5.80 USD.
- It is a percentage, not a fixed fee. It moves with tax and with any discount applied. This is deliberate: a fixed fee quietly becomes a larger share of a smaller sale, and we would rather the rule stayed the same in every country.
| Book price | 29 USD |
| Sale with no VAT, you receive | 7.25 USD |
| Sale with 25% VAT, you receive | 5.80 USD |
| Course price | 49 USD |
| Course, no VAT, you receive | 25.80 USD |
| Course, 25% VAT, you receive | 20.64 USD |
If you are given a discount coupon to share, commission remains the same percentage of the lower ex-VAT amount.
4When a commission is earned
A commission is earned when a referred sale completes and payment clears. It is attributed by the referral recorded when the buyer arrives through your link, within the tracking window set in Tolt.
Where two affiliates could claim the same sale, the most recent referral before purchase wins.
5When a commission is taken back
Refunds and chargebacks reverse the commission. Our refund policy is at Refunds. If a sale you referred is refunded or charged back, the commission for it is reversed automatically, whether or not it has already been counted toward a payout.
If a reversal happens after you have been paid, the amount is deducted from your next payout. If no further payout follows within six months, we will not pursue you for it.
6Getting paid
Payouts are made through Tolt, via PayPal, to the details you hold there. Keeping those details correct and current is yours to do.
- Minimum payout: 50 USD. Balances below this roll over to the next period rather than being paid out.
- Schedule: monthly, for balances confirmed and past the refund window.
- Currency: USD, unless we agree otherwise in writing. Any conversion or transfer fee charged by PayPal or your bank is yours.
You are responsible for your own tax. Commission is paid gross. You are an independent contractor, not an employee, and nothing here creates employment, partnership or agency. If you are VAT registered and VAT applies to your services, tell us and invoice accordingly.
7How you may promote it
These are not decoration. Breaking them ends the agreement and forfeits unpaid commission.
- Disclose that you earn from it. Clearly, wherever you share the link, in the way your local rules require. In Norway that is markedsforingsloven; elsewhere it will be the equivalent.
- Do not target anyone under legal drinking age, and do not place the link anywhere aimed at minors.
- Follow the alcohol marketing law where you are. Some countries, Norway among them, restrict alcohol advertising tightly. You are promoting a book, not a drink, and the difference matters. Keep it that way.
- No claims we have not made. Do not promise health benefits, do not invent features, do not state a price or a refund right that differs from ours.
- No paid search on our brand. Do not bid on "Cheat Code", "The Home Bartender's Cheat Code", our domain, or close variants.
- No spam. No unsolicited email, no bulk messaging, no automated posting.
- No impersonation. Do not present yourself as us, and do not create accounts, pages or domains that could be mistaken for ours.
- No self-referral. Commission is not earned on your own purchase or on purchases you fund.
8The link, and what we may change
You may use our name, cover image and supplied copy to promote the book. That permission is limited to promoting the book, lasts as long as this agreement, and does not transfer any ownership.
We may change the commission rate, the payout terms or these terms with 30 days' notice by email. Commission already earned before a change is paid at the old rate. Continuing to promote after a change takes effect is acceptance of it.
9Ending it
Either of us may end this at any time, in writing, with no reason required. On ending, stop using the link and our materials.
Commission properly earned before the end date is still paid, on the normal schedule, subject to the minimum and to clawback. Commission is forfeited where the agreement ends because of a breach of section 7, or where referrals are fraudulent.
10Data
We hold your name, contact details and payout information to run the programme and to pay you. Details of how we handle personal data are in our Privacy policy. Paddle processes payment data and Tolt processes referral and payout data on our behalf, each under their own privacy terms.
11Law
Norwegian law applies. Disputes go to the Norwegian courts, with Oslo tingrett as the agreed first venue.
12Questions
Write to hello@bartendercheatcode.com before you sign up if anything here is unclear. It is easier to answer a question than to unwind a misunderstanding after a payout.