Referral Code or Affiliate Link: Which Should You Share?

Most affiliate programs give you a link, and separately, if you ask nicely, a coupon. The two track differently, report differently, and half the time the coupon is worth less to the buyer than the commission is to you. It is a small piece of plumbing that quietly costs partners money.

On FFUNDED they are one thing. Your referral code is your link, and it is a live discount at checkout. Understanding what that means is worth ten minutes, because it changes what you post and where.

What your code actually is

When you join, you get a code. That same string is what your link carries, and it is registered as a real percent discount at the current rate for your level. A buyer can arrive by clicking your link, or they can type the code into the checkout box themselves, and both routes reach the same place.

The rate is set by your level and it applies to both sides of the transaction: you earn it, and your audience saves it.

You cannot type your own percentage anywhere, which is the point. There is no negotiation, no per campaign rate card and no way for one partner to undercut another. Everyone at a level offers exactly the same thing.

One consequence is worth knowing: when you are promoted, the codes already sitting in your old posts deepen automatically. A partner who reaches Prime does not need to edit two years of video descriptions. The code they published at 12% starts pricing at 26% on the next order.

When to share the link

The link is the better instrument whenever the click is the natural action.

Blog articles, YouTube descriptions, newsletter buttons, pinned posts and anything where you can attach a URL to text. The link starts the attribution window on the click, which means the buyer is credited to you even if they wander off and come back three weeks later.

It also means the discount applies without the buyer doing anything. Someone arriving on your link finds the code already applied to their cart, so there is no step where they forget to enter it and quietly pay full price.

When to share the code

The code is the better instrument wherever links do not survive.

Spoken content, where you say it out loud. Short form video, where the description gets stripped or the platform discourages outbound links. Podcasts. Printed material. Group chats that mangle URLs. Anywhere someone will retype it from memory.

The trade off is honest: a code typed at checkout gives the buyer the discount and credits you the sale, but the attribution window never started, so it credits on that purchase alone. In practice this matters less than it sounds, because someone typing your code is buying now.

Running more than one code

You can create additional codes, and you should, because one set of totals across every channel tells you nothing.

Each code gets its own link and its own statistics row: clicks, signups and completed sales, reported separately for the lifetime of that code. A code in a YouTube description and a code in a newsletter become directly comparable.

Two rules apply. You may name a code but never price one, so the rate always comes from your level. And your original referral code cannot be paused or deleted, because every post you have ever published carries it.

What happens when a company promotion is running

Occasionally a site wide promotion runs that is deeper than any partner level. When that happens the buyer gets the better of the two automatically, and you still earn your level rate on the amount they paid.

This is the case that trips up partners who assume their code was ignored. It was not. The order carried the deeper company discount, and the commission engine still credited the link owner. Your dashboard will show the sale.

The number that lands in your account

Commission is a percentage of what the customer actually pays, after whichever discount applied. Since your rate and their discount are the same figure, a $720 purchase through a Growth partner is charged at $562 and pays $123.64. Which account that is, and what every other one costs, is on the pricing page.

That is the honest figure, and it is worked out plan by plan, from the cheapest account to the largest, in how much prop firm affiliates earn. If you want the mechanics of how clicks, signups and sales are recorded before you commit content to it, affiliate tracking explained covers the ledger end to end.

Frequently asked questions

Is my referral code the same as my affiliate link?

Yes. Your link carries your code, and that code is also valid on its own at checkout as a live discount. Sharing one is sharing the other, which removes the usual problem of a buyer who saw your link but typed a different coupon.

Does my audience get a discount for using my code?

Yes, and it is the same percentage you earn: 12% at Starter, 17% at Rise, 22% at Growth, 26% at Prime and 30% at Elite. Your commission is then calculated on the discounted amount they actually paid.

Can I set my own discount percentage?

No. The rate comes from your level and there is no field to change it. That keeps every partner at a level offering identical terms, and it means promotions apply retroactively to codes you published months ago.

How many codes can I create?

There is no limit. Each one gets its own tracking link and its own statistics row, so campaigns stay separable. You can choose the wording of a new code as long as it is not already taken, but you can never set its value. Program terms are on the affiliates page.