Is Affiliate Marketing Legit?
Someone has offered you affiliate marketing, or you have read about it, and you want to know whether it is real or a scam.
Affiliate marketing is real. Some schemes borrow the word, and they can be recognised. By the end of this guide, you will know what makes affiliate marketing real, which signs give a scheme away, and you will leave with three questions to ask any offer.
We do guided affiliation, which is one form of affiliate marketing. Other ways of doing this exist, and they are not wrong for being different.
What makes affiliate marketing real
An affiliate has their own tracked link, and what they receive depends on what people do on that link. What is counted, and what it brings, is written in each program's terms. We go through the two ways to become one in how do I become an affiliate.
The line the FTC draws for schemes built on bringing people in
The US Federal Trade Commission has a page on multi-level marketing and pyramid schemes, updated in July 2022. It does not talk about affiliate marketing as such, but the line it draws can be checked on any offer that uses the word.
In a pyramid scheme, the FTC writes, what you get would be based mostly on how many people you bring in, not on how much you sell. The warning sign is not a reward for a recommendation. It is the point where bringing people in replaces selling.
The signs of a scheme that borrows the word
Bringing people in is presented as the real way to earn money
The sign: the offer talks more about the people you will bring in than about anything sold.
The question to ask: what do I receive for, what people do on my link or the people I bring in?
You have to buy something to join
The sign: you have to buy a kit, a course or a starter pack before you can start.
The question to ask: do I have to buy anything to join?
You have to keep buying to stay active
The sign: the FTC describes people buying more than they can use or sell, just to stay active or to qualify for rewards.
The question to ask: do I have to buy anything to stay in?
Big promises, and pressure to act now
The sign: extravagant promises about the money you could make, and the warning that the chance will be gone if you wait.
The question to ask: can I take a day to decide, and what does the offer actually promise in writing?
Our answers to the same questions
There is nothing to buy and nothing to deposit, at any point. What you receive depends on the clicks counted on your link, and it comes from us.
There is one exception to say plainly. For one week in October 2026, a quest gives a small one-off bonus to an affiliate who invites five people who then join our Discord. It does not replace what you receive, which depends on the clicks counted on your link.
For the other questions, put them to us as you would to anyone.
Three questions to ask any affiliate offer
- What do I receive for: what people do on my link, or the people I bring in?
- Do I have to buy anything to join or to stay?
- Who sends me what I receive, and for what?