# ClickBank review for vendors · Vendor Runbook > Source: https://vendorrunbook.com/reviews/clickbank Network review, ranked 1 of 5 ## ClickBank review: what it costs a vendor and who it suits The default network for a direct response offer that needs the biggest open pool of affiliates, with merchant of record, compliance review and payouts handled for you, at a higher per-sale fee than Digistore24 advertises. By Vendor Runbook. Updated 2026-10-12\. Fees read on the network's own pages on 2026-10-12. **Disclosure:**We may earn a commission when you buy through links on this page. It never affects our rankings. [How we research](/methodology). At a glance Starts at $49.95/mo Best for Vendors of digital and physical direct response offers who want a large open affiliate marketplace with full merchant-of-record checkout Founded 1998 Website [Official site](https://www.clickbank.com/) Quick answer **ClickBank** is our top pick for most people. The default network for a direct response offer that needs the biggest open pool of affiliates, with merchant of record, compliance review and payouts handled for you, at a higher per-sale fee than Digistore24 advertises. * **ClickBank.** Best for Vendors of digital and physical direct response offers who want a large open affiliate marketplace with full merchant-of-record checkout. ### Is ClickBank legit for vendors? Yes. ClickBank is an e-commerce platform and affiliate marketplace, founded in 1998, that acts as the retailer for the products sold through it. When a buyer orders your product, ClickBank is the merchant of record: it runs the checkout, charges the card, remits the sales tax, splits the commission between you and the affiliate, and pays both of you from the money it collected. That role is also why the buyer's card statement shows ClickBank's name. Most of the "is ClickBank a scam" talk comes from two groups whose complaints say little about whether it pays its sellers. Buyers who spot an unfamiliar ClickBank charge go searching for answers, and affiliates who promoted weak offers judge the whole marketplace by them. In one public thread an affiliate wrote off ClickBank offers as generally scammy. For a vendor, that reputation matters for a narrower reason: it is the mood an affiliate is in when they first open your listing. The questions a ClickBank vendor actually has are three. Will the product get approved, what does each sale cost, and when does the money arrive? This review answers them from ClickBank's own seller page, fee schedule and help center, then sets them against what people selling there report on review sites and in public threads. We read those sources and did not launch an offer of our own; [how we research networks](/methodology) explains the method. ### Who should sell a product on ClickBank ClickBank suits a vendor with a direct response offer (a sales letter or video sales letter, an order form, upsells) who wants affiliates they have never met to find it and promote it. The marketplace puts a product in front of nearly 100,000 affiliates, it takes digital and physical products, and commissions can be paid as RevShare or CPA. That reach is why ClickBank sits first in our [ranking of affiliate networks for vendors](/best). It fits less well when the product is a plain ecommerce item with no sales funnel behind it, when the copy leans on claims a compliance reviewer will cut, or when the margin cannot carry 7.5% plus a dollar on every order. If one of those describes your offer, the [ClickBank alternatives](/alternatives/clickbank) page sorts the other networks by the problem each one solves, and [ClickBank vs Digistore24](/compare/clickbank-vs-digistore24) puts the two merchant-of-record networks side by side. ##### What works * Acts as merchant of record: processes the order, remits tax and splits commissions with affiliates * Open marketplace of nearly 100,000 affiliates, plus JV contracts through account managers * Sells digital and physical products, with RevShare or CPA commissions * Seller rules are published in detail: a 3-5 business day approval, Friday payouts and fixed chargeback tiers * Own order form and upsell flow, plus integrations with Voluum, ClickFunnels, Everflow and Shopify ##### What to watch * 7.5% + $1 per sale plus a $49.95 one-time approval fee, above Digistore24's advertised starting rate * Every product passes an FTC/FDA and ClickBank compliance review of the funnel and copy before it lists, which slows aggressive nutra launches * 10% of each pay period is held as a return allowance for about 12 weeks * Chargeback fees climb from $22 to $49 plus margin as your rate rises, and a 2% rate needs action within 48 hours * Approval does not bring affiliates: sellers report slow starts and thin support for new offers ### The catch for a vendor The fee is the price of the brand: 7.5% + $1 on every sale is real money at nutra volumes, and the pre-listing compliance review will send aggressive copy back for rewrites. [ ](/assets/tools/clickbank/features/per-sale-fee-schedule-for-sellers.png) Per-sale fee schedule for sellers.ClickBank's help article explaining wholesale pricing: it buys each product from the seller at 92.5% of the sale price minus $1, keeping 7.5% + $1, with a $100 example below. Screenshot: [support.clickbank.com](https://support.clickbank.com/en/articles/10535137-what-are-clickbank-s-fees), Oct 2026 [ ](/assets/tools/clickbank/features/seller-launch-checklist.png) Seller launch checklist.Step 9 of ClickBank's seller getting-started article: products must be approved by Business Services, results typically arrive in 3-5 business days, and chat support cannot approve products. Screenshot: [support.clickbank.com](https://support.clickbank.com/en/articles/10535160-how-do-i-get-started-as-a-clickbank-seller), Oct 2026 #### What vendors say about ClickBank Research: unverified ##### ClickBank sells itself as the higher trust, higher fee merchant of record ClickBank's own comparison page contrasts its 7.5% + $1 and $49.95 setup with JVZoo's per-sale-only fee, and argues its review process keeps product quality higher than an open listing does. > “JVZoo vendors never have to pay to get listed on JVZoo or pay any ongoing fees – they only pay a transaction fee per sale generated.” ClickBank [Blog: ClickBank vs JVZoo ](https://www.clickbank.com/clickbank-vs-jvzoo/) Jan 2026 > “Lower barrier to entry, which means more variable product quality” ClickBank [Blog: ClickBank vs JVZoo ](https://www.clickbank.com/clickbank-vs-jvzoo/) Jan 2026 ##### The marketplace's reputation travels with your offer ↓ common complaint Affiliates in public threads still describe ClickBank offers as low-trust as a group, which shapes how they treat a new vendor listing even though the network itself is long-established. > “The CB offers generally are scammy” reddit commenter [Reddit: My first two weeks in Affiliate Marketing ](https://www.reddit.com/r/Affiliatemarketing/comments/1ecbufz/my%5Ffirst%5Ftwo%5Fweeks%5Fin%5Faffiliate%5Fmarketing%5Fit%5Fwas/) Jul 2024 ##### A listing is a display, and new sellers find support thin ↓ common complaint People selling on ClickBank say a marketplace entry does not sell by itself: new offers struggle to get picked up and starter support is hard to follow. Affiliates still need materials and proof the offer converts. > “just give you a display” u/Marivaux\_lumytima [Reddit: Launching My Trading eBook ](https://www.reddit.com/r/DigitalMarketing/comments/1k8wrpm/launching%5Fmy%5Ftrading%5Febook%5Fcan%5Fclickbank%5Fand/) Apr 2025 > “Sometimes, it could be difficult to get items sold especially for newbies. There is little support for starters and where there is, it is not easy to grasp.” GetApp reviewer [Blog: ClickBank Reviews | GetApp ](https://www.getapp.com/marketing-software/a/clickbank/reviews/) Jan 2026 ##### The selling side works once you are approved ↑ frequently praised Sellers on review sites rate the selling experience and the dashboard well once a product is live. > “Selling through Clickbank is positive” Salim [Blog: ClickBank Reviews | GetApp Australia ](https://www.getapp.com.au/software/2055880/clickbank) Feb 2026 > “I like the easy to use of this platform, and the many different tools you have at your disposal.” G2 reviewer [G2: Compare ClickBank and Squaredance | G2 ](https://www.g2.com/compare/clickbank-vs-squaredance) Jan 2025 ##### Fees confuse account holders Account holders still ask which charges apply and when, even though ClickBank publishes its fees in detail. > “What kind of fees do you think clickbank is charging? They don't do this” u/HealyOusted [Reddit: If I delete my click bank account will they still charge me ](https://www.reddit.com/r/clickbank/comments/qrd6w1/if%5Fi%5Fdelete%5Fmy%5Fclick%5Fbank%5Faccount%5Fwill%5Fthey%5Fstill/) Nov 2021 ### What ClickBank's compliance review checks Every product goes through review before an affiliate can promote it. ClickBank's seller page calls it an FTC/FDA and ClickBank compliance review and lists what it covers: product materials, the sales funnel, marketing and promotional copy, and price points. In practice that is the pitch page, the order form, each upsell and the copy you hand affiliates to run. The review is enforced after launch as well. ClickBank's product guidelines say a seller out of compliance can have the product declined, sales halted, the listing pulled from the marketplace or the account deactivated, so a page you edit in month three answers to the same rules as the one you submitted. Health and supplement offers carry the most exposure, because claims that a product cures or treats a condition are where reviews stall. Write the copy against the guidelines before you submit; rewriting it afterwards costs another review cycle. ClickBank says results typically come back within 3-5 business days. Once the activation form is in, nothing more is needed from you while the compliance team works, and chat support cannot approve a product or hurry one along. Put a week into the launch plan for review, and a second pass if your copy is aggressive. ### How to sell your product on ClickBank ClickBank's getting-started article for sellers sets the order of work. Condensed into the steps a vendor plans a launch around: 1. **Pick the product type.** Digital or physical decides what the order form collects and how the product is delivered. 2. **Get the account and the legal pieces in place.** The seller account, plus the policies and disclaimers your pages will need to pass review. 3. **Build the pitch page.** The sales page affiliates send traffic to, with the offer, the price and the buy button. 4. **Build the thank-you page.** Where a buyer lands after paying and gets access to what they bought. 5. **Create the product and its payment link.** The link from the pitch page to ClickBank's order form is what lets ClickBank credit the right affiliate. 6. **Write the marketplace entry.** The title, description, category and commission affiliates see when they browse. 7. **Request product approval.** This sends everything to compliance; expect 3-5 business days. 8. **Pay the $49.95 activation fee.** It falls due when your first product is approved. If it is rejected, you owe nothing. 9. **Publish the marketplace listing.** Approval does not put the product in the marketplace. You publish the listing yourself, and until you do, browsing affiliates cannot find it. 10. **Recruit affiliates.** Affiliate tools, swipe copy and direct outreach are the seller's job from here. The last step is where new vendors lose the most time. Affiliates choose offers with evidence they convert, so the affiliate tools page and a list of people to contact should be ready on the day the listing goes up. A ClickBank vendor who treats the marketplace as distribution usually waits weeks for a first sale. ### What sellers report, in their own words Once a product is live, the selling side gets good marks. A seller reviewing ClickBank on [GetApp Australia](https://www.getapp.com.au/software/2055880/clickbank) wrote that "Selling through Clickbank is positive", and a reviewer quoted on [G2](https://www.g2.com/compare/clickbank-vs-squaredance) said: "I like the easy to use of this platform, and the many different tools you have at your disposal." The criticism lands on the start. A reviewer on [GetApp](https://www.getapp.com/marketing-software/a/clickbank/reviews/) wrote: "Sometimes, it could be difficult to get items sold especially for newbies. There is little support for starters and where there is, it is not easy to grasp." ClickBank's own process points the same way: the network takes care of payment and compliance, and finding affiliates stays with the seller. ### ClickBank fees: what you keep on each sale ClickBank buys each product from the seller at 92.5% of the sale price minus $1, so it keeps 7.5% + $1 of every order. On a $100 sale that is $8.50 to ClickBank and $91.50 on the vendor side of the split, before the affiliate's commission. The flat dollar weighs more on a cheap front end: a $47 product pays about $4.53, close to 9.6% of the price, while a $197 bundle pays about $15.78, or 8%. | Fee | Amount | | ----------------------------- | ---------------- | | Activation, on first approval | $49.95 once | | Per sale | 7.5% + $1.00 | | Per sale, Klarna | 9.8% + $1.30 | | Each payment issued | $5.00 | | Return allowance | 10% for 12 weeks | | Chargeback, under 1% | $22 | | Chargeback, 1.0% to 1.49% | $29 plus margin | | Chargeback, 1.5% and up | $49 plus margin | | Monthly subscription | None | The activation fee is not charged if the product is rejected, and the chargeback rows follow your account's chargeback rate. The per-payment fee doubled from $2.50 to $5.00 in October 2024, according to ClickBank's accounting policy. Set against [Digistore24](/reviews/digistore24), whose pricing page advertises transaction fees starting at 2.9% + $1 with the final rate set per product, ClickBank's published rate is higher; Digistore24's figure is a floor, and a given product may not get it. The fee-by-fee view lives on the [ClickBank pricing page for vendors](/reviews/clickbank/pricing). ### Payouts, holds and chargebacks ClickBank pays sellers on Fridays, two days after the pay period closes at 12:00 AM Pacific on Wednesday. Direct-deposit accounts choose weekly or biweekly. Because each payment carries the $5 processing fee, weekly pay costs $260 a year in paycheck fees and biweekly costs $130. A period's full earnings do not all arrive on that Friday. ClickBank withholds 10% of each pay period as a return allowance and releases it after about 12 weeks (84 days). A new offer therefore runs three months behind on a tenth of its revenue, which bites when that cash was meant to buy the next week of traffic. Chargebacks are where ClickBank enforces hardest. Each one costs $22 while your rate stays under 1%, $29 plus margin between 1.0% and 1.49%, and $49 plus margin from 1.5%. At 2% or higher, ClickBank's help center says the account needs immediate action within 48 hours, with enforcement escalating after that. A supplement offer on cold paid traffic should watch that rate daily, alongside refunds from the buyer's 60-day refund window. ### The verdict for a ClickBank vendor ClickBank is the pick if you have a direct response offer, copy that can clear a compliance review, and enough margin for 7.5% + $1 per sale, and you want the largest open pool of affiliates with checkout, tax and affiliate payouts handled for you. Budget a week for approval, three months of float on a tenth of revenue, and your own time to recruit affiliates. If the fee or the review is what stops you, read [BuyGoods](/reviews/buygoods) for a curated health and wellness marketplace and [JVZoo](/reviews/jvzoo) for launch-style digital offers on a 5% platform fee. ### Where to go from here * [ClickBank fees and pricing for vendors](/reviews/clickbank/pricing) * [ClickBank alternatives, and who should switch](/alternatives/clickbank) * [](/compare/clickbank-vs-digistore24) * [](/compare/clickbank-vs-jvzoo) * [](/compare/buygoods-vs-clickbank) * [How ClickBank ranks among affiliate networks for vendors](/best) * [Digistore24 review](/reviews/digistore24) * [BuyGoods review](/reviews/buygoods) * [JVZoo review](/reviews/jvzoo) * [CopeCart review](/reviews/copecart) ### Changelog * 2026-10-12: first published, fees and terms read on the network's own seller pages. * 2026-10-12: Full vendor review written: compliance review, the seller launch checklist, fees, payouts, the return allowance and chargeback tiers, read on ClickBank's seller page and help center. Payout schedule corrected to Fridays, weekly or biweekly. ### Frequently asked questions Is ClickBank legit for vendors? Yes. ClickBank has operated since 1998 as merchant of record for the products it sells: it runs the checkout, remits tax, splits commissions and pays sellers and affiliates from the money it collects. The scam talk mostly comes from buyers who do not recognise a ClickBank charge and from affiliates judging weak offers. How long does ClickBank product approval take? ClickBank says approval results typically arrive within 3-5 business days. Chat support cannot approve a product or speed up the review; the compliance team handles every approval. What fees does a ClickBank vendor pay? A $49.95 one-time activation fee when the first product is approved (nothing if it is rejected), 7.5% + $1 per sale (9.8% + $1.30 on eligible Klarna orders), and $5 for each payment ClickBank issues. There is no monthly fee. Chargebacks cost $22 to $49 plus margin depending on your chargeback rate. Do I need my own website to sell on ClickBank? Yes. ClickBank's seller checklist has you build your own pitch page and thank-you page; ClickBank supplies the order form, the payment link and the marketplace listing. How do ClickBank payouts work? Payments go out on Fridays, two days after the pay period ends on Wednesday. Direct-deposit accounts choose weekly or biweekly. ClickBank holds 10% of each period as a return allowance and releases it after about 12 weeks. What happens if my chargeback rate climbs? The fee per chargeback rises from $22 under a 1% rate to $29 plus margin at 1.0-1.49% and $49 plus margin from 1.5%. At 2% or higher the account must act within 48 hours, and ClickBank escalates enforcement from there. Does an approved product show up in the ClickBank marketplace automatically? No. After approval you publish the marketplace listing yourself. Until you do, affiliates browsing the marketplace cannot find the product. ### What we read #### From ClickBank * * Per-sale fee schedule for sellers * Seller launch checklist #### Other sources 8 discussions and reviews read for this page. Quotes are excerpts; open a link to read the original in context. 1. \[cb-vs-jvzoo-page\] [ClickBank vs JVZoo ](https://www.clickbank.com/clickbank-vs-jvzoo/) Blog, 1 Jan 2026 2. \[cb-vs-jvzoo-quality\] [ClickBank vs JVZoo ](https://www.clickbank.com/clickbank-vs-jvzoo/) Blog, 1 Jan 2026 3. \[reddit-listing-effort-cb\] [Launching My Trading eBook ](https://www.reddit.com/r/DigitalMarketing/comments/1k8wrpm/launching%5Fmy%5Ftrading%5Febook%5Fcan%5Fclickbank%5Fand/) Reddit, 27 Apr 2025 4. \[g1\] [ClickBank Reviews | GetApp Australia ](https://www.getapp.com.au/software/2055880/clickbank) Blog, 16 Feb 2026 5. \[g2\] [ClickBank Reviews | GetApp ](https://www.getapp.com/marketing-software/a/clickbank/reviews/) Blog, 28 Jan 2026 6. \[g3\] [Compare ClickBank and Squaredance | G2 ](https://www.g2.com/compare/clickbank-vs-squaredance) G2, 1 Jan 2025 7. \[r1\] [If I delete my click bank account will they still charge me ](https://www.reddit.com/r/clickbank/comments/qrd6w1/if%5Fi%5Fdelete%5Fmy%5Fclick%5Fbank%5Faccount%5Fwill%5Fthey%5Fstill/) Reddit, 11 Nov 2021 8. \[r2\] [My first two weeks in Affiliate Marketing ](https://www.reddit.com/r/Affiliatemarketing/comments/1ecbufz/my%5Ffirst%5Ftwo%5Fweeks%5Fin%5Faffiliate%5Fmarketing%5Fit%5Fwas/) Reddit, 1 Jul 2024 --- [ ](/) For product owners selling through affiliate networks like ClickBank, BuyGoods, Digistore24 and JVZoo: approval, funnels, affiliates, payouts and chargebacks. 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