The Shareasale affiliate network http://shareasale.com is a great place to look for information about how the different affiliate payout types. It is worth noting that some merchants run multiple affiliate payout types and do not exclusively rely upon one the less popular options.

Pay-Per-Sale: 2152 Merchants
No surprises here, this is the most popular of all affiliate payout types wherever you go for quite obvious reasons. Pay-per-sale is easy to calculate and easy to price for, especially if you are using it to pay for low cost items. Pay-per-lead and pay-per-click don’t really work when you are selling $30 software programs or $10 e-books, a percentage can be applied to any size of sale quickly and effectively. Pay-per-sale dominates all affiliate networks, not just Shareasale.

Pay-Per-Lead: 243 Merchants
I have to admit that this figure was a little higher than I had anticipated. It could be that more of these merchants are drawn to Shareasale than elsewhere. Of all affiliate payout types, this is most suited to high cost transactions. There is no surprise that the top merchants offer financial services where a percentage can not be so easily applied. Some of the merchants on the list for pay-per-lead also made use of pay-per-sale.

Pay-Per-Click: 8 Merchants
While seeing a figure as low as eight was surprising to some, one could be equally surprised that Shareasale had any pay-per-click merchants at all. When it comes to PPC, most merchants opt for advertising networks these days. Using an affiliate network for PPC does not give you the same coverage as any of the major advertising networks do. This is the least popular of the three affiliate payout types for obvious reasons.

One affiliate network that is worth exploring if you are thinking of setting up a program is Shareasale. With over 2,100 merchants signed up, there are plenty of people that have chosen Shareasale. The prices are reasonable, a $350 sign up fee (one time only) and a 20% transaction fee per pay out. You will also need to pay a $1 download access fee per approved affiliate. $100 is the minimum deposit that you can make for paying your affiliates. It is a great way to get your program promoted at a reasonable price. They accept affiliates from a wide range of countries which can be very good if you are promoting a product or service that is to be promoted internationally, an international network like Shareasale is a great way to go.

Performance Marketing is one of the most powerful and effective customer acquisition tools available to an online merchant. You decide the commission structure to pay - and only pay when results come in. With a program managed by Shareasale.com, you enable our network of highly motivated sales experts to promote your products to all of their visitors - through websites, email newsletters, and loyal customer bases. You can choose to setup your program to pay on a percentage of a sale (pay-per-sale), a pay-per-lead basis (PPL or CPA), or a pay-per-click.