> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.rafflex.io/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.rafflex.io/affiliate-referral-scheme/setting-up-the-scheme/what-counts-as-a-qualifying-purchase.md). # What Counts as a Qualifying Purchase Exactly which orders trigger affiliate rewards, which ones do not, and why a referral can stay Pending even when the new customer is clearly active. A referral only earns its rewards once the new customer makes a **qualifying purchase**. In short, a qualifying purchase is a completed order that the new customer paid for **by card** at your checkout (either fully, or partly with wallet credit and the rest by card) and that meets your minimum spend rules. If you remember nothing else: **the qualifying order has to be paid by card.** Paying with [site credit](/additional-settings/site-credit-and-wallets.md) alone, or adding funds to a wallet, will not trigger a reward. *** ### What Does Count * **A normal order paid by card.** This is the everyday case. * **A part-payment order**, where the customer uses some of their wallet balance and pays the rest by card. Real money has changed hands, so this counts. The exclusion below only applies to orders paid **100%** from existing credit. {% hint style="info" %} **Only the money actually paid counts towards your minimum spend.** When an order is part paid with site credit, the credit part is left out. For example, a 15.00 order where the customer uses 10.00 of credit and pays 5.00 by card counts as 5.00 towards your **Minimum Spend Threshold**. Any discount code is also taken off first, because it is the amount paid that matters. {% endhint %} The order also has to: * be placed by a customer who signed up through a referral link and whose referral is still **Pending**, * complete successfully (an abandoned or failed payment never counts), and * be placed while your affiliate scheme is switched on. *** ### What Does Not Count * **An order paid entirely with site credit.** If the new customer pays for the whole order from their wallet balance, no reward is triggered and the referral stays **Pending**. * **A wallet top up.** When a customer adds funds to their own wallet, that top up never triggers a referral reward, even though money has changed hands. What matters is what they later spend that balance on, and an order paid entirely from that balance will not count either. * **A free order.** If a discount code covers the whole basket, so the customer pays nothing, the order does not trigger a reward. {% hint style="warning" %} This is the part that catches people out. A friend can look busy on your site, with credit going in and orders going out, yet the referral never converts because every order was paid from credit. Only an order paid by card can convert a referral. {% endhint %} *** ### How This Works With Your Minimum Spend Threshold The rules above apply on top of the [Minimum Spend Threshold](/affiliate-referral-scheme/setting-up-the-scheme.md#minimum-spend-threshold) you set, and they behave slightly differently depending on your **Threshold Type**. * **Single Order.** The threshold is checked against one order at a time, and that order must itself be a card-paid order where the amount paid (not counting any site credit used) is at least the threshold. A credit-only order or a top up is ignored entirely, so it can never be the order that meets the threshold. If the first qualifying order is too small, a later, bigger one can still trigger the rewards. * **Cumulative Spend.** The running total adds up the money the new customer has paid on their completed orders. Credit-only orders and wallet top ups are left out, and a part-payment order only adds the part paid by card (not the credit used). The order that takes the total to your threshold or above is the one that triggers the rewards, and it must itself be paid by card. The running total includes every completed order the customer has placed, even ones placed while your scheme was switched off. So if you switch the scheme off for a while and back on again, those earlier orders still count towards the threshold on the next qualifying order. {% hint style="info" %} With **Cumulative Spend**, a referred customer can look as though they have spent plenty when you glance at their wallet or transaction history, yet still not have reached the threshold, because their credit-only orders and top ups were never added to the total. {% endhint %} *** ### Example Say your **Minimum Spend Threshold** is 10.00 and the new customer, Sam, does the following: | Sam's activity | Single Order | Cumulative Spend | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------ | | Tops up their wallet with 20.00 | Does not count | Not added to the total | | Spends 8.00 of that credit on an order paid entirely from their wallet | Does not count | Not added to the total (total stays at 0.00) | | Places a 6.00 order paid by card | Counts, but too small. Still **Pending** | Added. Total is now 6.00. Still **Pending** | | Places a 5.00 order paid by card | Counts, but too small. Still **Pending** | Added. Total is now 11.00. **Rewards triggered** | | Places a 12.00 order paid by card | **Rewards triggered** | Already rewarded, nothing more happens | *** ### Rewards Are Paid Once Per Referral Each referral pays out once. As soon as one order qualifies, the referral moves on from **Pending** (to **Awaiting Approval**, **Held** or **Rewarded**, depending on your settings) and later orders from the same customer do not trigger anything further. The order that qualified is shown in the **Order #** column on the [Referrals page](/affiliate-referral-scheme/managing-referrals.md). *** ### Why a Referral Can Stay Pending A referral stays **Pending** until a qualifying purchase is made, and it never expires on its own. If a friend has clearly been active but their referral is still **Pending**, it is almost always one of these reasons: 1. They have only ever paid with site credit, or their orders were free because a discount code covered the whole basket. 2. They have topped up their wallet and only spent from that balance. 3. Their orders have been below your **Minimum Spend Threshold** (with **Single Order**), or have not yet added up to it (with **Cumulative Spend**). 4. Your affiliate scheme was switched off when they placed their order. {% hint style="success" %} There is nothing to fix and nothing broken. A **Pending** referral is simply waiting for a real purchase. As soon as the new customer makes a qualifying order, the rewards are processed automatically. {% endhint %} *** ### Practical Advice * When you choose your reward amounts and minimum spend, picture a friend who pays with credit. They will not convert the referral until they place an order paid by card. * If you give new customers generous welcome credit in other ways, expect some referrals to sit in **Pending** for a while until those customers pay for an order by card. * Spell these rules out in your [affiliate terms](/affiliate-referral-scheme/setting-up-the-scheme.md#terms-and-conditions) so referrers know what their friends need to do. None of this changes how the rest of the scheme works. Once an order qualifies, the hold period, manual approval and reward amounts all behave exactly as described in [Setting Up the Scheme](/affiliate-referral-scheme/setting-up-the-scheme.md).