Ascend Partner Program Terms

Eligibility and approval

You must be at least 18 years old and able to enter a binding contract. You may join as an individual or on behalf of a company, in which case you confirm you are authorised to bind that company. Every application is reviewed by a person. We may decline an application, or close a partner account later, at our discretion and without giving a reason. Each Partner may hold one account.

Eligible products

Rewards are paid on sales of the Flawless theme, and of any other Ascend theme we add to the Program, made through the Shopify Theme Store. We may add or remove eligible products at any time. The products eligible on a given day are the ones listed in your partner portal.

Where you may share your links

You may share your partner links on websites you own or control, in newsletters, in social media posts, in videos, in client proposals and during client work. Each link must be shared in a way that lets the merchant choose to click it. You may not share links through unsolicited email or messages, pop-unders, forced redirects, hidden frames, browser extensions that inject links, or any method that places a link or cookie without the merchant knowingly clicking.

You may not bid on "Ascend", "Ascend Themes", "Flawless", "Sublime" or close misspellings of them as keywords in paid search or paid social campaigns, and you may not use those names in the display URL of any advertisement. You may not list our products on coupon, deal or cashback sites without our written approval.

How referrals are tracked

A referral is recorded when a merchant reaches the Shopify Theme Store through one of your partner links and buys an eligible product from the store they were using. Attribution is based on the link the merchant followed. A click stays attributable for 90 days: the store must install the theme and complete the purchase within 90 days of following your link. A store is credited to one partner only: the partner whose link the store followed before installing the theme. Once a store is credited it does not move to another partner. A referral is confirmed only after the purchase is recorded by Shopify and reported to Ascend.

Referrals that cannot be matched to a link, for example because the merchant blocks cookies or buys from a different store than the one they visited with, are not credited. Decisions about whether a referral is credited rest with Ascend and are final.

Commission rates and tiers

Your commission rate depends on the number of converted stores credited to you across the life of your account. The rates and the store counts at which each tier starts are published in the portal under Commission tiers. Your rate applies to every sale from the moment you reach a tier, including the sale that moved you into it. A converted store that is later refunded no longer counts toward your tier.

When you reach a tier that carries a one-time bonus, the bonus is added to your balance once and is paid with your next payout. If you refer another partner to the Program and that partner makes their first sale through their own link, you are credited with the number of converted stores stated in the portal for that referral.

How commission is calculated

Commission is calculated on the net amount Shopify pays Ascend for the sale, after Shopify's revenue share, payment processing and any taxes or regulatory fees Shopify withholds. The exact breakdown for every sale is shown on that store's page in your portal. Commission is calculated and paid in US dollars.

Clearing and payment schedule

A commission clears when Shopify settles the sale with Ascend. Commissions on sales made from the 1st to the 15th of a month clear at the end of that month. Commissions on sales made from the 16th onward clear on the 15th of the following month. Cleared commissions and bonuses are paid once a month, on the 10th, for everything that cleared in the previous month.

We may delay or withhold a payment while we investigate a suspected breach of these terms, a suspected fraudulent purchase, or a refund request that affects a credited sale. There is no minimum payout amount.

Payment accounts

Payouts are sent by bank transfer through Wise to the bank account you add in the portal. You are responsible for keeping your account details correct. If a payment is returned because of incorrect details, we will retry it on the next payout once you have corrected them. Ascend pays the transfer fee. Any fee your own bank charges to receive a transfer, and any currency conversion your bank applies, is yours.

Refunds and reversals

If a credited sale is refunded by Shopify, the commission for that sale is reversed. If the commission has already been paid, the reversed amount is deducted from your next payout. If a tier bonus was earned on the strength of stores that are later refunded, we may reverse the bonus.

Self-referrals and fraud

You may not earn commission on stores you own, operate or control, on stores owned by your employees or immediate family, or on purchases you make yourself. You may not create stores, purchases or clicks for the purpose of earning commission, and you may not offer merchants a rebate, cashback or other inducement funded from your commission without our written approval. Breaching this section ends your participation immediately and forfeits unpaid commission.

Representation and disclosure

You are an independent partner. You are not an employee, agent, representative or reseller of Ascend, and you may not describe yourself as one. You may say that you are an Ascend partner. You may not make claims about our products that we have not made ourselves, and you may not imply that Ascend endorses you, your services or your content.

Wherever you share a partner link you must disclose, clearly and close to the link, that you may earn a commission from purchases made through it, in a form that meets the advertising and consumer protection rules that apply to you.

Brand standards

Use the logos and copy provided in the portal as they are. Do not alter the colours, proportions or wording of Ascend or Flawless brand assets, and do not combine them with your own marks in a way that suggests a joint brand. If we ask you to remove or change any use of our brand, do so within five business days.

Promotion costs

You bear every cost of promoting your links. Ascend does not reimburse advertising, content production, software or any other expense.

Taxes

You are responsible for reporting and paying any tax due on the commission you earn. Ascend does not withhold tax on your behalf, does not provide tax advice and does not issue tax documents, other than the statements available in your portal.

Merchant data and confidentiality

Your portal shows the store domains and purchase details of merchants credited to you. You may use that information only to understand and manage your own referrals. You may not sell it, share it with third parties or use it to contact merchants outside the normal course of the work that led to the referral.

Program information that is not published on our website, including non-public rates, pilots, merchant data and communications with the Ascend team, is confidential. You may not publish it or discuss it publicly.

Changes to the Program

We may change commission rates, tiers, bonuses, eligible products, the payment schedule or any other part of the Program at any time. Changes to these terms are published as a new version on this page, with a summary of what changed. You will be asked to accept the new version the next time you open the portal, and your continued use of the Program after that is your agreement to it. Changes do not affect commission that has already cleared.

Ending your participation

You may leave the Program at any time by writing to [email protected]. We may end your participation at any time, with or without cause, by email. When participation ends for any reason other than a breach of these terms, commission that has already cleared is paid on the next scheduled payout and no further commission accrues. When participation ends because of a breach, unpaid commission is forfeited.

Liability

The Program is provided as it is. To the fullest extent permitted by law, Ascend is not liable for any indirect, incidental or consequential loss, for lost profits, or for any loss arising from a change to or the ending of the Program. Our total liability to you under these terms is limited to the commission that has cleared and remains unpaid at the time of the claim.

Governing law

These terms are governed by the laws of Singapore. Any dispute arising from them is subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of Singapore.

Contact

Questions about these terms or the Program go to [email protected].