Imagine you’re having a conversation with a friend, and they mention they’re looking to buy a new laptop. You remember seeing a good one on a certain website, so you tell your friend about it. If they buy the laptop based on your suggestion, you’ve essentially referred them to that website. Now, wouldn’t it be cool if the website paid you a little something for bringing them a customer? That’s essentially how affiliate links work. An affiliate link is a special type of web link that a company gives to people (usually called affiliates or partners) who help them advertise their products or services. When someone clicks on an affiliate link and makes a purchase, the company pays the affiliate a small commission or a percentage of the sale. This doesn’t increase the price for the person making the purchase; the commission comes out of the company’s profits because they’re grateful for the advertising help.