Affiliate Program Terms and Conditions
We have created these Terms and Conditions to ensure a smooth collaboration, by making our affiliate partnership requirements clear and upfront.
Please read the entire agreement. By joining the Real Japanese Gardens Affiliate Program you agree that you have read and understand this agreement and that you have the full right, power and authority to enter into and be bound by the Terms and Conditions of this agreement without the approval or consent of any other party.
Important notice: at the moment we can only accept applications from registered businesses or individuals acting as independent contractors, who can provide us with an invoice for the services rendered to us as affiliates.
We separate our affiliate program in our physical items shop on our website “japanesegardens.jp” and in our eBook store on Gumroad. The following terms and conditions are true for our physical items shop on “japanesegardens.jp”.
Affiliate Program Terms and Conditions
Real Japanese Gardens is a shop and promotion website for Japanese goods and garden guides developed, owned and provided by Japanese registered legal entity Niwashyu Co.LTD.
Hereinafter the term “Real Japanese Gardens” will refer both to the shop, as well as the legal entity owning it.
1. Registration
Your application to become a Real Japanese Gardens affiliate is subject to a manual review process in order to assess whether we’d make a good fit. The review process can take up to 5 business days and you will be notified via email with our decision.
By becoming an affiliate you agree to receive occasional emails from Real Japanese Gardens regarding changes in the affiliate program Terms and Conditions, news and updates or other information relevant to you as a Real Japanese Gardens affiliate.
You must provide us with accurate information regarding who you are, your business details and the website(s) and/ or platforms you intend to promote Real Japanese Gardens.
Reasons for rejected applications include but are not limited to any websites and/ or businesses that:
- promote or display violence, discrimination, sexually explicit materials, copyright and trademark infringement, spamming, scamming, or any other illegal activities;
- include in their domain name “Real Japanese Gardens”, its variations or misspellings;
- replicate or resemble our website design (explicitly or implied) in a manner which leads customers to believe you are Real Japanese Gardens or any other affiliated business;
- resell any of our original products;
- are not aligned with our business standards or that are inappropriate for the product we sell.
Please note that this list is not exhaustive and that we reserve the right to decline your application at our sole discretion, without providing a rejection reason.
2. Commissions and payouts
Standard commission rate is 5% of each purchase made by customers through your referral link.
Standard cookie duration is 30 days. Therefore, the customers have a 30 day time frame from the moment they clicked on your affiliate link to buy at Real Japanese Gardens. If they purchase after the cookie has expired, commissions will unfortunately not be registered (unless they use your affiliate link again).
Moreover, the commission will go to the first affiliate whose link was clicked (if the purchase is completed in the 30-day time frame).
Example: if the customer clicks first on your affiliate link and later on, when he decides to purchase, uses another affiliate’s link, the commission goes to you.
We have a 20-day money back guarantee, therefore we only pay commissions that are older than 20 days and are not subject to any refunds.
Minimum payout is 25 USD. Payments will be made in USD into your PayPal account monthly, between the 15th day of the month and the last day of the month. In order to comply with our laws, we need you to provide us with an invoice reflecting the respective amount due that month, by sending it via email between the 1st and 14th day of that month.
Example: by March 31st you have an amount of 250 USD accepted and unpaid commissions in your balance. Between 1-14th of April you send us an invoice for the 250 USD. We transfer the amount to your PayPal account between 15-30th of April.
When reaching the minimum payout, we will notify you and sending you a template invoice to smoothen the process.
If you wish to reach a certain higher amount before getting paid, you can wait up to 3 months before invoicing us. Please inform us in this case.
You have the full obligation to comply with any laws and taxes you might be subject to in your country of residence as a result of rendering affiliate services to us.
We reserve the right to lower or increase our standard commission rates at any moment and for any reason. You shall be notified via email 30 days in advance before such changes go into force.
All commissions are subject to approval in order to be subsequently paid. Each commission’s status will be available in your affiliate program dashboard as “Pending”, “Unpaid”, “Rejected” or “Paid”.
3. Promotion permissions & restrictions
The following promotional methods are permitted:
- Giving your affiliate link directly to your friends or potential customers that might be interested in Real Japanese Gardens;
- Writing a review on your blog or website about Real Japanese Gardens and linking to our product with your affiliate link (or other provided creative asset);
- Writing an article on your blog or website on a subject from the affiliate marketing niche and linking to our product with your affiliate link (or other provided creative asset);
- Using your social media accounts to share your affiliate link with your audience (side note: make sure this is a practice permitted by the respective social network and that you comply with their Terms and Conditions as well);
- Promoting your affiliate link in emails, so long as the recipient is already a customer or subscriber of your services or website and they have the option to remove themselves from future mailings;
- Podcast mentions of your affiliate link and/ or discount code.
There are certain promotional methods we do not tolerate and will have your account terminated, shall you engage in such activities:
- Spamming (in any form and/ or on any platform/ channel, includes but is not limited to: unsolicited promotional email, mass commenting on websites, posting your affiliate link on groups and forums where it’s not permitted, sending unsolicited direct messages etc);
- Misrepresenting our brand and product in any way (includes but is not limited to: misleading customers or using false information about our product, using fake testimonials, pretending you are an employee of Real Japanese Gardens or that you are Real Japanese Gardens, concealing or misrepresenting your identity or your affiliation to our business etc);
- Using paid advertising for your affiliate link;
- Placing your affiliate link and/ or discount code on any coupon websites.
Again, this is not an exhaustive list and we reserve the right to terminate your account whenever we consider your promotional activities are not aligned with our business values.
If you are unsure whether a particular promotional method is accepted, please contact us in advance for confirmation.
4. Account termination
Either you or we may end this Agreement at any time, with or without cause, by giving the other party written notice in the form of email.
Additionally, we reserve the right to terminate your account at any moment and without any previous notice, shall we consider that you breached any Terms and Conditions of this Agreement. Any pending or unpaid commissions that are subject to your violation of our Terms and Conditions will be withheld.
Final note
By registering and being approved as an affiliate to the Real Japanese Gardens Affiliate Program you agree to abide by the Terms and Conditions herein.
You agree that you are an independent contractor and that the affiliate relationship does not represent an employment relationship between you and Real Japanese Gardens (“Niwashyu”). Moreover, you have no authority to make or accept any offers or representations on our behalf.
You agree that this is not a legally binding relationship and as a result you may not take legal action against Real Japanese Gardens (“Niwashyu”).
Last but not least, these Terms and Conditions are subject to change and you will be notified in advance about such changes.
You have the right to opt-out of our affiliate program at any time, by notifying us via email.
If you have any questions regarding the Terms and Conditions herein, please contact us.
Last updated: 10.01.2024