After Christmas: returns, January sales and fair commission validation

Christmas does not end on 24 or 25 December for a webshop. The days after bring returns, exchanges, gift card spending and January sales, and they also bring the most sensitive task in affiliate management: deciding which commissions to approve.

Handled well, validation protects your margin and keeps your partners loyal. Handled badly, it can undo a year of relationship building in a single invoice. This guide explains the rules, the timelines and a fair way to work through the post-Christmas period.

The legal baseline: the 14-day right of withdrawal

In the EU, consumers who buy online can withdraw from the purchase within 14 days without giving a reason. For goods, the 14 days start when the item is delivered. The trader must refund the customer no more than 14 days after being told about the withdrawal, but may wait until the item has been returned or the customer has shown proof of sending it.

If the shop never informed the customer about the right of withdrawal, the period is extended by a year.
Some products are exempt, including personalised goods, rapidly perishable goods and unsealed audio, video or software.
Many shops offer longer Christmas return windows on top of the legal minimum. That is a commercial choice, and it affects your validation timeline.

The practical result is that a gift ordered in early December might be returned in January. If you offer extended Christmas returns, a November order can stay open for two months or more.

When returns arrive

Returns cluster after Christmas. Adobe’s data for the 2025 US holiday season showed returns rising 4.7% between 26 and 31 December, with roughly one in seven of the season’s returns happening in that window. Expect a similar wave in your own data, followed by a slower tail through January.

How validation periods work in the networks

Every network gives advertisers a window to approve or reject tracked sales, but the rules differ:

Awin lets each programme set its own validation period. Commissions not reviewed in time are approved automatically, and Awin advises matching the period to your returns window.
Daisycon requires transactions to be validated within two months unless otherwise agreed, after which open transactions are approved automatically.
Webgains calls the setting a recall period and also approves transactions automatically when it ends.
Adtraction notes that brands typically approve transactions once a month, and rejected transactions are neither invoiced nor paid out.

Auto-approval cuts both ways. It protects partners from advertisers who never validate, but it also means that a busy January can lead to paying commission on orders that were returned.

Cancelling commissions fairly

Rejecting a commission is legitimate when the order was cancelled or returned, was fraudulent, could not be delivered or broke your programme terms. Rejecting sales for other reasons damages trust quickly, and partners compare notes.

Write your validation rules into the programme description before the season, including any extended Christmas return window.
Match each rejection to an order number and a return or cancellation record in your shop system.
Adjust the order value for partial returns instead of rejecting the whole sale. Most networks allow amendments while a commission is pending.
Do not reject sales because a customer exchanged an item for a different size or colour. The partner still drove the sale.
Always give a reason. Daisycon requires one, and partners appreciate it everywhere.
Validate in batches during January rather than all at once at the deadline, so partners get paid steadily.

January sales: a second chance with partners

January is a good month for affiliate revenue if you plan it before Christmas. Shoppers have gift cards and money from Christmas, and many are looking for things they did not receive.

Brief voucher and deal partners on your January sale before 26 December so they can publish on day one.
Ask content partners to update their gift guides into sale guides with the same links.
Promote gift card redemption, as these customers often spend more than the card value.
Push categories that fit the new year, such as fitness, home organisation and winter clothing.
Use January to clear returned stock that is still in sellable condition.

Keep commission rates for the January sale simple and announce them early. If you lower rates after Christmas, tell partners before the change takes effect, not after they have already published.

Keep partners in the loop during January

January is when many partners review which programmes paid well over the season and decide where to focus next year. Clear communication about validation helps you end up on the right side of that decision.

Tell partners when you expect to finish validating Christmas sales, and stick to that date.
Share your overall return rate for the season, so partners understand rejections in context.
If a partner’s rejection rate is much higher than average, look into it together. It may point to coupon misuse or a traffic problem, or to an error in your own tracking.
Thank your best partners with an early brief on spring campaigns.

Post-Christmas checklist

Validation period matches your actual return window, including any Christmas extension.
Rejections are documented with order numbers and clear reasons.
Partial returns are handled as amendments, not full rejections.
January sale briefing sent to partners before 26 December.

Fair, predictable validation is one of the strongest signals you can send to your partners, and it makes them keener to work with you next season. Want a second opinion before peak season? Start with a free audit of your affiliate programme.