Because we REALLY LOVE transparency and honesty...
An affiliated shop is a shop that we set up for you from our Shopify Experts dashboard, often called a development shop. These shops bypass the typical trial restrictions and are PERFECT for setting up new shops, migrating from one platform to another, or even restarting a store already on Shopify to eradicate some bugs or just start fresh if you need to.
When we Expert Partners of Shopify set up development stores for you, Shopify pays us an affiliate / partner commission out of the hosting fees you already pay Shopify. It never costs you anything extra to do this, and we work to pass a savings on to you when you agree to be an affiliate shop.
We get 20%. So if you sign up for the $29/month hosting plan, Shopify pays us $5.80/month - which again does not cost you extra.
While the partner commission is small, if we get enough shops signed up - it adds up to a nice, and consistent amount of revenue our business can count on during slower times in what can be a pretty cyclical business. So as a thank you, we reduce our pricing for affiliated shops. This is often a huge benefit to smaller shops just starting out or established shops who need to pay special attention to their budget.