The Bear Grips Affiliate Program Explained: How Vendors Earn From Referrals

Every Bear Grips Pro Shops signup, free or paid, comes with two things: a branded shop and an affiliate link. Most apparel and fitness affiliate programs make a business apply, wait for approval, and hit a follower count before they can earn a commission. Bear Grips skips all of that. The moment a gym owner, coach, or fitness influencer creates an account, their unique affiliate link is live, and every business they refer pays out on two separate tracks: a percentage of that vendor's subscription for as long as they stay active, and a flat bonus on every unit that vendor sells.

How does the Bear Grips affiliate program actually work?

There is no separate affiliate application. Signing up for a Pro Shop at shops.beargrips.com creates the shop and the affiliate link in the same step. The link carries a unique, customizable code, so a vendor can change it to something memorable (a gym name, a coach's handle) and the URL updates automatically. Anyone who signs up through that link becomes a tracked referral, whether they land on the Free plan, Self-Service VIP, or Done-For-You VIP.

Two ways affiliates get paid

The commission structure has two parts that stack:

• 10% of the referred vendor's subscription, forever: as long as the vendor you referred keeps an active paid plan, you keep earning 10% of what they pay every month.
• $1 for every unit sold: on top of the subscription cut, every product a referred vendor ships to a customer earns the affiliate an extra dollar, regardless of which item it is.

Referred vendor's plan	Monthly subscription	Your 10% cut	Annual subscription commission
Free	$0/mo	$0/mo	$0 (still earns $1/unit)
Self-Service VIP	$59/mo	$5.90/mo	$70.80/year
Done-For-You VIP	$105/mo	$10.50/mo	$126/year

A single referred vendor on the Done-For-You VIP plan who also ships 50 units a year adds $50 in unit bonuses on top of the $126 subscription commission, for $176 from one referral in year one alone.

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Who should become a Bear Grips affiliate?

The program is built for the people already inside the gym and fitness world: gym owners who know other gym owners, coaches who know other coaches, and fitness influencers whose audience includes other fitness business owners. See the full breakdown in our guide for fitness influencers and the guide for personal trainers. Every one of these referral sources has the same access: the link works the same whether the referrer runs a Free shop or a Done-For-You VIP shop.

Customizing your affiliate code

The default affiliate code is generated automatically at signup. Vendors can update it to something on-brand (their gym name, their coaching business, a short handle) and the tracking URL updates to match. This makes the link easier to say out loud, print on a flyer, or drop in a bio without looking like a random string of letters.

How and when affiliates get paid

Payouts run on a bi-weekly cycle. There is no separate dashboard login: affiliate stats live inside the same Pro Shop account the vendor already uses. New affiliates who want a fast first referral often start by sharing the 10% discount code that comes with the program, since it gives a prospect a reason to act now instead of bookmarking the link for later. See the full math in our recurring commission math breakdown.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I have to pay for a plan to become an affiliate?

No. The affiliate link comes with every signup, including the Free plan at $0 per month. You do not need a paid subscription to start referring other vendors.

How long do I keep earning the 10% commission?

For as long as the vendor you referred keeps an active, paying subscription. There is no cutoff date on the commission itself.

Does the $1 per unit bonus apply no matter what the referred vendor sells?

Yes. Every unit shipped from a referred vendor's shop earns the same flat $1 bonus, on top of the 10% subscription cut.

How often do affiliate payouts happen?

Payouts run bi-weekly, on the same cycle for every vendor regardless of plan.