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Consumer Agreement

This Agreement, and any counterparts, contains the terms and conditions for participation in the Apple Store Associates Program (the “Program”).

1. Definitions

  • We/Us/Our means Apple, and “you” or “your” means the individual, or entity, that signs this Agreement.
  • “Site” means a World Wide Web site and, depending on the context, refers to either the Apple Store or to your Site.
  • “Link” means a URL hidden behind a formatting option that may take the form of a colored item of text, logo or image, button, or graphic box, and which allows a user to automatically move to or between WWW pages, WWW sites, or within a WWW document.
  • “Eligible Products” means products that are entitled to earn referral fees under the rules of this Program.

2. Enrollment in the Program
You must submit a complete Program application. We will evaluate your application and will notify you of your acceptance or rejection. We may decline your application if we determine (in our sole discretion) that your Site is unsuitable for the Program. These factors may include sites that:

  • Contain obscene or sexually explicit materials
  • Promote violence
  • Promote discrimination based on race, sex, religion, nationality, disability, sexual orientation, or age
  • Promote illegal activities
  • Violate intellectual property rights
  • Promote the use of bulk e-mail or spam
  • Include Mac, Apple, or variations of either Apple or Mac in their brand or domain names that are not approved by Apple computer

If we accept your application, we will provide you with access to our member network (“Associates Site”) and all the tools you need. We have the right to terminate your membership in the Apple Store Associates Program at any time. If we decline your application or terminate your membership, you are welcome to reapply to the Program at any time.

3. Links on Your Site
Once you have agreed to the Agreement and been accepted to the program, you may select one or more of the graphics offered on the Apple Store Associates Program Site (“Banners and Text”) to feature on your Site. You may change the selection of your featured Icon at any time. The content, style and placement of your description, and the placement of Icons will be your sole responsibility and within your sole discretion. You may not modify any Icon in any way.

For each selected Icon, you will also provide an electronic link to the Apple Store Site at http://www.apple.com/store/ and in a format provided by us (a “Link”). It is your sole responsibility to set up the Links connecting your Site to the appropriate page on the Apple Site designated for that particular Icon, and ensure that the Links are in good and working order.

4. Order Processing
We will process product orders placed by customers who follow any Links directly from your Site to the Apple Online Store Site. We reserve the right to reject orders that do not comply with any requirements that we periodically may establish.

You will not be responsible for order processing or fulfillment, such as preparing order forms; processing payments, cancellations, and returns; or handling customer service. You do not need to track sales made to customers who follow Links directly from your Site to our Site and purchase products from us (provided that their browsers are set to accept cookies), or make available online reports summarizing this sales activity. The form, content, and frequency of the reports may vary from time to time in our discretion but will generally be available on a continuous basis. We will not be responsible for any errors you or your customers make which result in any loss of any tracking or sales activity information, nor will we be responsible for tracking and reporting sales that were not made through a Link formatted to our specifications. To protect our customers’ privacy, the names or other personal information about specific customers will not be provided to you.

5. Referral Fees
Subject to the terms and conditions of this Agreement, we will pay you referral fees on certain product sales to customers that have: (a) followed a link from your Site to the Apple Store Site; (b) purchased the product using our automated ordering system; (c) and remitted full credit card-approved payment to us. We will not, however, pay referral fees for any products that are subsequently purchased or added to a customer’s shopping cart after the customer has left our Site and subsequently reentered it (other than through a Link directly from your Site), even if the customer previously followed a Link directly from your Site to our Site. Products that are entitled to earn referral fees under the rules set forth above are “Eligible Products.”

You will earn referral fees on Eligible Products based on the Sale Price (as defined in Fee Schedule below), according to fee schedules established by us, as modified by us from time to time in our sole discretion. “Sale Price” means the then-current sale price listed in our catalog for each product that we sell, excluding all costs for shipping, handling, gift-wrapping (where and when applicable), and taxes. A customer may purchase either on first click through or within five days of first visiting the Apple Store to generate a sale that is eligible for commission to the member.

6. Fee Schedule:
The fee schedule for the Apple Store Associates Program is paid out on a quarterly basis. . As of June 1, 2000, the referral fee schedule is as follows:


Total Monthly Sales
Referral Fee
$0 to $8000 1% for hardware products, 3% for software products
$8001 to $16,000 1.5% for hardware products, 3.5% for software products
16,001 or greater 2% for hardware products, 4% for software products

We have the right to change our commission structure at any time. Once your company has been accepted to the program, Apple will provide you complete a fee schedule.

7. Fee Payment
We will pay you, or cause you to be paid, referral fees on a quarterly basis based on the Apple Computer Fiscal year calendar. Within forty five (45) days following the end of each calendar quarter, you will be sent a check for the referral fees earned on Eligible Products that were electronically distributed or shipped during that month, less any taxes that we are required by law to withhold. However, if the fees payable to you for any calendar quarter are less than Fifty Dollars ($50), we will hold those fees until the calendar quarter in which the referral fee exceeds Fifty Dollars ($50) or until this Agreement is terminated, whichever is earlier. If an Eligible Product is returned or charged back, we will deduct the corresponding fee from your next quarterly payment. If there is no subsequent payment, we will send you a bill for the canceled referral fee and you agree to reimburse us. In the future we will include returns and charge backs in your online reports.

8. Policies and Pricing
Customers who buy Eligible Products will be deemed to be customers of Apple. Accordingly, all Apple rules, policies, and operating procedures concerning customer orders, customer service, and product sales will apply to those customers. We may change our policies and operating procedures at any time.

We will determine the prices for Eligible Products in accordance with our pricing policies, and both these prices and product availability may vary from time to time. We will use commercially reasonable efforts to present accurate information, but do not guarantee the availability or price of any product. You may not include price information of our products in your product descriptions or elsewhere on your Site.

9. Identifying Yourself as an Apple Store Associates Program Member
We will make available to you certain text and graphic images (assets) that identifies your Site as an Apple Store Portal Program Member. You will display these assets as prescribed by Apple in writing or prior approved by Apple.

We may modify the text or graphic image of this notice from time to time, and you agree to promptly include such modification on your Site.

You may not make any public statement or press release with respect to this Agreement or your participation in the Program without the prior written consent by Apple, which may be given or withheld in our sole discretion.

10. Limited License; Ownership of Content
Subject to the terms and conditions of this Agreement, we grant you a limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable, revocable license to use the Icons, the Logo, the Search Box, and the message described in Section 9, together with such other Icons and images for which we grant express written permission (collectively, the “Content”), solely for the purpose of identifying your Site as a Program participant and to assist us in generating product sales through the Program. You agree not to modify or contest Apple’s rights in and to any of our Content in any way, or use the Content in any derogatory or illegal manner. This license terminates upon the termination of this Agreement. We retain all right, title and ownership to the Content, including all associated intellectual property rights, and any goodwill attributed to the Content or its use shall inure exclusively to Apple. You will not use any Content, or any rights under the Program (such as your affiliate status of the Apple Store) except as expressly permitted under this Agreement for the Program, and not for any other program(s) or reason whatsoever. Your participation in the Program or any rights thereunder are not an endorsement or sponsorship of Your Site by Apple and you won’t create any false association between Apple and You.

11. Responsibility for Your Site
You will be solely responsible for all development, operation, and maintenance of your Site and for all materials that appear on your Site. For example, you will be solely responsible for:

  • the technical operation of your Site and all related equipment.
  • posting Icons on your Site and linking those Icons to our Site
  • the accuracy and appropriateness of materials posted on your Site (including, among other things, all product-related materials)
  • ensuring that materials posted on your Site do not violate or infringe upon the rights of any third parties (including but not limited to copyrights, trademarks, privacy, or other personal or proprietary rights).
  • ensuring that materials posted on your Site are not libelous, illegal, obscene or sexually explicit.

We disclaim all liability for these matters.

YOU MAY NOT MAKE ANY REPRESENTATION OR CLAIM REGARDING THE USEFULNESS, SPECIFICATIONS, FEATURES OR EFFICACY OF ANY PRODUCT. IF YOU MAKE ANY SUCH CLAIMS, YOUR MEMBERSHIP IN THE APPLE STORE ASSOCIATES PROGRAM MAY BE TERMINATED IMMEDIATELY.

12. Indemnity
You will defend, indemnify and hold us harmless from any and all claims, damages, and expenses (including, without limitation, attorneys’ fees), however arising, relating to the development, operation, maintenance, contents and use of your Site, or any breach of your obligations under this Agreement or the Program.

13. Term of the Agreement
The term of this Agreement will begin upon our acceptance of your Program application or your agreement of this Agreement, whichever is later, and will end when terminated by either party. Either you or we may terminate this Agreement at any time, with or without cause, by giving the other party ten (10) days written notice of termination. You are only eligible to earn referral fees on sales of Eligible Products made during the term of this Agreement, and fees earned through the date of termination will be reduced for any cancellations or returns. We may withhold all or a portion of your final payment as a reserve for up to 90 days against any such cancellations or returns.

14. Modification
We may modify all or a portion of the terms and conditions of this Agreement at any time and in our sole discretion, by posting a change notice or a new agreement on our Associates Gateway Site. Modifications may include, changes in referral fees, fee schedules, payment procedures, and Program rules. IF ANY MODIFICATION IS UNACCEPTABLE TO YOU, YOUR ONLY RECOURSE IS TO TERMINATE THIS AGREEMENT. YOUR CONTINUED PARTICIPATION IN THE PROGRAM FOLLOWING OUR POSTING OF A CHANGE NOTICE OR NEW AGREEMENT ON OUR ASSOCIATES GATEWAY SITE WILL CONSTITUTE YOUR ACCEPTANCE OF THE CHANGE.

15. Relationship of Parties
You and we are independent contractors, and nothing in this Agreement will create any partnership, joint venture, agency, franchise, sales representative, or employment relationship between the parties. You will have no authority to make or accept any offers or representations on our behalf. You will not make any statement, whether on your Site or otherwise, contrary to anything in this Section.

16. Limitation of Liability
We will not be liable to you or any third party for any special, indirect or consequential damages (including, without limitation any loss of revenue, profits, or data) arising in connection with this Agreement or the Program, even if we have been advised of the possibility of such damages. Further, under no circumstances will our aggregate liability under this Agreement or the Program exceed the total referral feeds paid to you under this Agreement during the previous quarterly period, or five hundred dollars ($500), whichever is less.

17. Disclaimers
WE MAKE NO EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES OR REPRESENTATIONS WITH RESPECT TO THE PROGRAM OR ANY PRODUCTS SOLD THROUGH THE PROGRAM INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, WARRANTIES OF FITNESS, MERCHANTABILITY, INFRINGEMENT, OR ANY IMPLIED WARRANTIES ARISING OUT OF A COURSE OF PERFORMANCE, DEALING, OR TRADE USAGE, IN ADDITION, WE MAKE NO REPRESENTATION THAT THE OPERATION OF OUR SITE WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED OR VIRUS — OR ERROR-FREE AND WE WILL NOT BE LIABLE FOR THE CONSEQUENCES OF ANY INTERRUPTIONS, VIRUSES OR ERRORS.

18. Independent Investigation
YOU ACKNOWLEDGE THAT YOU HAVE READ THIS AGREEMENT AND AGREE TO ALL ITS TERMS AND CONDITIONS. YOU UNDERSTAND THAT WE MAY AT ANY TIME (DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY) SOLICIT CUSTOMER REFERRALS ON TERMS THAT MAY DIFFER FROM THOSE CONTAINED IN THIS AGREEMENT OR OPERATE WEB SITES THAT ARE SIMILAR TO OR COMPETE WITH YOUR WEB SITE. YOU HAVE INDEPENDENTLY EVALUATED THE DESIRABILITY OF PARTICIPATING IN THE PROGRAM AND ARE NOT RELYING ON ANY REPRESENTATION , GUARANTEE OR STATEMENT OTHER THAN AS SET FORTH IN THIS AGREEMENT.

19. Identification of Associates
We may identify you or your Site as a participant in the Program without providing you prior notice or obtaining your prior consent. Such identification may be oral, written, or electronic and may include, but is not limited to, public announcements, promotional materials, internal and external reports, and public filings.

20. Assignment
You may not assign this Agreement, by operation of law or otherwise, without our prior written consent. Apple may assign this Agreement, in whole or in part. Subject to that restriction, this Agreement will be binding on, inure to the benefit of, and be enforceable against, the parties and their respective successors and permitted assigns. Any purported assignment in violation of this section is void.

21. Scope of Agreement
This Agreement and any counterparts constitutes the entire agreement and understanding between the parties hereto with respect to the subject matter hereof and supersedes all prior or contemporaneous written or oral agreements or representations between parties. This Agreement may only be modified by a written instrument by both parties, unless permitted under its terms.

22. Miscellaneous
The Agreement will be governed by the laws of the United States and the state of California, without reference to rules governing choice of laws. Any action relating to this Agreement must be brought in the federal or state courts located in San Jose, California, and you irrevocably consent to the jurisdiction of such courts. Our failure to enforce your strict performance of any provision of this Agreement will not constitute a waiver of our right to subsequently enforce such provision or any other provision of this Agreement.

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