How Car Clubs Earn From Referral Programs

This piece assumes the club already exists. If you are still at the stage of founding a car club, start there, because the treasury, the bylaws and the tax status all decide how referral money can come in.

What a car club referral program actually pays

There are three kinds of deal a club will run into, and they pay in very different ways.

The first is a straight commission on a sale made through the club's link. Our partner program is one, and it names clubs directly: marque clubs, regional clubs and forums "whose members buy and sell cars among themselves." ClassicCars.com runs another through the Awin network, paying 5% on listings purchased with a 30-day cookie, as shown on Awin's merchant profile on October 19, 2026.

The second is an insurer tie-up, which usually pays members rather than the club. Hagerty has been the SCCA's official insurance provider since 2019, and SCCA members get 5% off Hagerty off-track collector-car insurance (not in California, Tennessee or Massachusetts) and 30% off on-track Track Night in America policies, with Hagerty also sponsoring SCCA events. That arrangement is a member discount plus sponsorship. Nothing published by either side shows a per-policy cash payment to the club.

The third is the one people ask about most, and it is not available to American clubs.

Dealers run their own referral schemes too, and paying someone for steering a buyer to a car is regulated in many states, which is a separate subject; read more here.

How the numbers work for a club

On our partner program, the club earns 25% of every listing package or upgrade a referred seller buys, taken from what the seller actually paid after discounts. A referred dealer's subscription pays 20% of each payment for the dealer's first 12 months. Each commission is confirmed 30 days after the sale, and the club can request a payout by PayPal once the confirmed balance reaches $50.

For example, at the prices shown in October 2026, a member who lists his car with the $179 Premium package through the club's link earns the club $44.75. A local shop that signs up as a Dealer Starter at $149 a month earns the club $29.80 a month, up to $357.60 over the 12 months. That is arithmetic on the published table. How many members sell in a year is the club's own business, and nobody can promise it.

Some things never pay: the Ad-Free subscription, payments under $5, privately negotiated dealer offers, customers who were already on the site, and the club's own purchases. A refunded payment loses its commission.

"Our people were already sending each other to the right buyer, the right shop, the right trailer. The link just writes down what the club was doing all along."

Hector Morales

Where the club's link belongs

The partner page itself points to a club newsletter as a place for the link. That fits, because the newsletter and the classifieds board are where members already announce a car for sale. A short line under the classifieds ("list it here and the club gets a share") does more than any banner.

Whatever form it takes, the disclosure has to sit right next to the link. The FTC says the relationship must be clear and conspicuous and close to the recommendation, and gives wording like "I get commissions for purchases made through links in this post." For a club, "The club earns a commission if you list through this link" says it plainly.

If the newsletter goes out by email and promotes a paid service, the FTC's CAN-SPAM rules apply to that promotional message: a valid postal address, a clear opt-out that works, opt-outs honored within 10 business days, and a subject line that does not mislead. Partner rules also ban spam, paid search ads on the site's name, and coupon or cashback sites.

The kind of club matters here too. A one-make club sends fewer sellers but more serious ones; a regional club sends more, across every make. Which one you run, or should run, is the longer answer.

The treasury and the tax question

Referral money is outside money, and a club organized as a 501(c)(7) social club has to watch outside money. The IRS lets a social club take up to 35% of its gross receipts from nonmember sources, investment income included, and no more than 15% from nonmember use of club facilities and services. Going over does not automatically cost the exemption; the IRS looks at all the facts and circumstances.

The IRS page does not say how affiliate commissions are classed under that test, so do not guess. Before the first payout, the treasurer should ask the club's accountant how the income is counted and reported. US partners must also provide a W-9 before their first payout, so the account belongs in the club's name, with the club's tax ID, and not in an officer's.

Tax and exemption rules vary with how the club is set up and where it is registered. Confirm with an accountant before you count on any of this; it is general information, not tax advice.

Spend it where members can see it

Referral income works best when members see where it lands. Put it toward the things that bring people back: a better venue for the spring meet, trophies for the judged show, coffee at the morning run. There is a list of event ideas for members worth borrowing from.

Other programs pay on other terms, and the full comparison, with sources and dates for each rate, is in the whole guide. For most clubs, though, the simplest start is the one built for them. When a member says he is ready to sell, point him to the partner program clubs can join, tell him the club earns a share, and thank him at the next meeting.

Sources and notes

• Awin: ClassicCars.com merchant profile (5% on listings, 30-day cookie, read October 19, 2026)
• SCCA: Hagerty and SCCA partnership (member discounts as read October 19, 2026; article undated)
• Hagerty UK: car club partner programme launch, October 31, 2022
• FTC: Endorsement Guides, what people are asking
• FTC: CAN-SPAM Act compliance guide for business
• IRS: Social clubs, 501(c)(7) nonmember income limits

Partner program rates, prices and payout terms are as shown on our partner program page on October 19, 2026, and can change.