A good way to tell if the affiliate program you belong to is
serious about their affiliate program commissions is the
percentage they are paying you. If someone is offering you 10%
commission, and they are keeping the rest, then you need to ask
yourself "Should I really be in this affiliate program?".

An affiliate program I have recently joined called ‘E-Book
Marketing Explained’, pays out 45% commission to their
affiliates and another 10% to the 2nd tier. That’s 55%! They
only keep 45% and it’s from this that they take their costs.
Either they’ve gone completely mad or they are very smart!
I suspect they are very smart.

By paying such high affiliate program commissions they are
attracting many affiliates to their programs. This means they
can sell a higher volume. With a higher volume of sales they
can afford to give away such a high commission.

Because they are giving so much away to their affiliates with
high commissions it shows they are supremely confident in the
worth of their product or service and its ability to sell
itself. Their product or service is that good.

The affiliates are doing all the pre-selling, all the hard
work, getting the eyeballs at their web sites. You want to get
paid for it. Do not accept 10% commission rates. Set yourself a
standard of nothing less than 20% and make sure that the 20% is
more than just a couple of dollars.

It is with the big-percentage payers where you can make some
decent commissions. The 40%-plus hitters. These BIG affiliate
program commissions are the ones that will see your bank
balance explode each and every month.
A Successful Affiliate Program:
Two Christmases ago I tugged on one of those paper crackers and after a small bang, out popped a piece of yellow paper the size of a credit card.
On one side was a riddle that didn't make much sense, but on the other side was an 'Inspirational Quote' that made a lot of sense.
So much so, that I still have it in my wallet.
This is what it said: "The shortest and best way to make your fortune is to let people see clearly that it is in their interests to promote yours".
I'm constantly amazed to see affiliate programs that offer 20%, or even as little as 15%, to their affiliates.
It is generally accepted that the production of any information product is only 10 percent of the whole process.
What's the other 90 per cent? Marketing!
My own affiliate program gives 50% commissions, and I wouldn't dream of offering less. After all, who makes the sale - me or the affiliate?
It may be disappointing to see 50% of your sale price going to your affiliates. But it's worth remembering this: without your affiliate, that sale simply wouldn't have occurred.
Of course, there are many other factors involved in building a successful affiliate program, but this is the first and most important: make your affiliates your equal partners, because they'll be doing 90% of the work.