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This guide covers setting up ClickBank as a merchant to sell your products through the ClickBank marketplace, including pitch flow configuration and merchant setup.
This is for merchants selling through ClickBank. If you’re an affiliate promoting ClickBank products, see the ClickBank Affiliate Integration instead.

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Prerequisites

  • Active ClickBank account with vendor access (ClickBank term)
  • Approved products in ClickBank marketplace
  • Admin access to your ClickBank account
  • Understanding of ClickBank pitch flow system

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Step 1: Create ClickBank Merchant

Creating a ClickBank merchant opens a guided setup: account details, product IDs, the postback URL and a live test, one step at a time. You can stop and come back: Continue setup on the merchant’s row resumes it. See Guided setup. The steps below follow the guided setup. In the merchant’s full editor (Open full editor) the same fields are on General information.

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Account details

  1. Go to Settings → Merchants and click Create Merchant
  2. Pick ClickBank as the Gateway, type a Name, and click Create & Configure
  3. ClickBank account nickname: the nickname of your ClickBank vendor account, shown next to your account name at the top of ClickBank
  4. ClickBank secret key: the key under Account Settings → My Site → Advanced Tools → Secret Key in ClickBank. If you have none yet, click Generate one and save the same value in ClickBank.
  5. Click Save and continue. Products opens next.
The guided setup of a ClickBank merchant on Account details: the ClickBank account nickname, the ClickBank secret key with Generate one, and where to find both

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About the secret key

The secret key is not an API key. ClickBank uses it to encrypt each notification, and ElasticFunnels uses it to decrypt them:
  • Format: up to 16 capital letters and digits
  • Same value in both places: if the key in ClickBank and the key in ElasticFunnels differ, ClickBank notifications cannot be decrypted
  • Yours to choose: type your own or use Generate one
For postback configuration, click Postback Setup on the merchant’s row in Settings → Merchants. It gives the exact URL and the steps to follow in ClickBank.

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Step 2: Configure Domain-Merchant Assignment

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Assign Merchant to Domain

  1. Go to Settings → Domains → Edit Domain
  2. Select your ClickBank merchant from the dropdown
  3. Save the domain configuration
This ensures all funnels on this domain use ClickBank for payments.

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Step 3: Set Up ClickBank Pitch Flow

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Create Pitch Flow in ClickBank

  1. Log into your ClickBank account
  2. Go to Pitch Flows section
  3. Click Create New Pitch Flow
  4. Add all product variants you plan to split test:
    • Different price points (3 bottles, 6 bottles, 12 bottles)
    • Different bonus packages
    • Different upsell combinations
  5. Save and note the Pitch Flow ID (CBFID)

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Use Funnel Node URLs for Upsell/Decline Targets

Instead of pointing upsells to specific page slugs (e.g., upsell-1), use the URL from your funnel nodes:
  1. Open your funnel in ElasticFunnels
  2. For each step in your flow, click the Purchase or Decline node that leads to the next page
  3. Click Copy Node URL
  4. Paste this URL into the corresponding Upsell or Decline target in your ClickBank Pitch Flow
This decouples ClickBank from individual page URLs. You can later split test or swap the page shown at that node without changing the Pitch Flow or re‑approving it. See the “Copy Node URL” control on the nodes in your funnel builder for reference.

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Best Practices for Pitch Flow Setup

  • Include all variants: Add every product combination you might test
  • Avoid re-approval delays: Having all variants pre-approved saves time
  • Organize logically: Group related products together
  • Document variants: Keep track of which IDs correspond to which products

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Step 4: Configure Funnel Integration

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Set Funnel Pitch Flow ID

  1. Go to Funnels → Edit Funnel
  2. In the funnel settings, you’ll see:
    • ClickBank Pitch Flow ID: Enter your CBFID
    • ClickBank Template Code: Enter if using custom templates
  3. Save the funnel configuration

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Default Funnel Setup

  • Make funnel default: Check this option if you want this funnel to handle all traffic to the domain without the f= parameter
  • URL access: Visitors can access via domain.com or domain.com?f=funnel_id

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Step 5: Send orders to ElasticFunnels (INS)

ClickBank tells ElasticFunnels about each sale, rebill, refund and chargeback through its Instant Notification Service (INS). Until the INS URL is set, no ClickBank sale shows up in your reports. In the guided setup, this is the Postback URL step. The Postback URL step of the guided ClickBank setup: the postback URL with Copy and the seven steps in ClickBank, ending with Version 8.0 and Test & Save You can open the same URL later: click Postback Setup on the merchant’s row in Settings → Merchants. It looks like https://app.elasticfunnels.io/postback/vendor/<your code>/clickbank. In ClickBank, logged in to your vendor account:
  1. Go to Account Settings → My Site
  2. Open Advanced Tools
  3. Check Secret Key. It must be the same value as ClickBank secret key on the merchant in ElasticFunnels (see About the secret key).
  4. In the Instant Notification Service section, paste the URL into an Instant Notification URL field
  5. Pick Version 8.0
  6. Click Test & Save. ClickBank sends a test notification to the URL.
Each ClickBank vendor account has its own INS settings, so a second account needs its own merchant and URL.

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Step 6: Test and check that it arrived

  1. In ElasticFunnels, click Postback Setup on the merchant’s row and go to Test. Keep the window open.
  2. In ClickBank, click Test & Save next to the URL
  3. Within a few seconds the window shows Merchant verified. If it shows No test postback yet after 2 minutes, check the URL and click Check again.
  4. Open Settings → Logs → Merchant Postbacks. The test is listed with merchant ClickBank. Click Show Details to see the notification, decrypted with your secret key.
The ClickBank test (buyer testuser@somesite.com) marks the merchant verified but is not added to your reports as an order. For an end-to-end check, place a test purchase from your live page using ClickBank’s test payment details.

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Sales stopped showing up

Start at Settings → Logs → Merchant Postbacks, filtered to ClickBank.
  • Nothing from ClickBank since a certain date: the INS URL was removed or replaced in ClickBank. Check Account Settings → My Site → Advanced Tools. The merchant still says Verified, because that badge only records the first postback. When the daily check sees buy clicks but no sales, it adds an amber No sales reported since warning next to the merchant in Merchants; hover it to see the clicks and sales it counted. The warning clears with the next postback that arrives.
  • Notifications arrive but no orders: open one with Show Details. If it could not be decrypted, the secret key in ClickBank and the one on the merchant differ, usually because one of them was changed. Make them the same; ClickBank does not resend notifications that already went out.
  • Buyers on your thank-you page are not recognised (no name or email filled in): ClickBank sends the order details to the thank-you page encrypted with the same secret key. If the merchant has no key, or a different one, you get one Brand Action on your dashboard: Add your ClickBank secret key or Check your ClickBank secret key. Fix the key on the merchant, then mark the action done.
  • Orders arrive without a page or ad: the pay link had no click ID. Use [BUY] tags; pasted pay links get __click_id added unless Add click tracking to pasted buy links is off (see Custom Purchase Links).

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Advanced Configuration

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Multiple Product Testing

When split testing different products:
  1. Add all products to the same pitch flow in ClickBank
  2. Use page events to show different purchase buttons
  3. Pass product IDs in the purchase links
  4. Track performance of each variant
Purchase links automatically use the funnel’s CBFID:
  • Standard format: [BUY=product_code]
  • With parameters: [BUY=product_code extra=campaign_data]
  • No manual CBFID: System automatically adds the funnel’s pitch flow ID
A ClickBank pay link pasted into the page (https://<account>.pay.clickbank.net/?cbitems=...) gets the visitor’s click code as __click_id when the page renders, so the sale is matched to its visit. A __click_id you set yourself is kept. To leave pasted links exactly as written, turn off Add click tracking to pasted buy links in the merchant’s Settings.

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Upsell Configuration

  1. Create upsell nodes in your funnel
  2. Connect to purchase nodes for the main product
  3. Use funnel-level split testing or page events for upsell variants
  4. Configure decline flows for users who don’t purchase upsells

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Subscription Upsells (Upgrade/Cancel)

If you sell recurring products, you can upgrade or cancel a customer’s existing subscription mid-funnel using [UPSELL_UPGRADE=old_sku, new_sku] and [UPSELL_CANCEL] tags. This requires a Developer API Key (different from the encryption key) - see Subscription Upsells for full setup instructions.

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Troubleshooting

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Common Issues

Postback not working: see Sales stopped showing up. Purchase links not working:
  • Verify funnel has correct CBFID
  • Check that merchant is assigned to the domain
  • Ensure products exist in ClickBank pitch flow
Split testing not working:
  • Verify all product variants are in the pitch flow
  • Check that page events are properly connected
  • Ensure domain-merchant assignment is correct

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Testing Your Setup

See Step 6: Test and check that it arrived.

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Security Best Practices

  • Keep encryption keys secure - don’t share them
  • Use strong, unique keys - avoid simple passwords
  • Regularly rotate keys - update periodically for security
  • Monitor postback logs - watch for unusual activity
  • Test with small amounts - verify everything works before full launch
Ensure all your ClickBank pitch flow products are compliant with ClickBank’s marketplace policies. Non-compliant products can result in account suspension.