a method for effecting affiliate e - commerce . at least one virtual store interested in promoting products or services or web - pages via an affiliate method is provided . a plurality of affiliates are provided , each having access to an e - mail system , with an agent software which adds promotional material relating to the virtual stores to their e - mail signature , or appends such material to outgoing e - mail messages generated by them . link information in the promotional material is provided , to a joint web server suitable to redirect a web surfer from it to one or more web pages , as well as information in the promotional material , that is suitable to identify the affiliate who has disseminated it . when a remuneration is received from a virtual store for a referral , a portion of such remuneration is credited to one or more of the affiliates .