Linked Membership

You cannot do linked membership if you are paying Adobe directly.  It can only be done via VIP marketplace with an Adobe reseller.  This might be the confusion so anyone paying Adobe direct with credit card or invoice terms is not going to be able to do this, it's exclusively for VIP marketplace customers (through adobe resellers)

Linked membership cannot get 3 year commitment pricing.  Only volume based discounts, this is another restriction.  

There is currently a bug in the Adobe API back end  system (may be fixed if you read this later).  If you link a membership before placing the initial order for the main / owner account it will not apply the quantity discounts and you may be locked at their current level until the next lookback period.  Contact partner support to get them to manually change discount level and you may need to talk to distributor for refunds.  Buy the initial order FIRST before linking to establish the base discount.  After the "head office" or Owner of the linked memberships has their discount (level 2, etc) the reseller can use their distributors system to invite the owner to accept the terms and allow them to generate affiliate codes. 

Ingram Micro who is the wholesale level distributor for all of USA and Canada for example if you are the reseller partner helping setup a new linked membership for your client, you go into their XVantage system -> My business -> Cloud services -> Manage button beside "adobe vip marketplace" -> Adobe customer management  Pick the customer who will be the owner / main account.  Then Linked Memberhsip button in top right to create a new linked agreement.  If it's missing it means they likely have 3yr commitment and are not eligible.   For other regions where they do not use Ingram if you are the reseller you talk to your distributor to find out how their marketplace UI works to generate the linked invite.  Adobe provides the API to manage the licensing and orders which the distributor uses to sell the product, but the distributor makes their own systems to place orders and manage customers so it's up to them to help the reseller through this part.  

Once the owner of the linked membership has enrolled you must contact Adobe to remove a these linked memberships, there is no way to remove it yourself in the adobe admin console despite some conflicting info on adobe.com  like this page: https://www.adobe.com/howtobuy/buying-programs/vipmp-linked-membership-supplemental.html 

"The Linked Membership Admin can also remove an affiliate from the Admin Console." is false at this time.  (maybe managing affiliates will be possible in some future release)

Once the main account has ordered, estabished the discount, then was invited and agreed to the linked membership they can go into their adobe adminconsole under Account tab and click the button by discount to generate linked affiliate codes.  If the new company doesn't have a VIP account yet you may need to either order 1 small sku and return it from the distributor or start a "for teams" trial.  The affiliate company can then go into their adobe admin console, go to account and beside discount they can enter the code they get to join the linked membership group.  Now the next time their distributor does anything that checks the status it should update with the discount level and linked membership status.  The linked membership owner cannot see the affiliate users or manage their licenses.  If you want that, you can invite their email to the affiliate as an administrator if they are also helping the affiliate / subaccounts manage their licensing and accounts.

note: I am not an Adobe employee, just posting as I have experience managing these.  

Thank you!

Nathaniel Grant, 

[Edited by moderator: Please refrain from sharing your details here as this public forum is accessible to all.]

Hi @nathaniel2913,

Thank you for reaching out. To enroll your 300+ membership association in Adobe’s Linked Membership program, please follow these steps:

Review Eligibility: Ensure affiliates meet requirements, such as sharing the same VIP member type and holding active VIP agreements.
Discuss Membership: Consult with an Adobe Authorized Reseller or Advisor to confirm suitability and gain affiliate approval.
Submit Request: Complete the Linked Membership Request Form, including all affiliate VIP Agreement Numbers.

For detailed guidance, refer to these resources:

Adobe Value Incentive Plan Linked Membership for Consortiums

How to Manage Linked Membership in VIP Marketplace

VIP Marketplace Linked Membership

If you have any questions or need further support, feel free to reach out.

Regards,
^AN