Whats the best way to place an affiliate link

First adventure in to the affiliate progs

[super_seo]

Hi we're thinking of placing affiliate links on our sites.
I was just wondering if anyone could advise me of the best method to place links.

Should I place the links:

mywebsite.com/widgets.asp?widgets=1234

and then have this URL redirect to

therewebsite.com/widgets.asp?affil_id=****

if I do this should I redirect using a 301 or a 302.

What I don’t really want is for the SE’s to penalise my sites and what I’ve read so far 302’s are a big No No

Any advise would be greatly appreciated.

[iProgram]

I know some site redirects to affiliate link and sends 500 header.