Why did my commission reverse?
If a sale you drove was refunded inside the refund window, the commission reverses for the refunded portion only. Partial refunds reverse proportionally.
If your balance dropped, a customer was almost certainly refunded, and the commission on the refunded part was reversed. It only affects the refunded portion, and the rest of your earnings stay exactly where they were. Here is how the reversal is calculated.
The short version
- A refund can reverse a commission. When a sale you drove is refunded inside the program's refund window, the commission on the refunded amount reverses.
- Only the refunded portion is affected. A partial refund reverses only the matching part of your commission. You keep the rest.
- Your other earnings are untouched. Every other sale stays exactly as it was. One refund does not ripple across your account.
- The fee never comes out of your side. You earn the commission the brand sets, in full. The 20% platform fee is billed to the brand, so it is never taken out of your payout, on a sale or on a reversal.
A reversal is not a penalty
A reversal happens because the underlying sale was undone, so the commission for that sale is undone too. It is not a fee, a clawback for something you did, or a mark against you. It tracks the refund, nothing more.
What a reversal is
When someone clicks the tracking link from a program you joined (see applying to a program) and buys, the order is credited to you through first-party, server-side attribution, with no discount code needed, and a commission is recorded. If that customer later returns the product and gets refunded, the sale that earned the commission no longer stands. So the commission is reversed for the refunded amount.
Two windows matter here, and they are different:
- Attribution window: how long after a click a sale still counts as yours. Set per program.
- Refund window: how long after a sale a refund can reverse the commission. Also set per program, and separate from the attribution window.
A reversal only happens when a refund lands inside the refund window. To see how a sale moves from credited to paid, and where the refund window sits in that timeline, see understanding your earnings.
Proportional reversal for a partial refund
A refund does not have to be all-or-nothing. If a customer is refunded part of an order, only the matching part of your commission reverses. We pro-rate it: the reversed commission matches the share of the order that was refunded.
The math is the refund fraction, applied to your commission:
- Refund fraction = amount refunded / order total.
- Reversed commission = your commission for that order x the refund fraction.
- You keep the rest.
Worked example, on a $50 commission for one order:
| Order total | Amount refunded | Refund fraction | Commission reversed | You keep |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $100 | $0 | 0% | $0 | $50 |
| $100 | $40 | 40% | $20 | $30 |
| $100 | $100 | 100% | $50 | $0 |
So a partial refund only ever dents your commission by the same share the customer got back. The whole commission is gone only if the whole order was refunded.
Cumulative-refund math, when refunds come in steps
Sometimes a customer is refunded in more than one step, days apart. We always measure against the running total refunded for that order, not each refund on its own. That way the reversal stays correct no matter how many partial refunds arrive, and you are never reversed twice for the same dollars.
Here is how it adds up on the same $100 order with a $50 commission:
| Step | Total refunded so far | Refund fraction | Commission that should be reversed | Already reversed | Reversed this step |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| First refund | $30 | 30% | $15.00 | $0 | $15.00 |
| Second refund | $50 | 50% | $25.00 | $15.00 | $10.00 |
| Third refund | $100 | 100% | $50.00 | $25.00 | $25.00 |
Each step looks at the new cumulative total, works out how much of your commission should be reversed in total, and then reverses only the difference that has not been reversed yet. Add up the right-hand column and it equals exactly the full $50 once the whole order is refunded. Never more.
Why your balance can move twice on one order
If you see two small drops tied to the same order on different days, that is cumulative-refund math at work. Each drop is just the next slice of the same refund, never a double charge.
What a reversal does not touch
- Your other sales. Every other order stays credited exactly as it was.
- The full commission rate. The brand's commission per sale does not change because of a refund.
- Your payout share. You still keep 100% of the commission the brand sets. The 20% platform fee stays on the brand's side.
- Your standing. A refund is the customer's decision about a product. It is not a quality flag on you, and click quality score is never an automatic clawback.
If a reversal looks wrong
If a sale was refunded, the reversal is correct and expected. But if the amount looks off, or a reversal appears for an order you do not think was refunded, you can ask us to check it. Request a review from the earnings line on your dashboard. See disputing a commission decision for what to include and what happens next.
FAQ
Why did my earnings drop?
The most common reason is a refund. When a sale you drove gets refunded inside the program's refund window, the commission on the refunded portion reverses, and your balance drops by that amount. This is normal and only affects the refunded part. The rest of your earnings stay exactly as they were. You earn the commission the brand sets, in full. The 20% platform fee is billed to the brand, so it is never taken out of your payout, even on a reversal.
Is the whole commission gone?
Only if the whole order was refunded. For a partial refund, only the matching portion of the commission reverses, and you keep the rest. If a customer gets back 40% of a $50 order, 40% of your commission reverses and you keep 60%. If the customer is refunded the full order, the full commission reverses. Either way, only the refunded portion is affected.
Can I dispute a reversal?
Yes. If a reversal looks wrong, you can request a review from the earnings line on your dashboard. Useful details include the order reference and the date of the refund. See disputing a commission decision for how to file and what happens next. Brand-set commission changes and program closures are separate and are not the same as a refund reversal.