Automated Payouts

Automate withdrawal processing for vendors who reach a balance threshold on a scheduled basis.

Overview

Automated payouts reduce manual withdrawal requests by automatically creating withdrawal requests for vendors when their available balance reaches a configured threshold on scheduled days.

How It Works

1. Admin Enables: Admin enables auto-withdrawal in settings
2. Threshold Set: Minimum balance required (default $500)
3. Schedule Configured: Weekly or monthly processing
4. Vendor Qualifies: Vendor’s balance reaches threshold
5. Auto-Request Created: System creates withdrawal request automatically
6. Admin Processes: Admin reviews and processes payment

Key Benefits

For Vendors:

• No need to manually request withdrawals
• Predictable payment schedule
• Automatic balance management

For Admins:

• Batch process multiple payouts
• Scheduled processing days
• Reduced manual request volume

Default Settings

The plugin comes with these default auto-withdrawal settings:

Auto-Withdrawal Enabled: Disabled (false) Threshold: $500 Schedule: Monthly (1st of month)

Admin Configuration

Enable and configure automated payouts for your marketplace.

Enabling Auto-Withdrawal

1. Go to WP Sell Services → Settings → Payments
2. Scroll to Automatic Withdrawals section
3. Check Enable Auto-Withdrawal
4. Configure settings (see below)
5. Click Save Payout Settings

Threshold Amount

Auto-Withdrawal Threshold: Minimum balance to trigger automatic withdrawal.

Field Details:

• Minimum: 100
• Maximum: 10,000
• Step: 50
• Default: 500
• Description: “Minimum available balance to trigger automatic withdrawal”

Example:

• Threshold: $500
• Vendor A has $480 available → No auto-withdrawal
• Vendor B has $520 available → Auto-withdrawal created for $520

Schedule Options

Choose how often auto-withdrawals are processed.

Available Schedules:

Schedule	Processing Day	Example Dates
Weekly	Every Monday at 2 AM	Jan 8, Jan 15, Jan 22, Jan 29
Monthly	1st of month at 2 AM	Jan 1, Feb 1, Mar 1, Apr 1

Note: There is NO bi-weekly option in the current implementation.

Field Details:

• Options: weekly, monthly
• Default: monthly
• Description: “When automatic withdrawals are processed”

Cron Scheduling

Auto-withdrawal processing is handled by WordPress cron.

Cron Event: wpssprocessauto_withdrawals Frequency: Based on selected schedule (weekly/monthly) Time: 2:00 AM server time

The cron job is automatically scheduled when auto-withdrawal is enabled and cleared when disabled.

How Auto-Withdrawal Processing Works

Processing Flow

Every scheduled day (e.g., Monday for weekly, 1st for monthly):

1. Cron Runs: WordPress cron triggers at 2 AM
2. Check Enabled: Verify auto-withdrawal is enabled
3. Find Vendors: Query vendors with completed orders
4. Check Balances: Calculate available balance for each vendor
5. Check Threshold: Vendor balance >= threshold?
6. Check Payment Method: Vendor has payment method configured?
7. Create Request: Generate withdrawal request automatically
8. Notify: Send email to vendor and admin

Eligibility Requirements

For a vendor to receive auto-withdrawal:

1. ✓ Available balance >= threshold ($500 default)
2. ✓ Payment method configured (PayPal or bank account)
3. ✓ Payment details saved in user meta
4. ✓ No pending auto-withdrawal already exists

Example Processing

Monday, January 15 at 2:00 AM:

System processes auto-withdrawals:

Vendor A:
- Available: $750
- Threshold: $500
- Payment Method: PayPal (john@example.com)
→ Auto-withdrawal created: $750

Vendor B:
- Available: $450
- Threshold: $500
→ Skipped (below threshold)

Vendor C:
- Available: $600
- Threshold: $500
- Payment Method: Not configured
→ Skipped (no payment method)

Vendor D:
- Available: $520
- Threshold: $500
- Pending auto-withdrawal exists
→ Skipped (already has pending)

Results: 1 created, 3 skipped

Vendor Payment Method Setup

Vendors must configure their payment method for auto-withdrawal to work.

Required User Meta

The system checks these user meta fields:

wpsspayoutmethod: Payment method (paypal or banktransfer) wpsspayout_details: Array with payment details

PayPal Setup

Vendor saves:

update_user_meta( $vendor_id, 'wpss_payout_method', 'paypal' );
update_user_meta( $vendor_id, 'wpss_payout_details', array(
    'paypal_email' => 'vendor@example.com'
) );

Bank Transfer Setup

Vendor saves:

update_user_meta( $vendor_id, 'wpss_payout_method', 'bank_transfer' );
update_user_meta( $vendor_id, 'wpss_payout_details', array(
    'bank_name' => 'Example Bank',
    'account_holder' => 'John Doe',
    'account_number' => '1234567890',
    'routing_number' => '123456789'
) );

Withdrawal Request Creation

When a vendor qualifies, the system automatically creates a withdrawal request.

Request Details

Amount: Full available balance Method: Vendor’s configured payment method Status: Pending Is Auto: Flagged as automatic (is_auto = 1 in database)

Database Record

The withdrawal is inserted into wpss_withdrawals table:

INSERT INTO wpss_withdrawals (
    vendor_id,
    amount,
    method,
    details,
    status,
    is_auto,
    created_at
) VALUES (
    123,
    750.00,
    'paypal',
    '{"paypal_email":"vendor@example.com"}',
    'pending',
    1,
    '2026-01-15 02:00:00'
);

Duplicate Prevention

The system prevents creating duplicate auto-withdrawals:

Check: Query for existing pending or approved auto-withdrawals for vendor Result: If found, skip creating new request

This ensures only one auto-withdrawal request exists per vendor at a time.

Notifications

Both vendors and admins receive email notifications when auto-withdrawals are created.

Vendor Notification

Subject: Auto Withdrawal Created

An automatic withdrawal of $750.00 has been scheduled based on your payout settings.

Request ID: WD-1234
Amount: $750.00
Method: PayPal
Status: Pending

This will be reviewed and processed by our team.

Admin Notification

Subject: [Platform Name] Auto Withdrawal Request

An automatic withdrawal of $750.00 has been created for vendor John Doe.
Please review in the admin panel.

Request ID: WD-1234
Vendor: John Doe (ID: 123)
Amount: $750.00
Method: PayPal

Email Type: withdrawalauto Controlled by: wpssnotifications settings

Admins can disable auto-withdrawal emails in Settings → Emails.

Processing Auto-Withdrawals

Admins process auto-withdrawals the same way as manual withdrawal requests.

Admin Workflow

1. Go to WP Sell Services → Withdrawals
2. Filter by Auto-Withdrawal or view all pending
3. Click request to review details
4. Verify vendor and amount
5. Approve request
6. Process payment via PayPal/bank
7. Mark as completed in system

Auto-withdrawals are marked with “Auto” badge in the admin list for easy identification.

Schedule Examples

Weekly (Every Monday)

January 2026:
- Week 1: Monday, Jan 8 - Process auto-withdrawals
- Week 2: Monday, Jan 15 - Process auto-withdrawals
- Week 3: Monday, Jan 22 - Process auto-withdrawals
- Week 4: Monday, Jan 29 - Process auto-withdrawals

February 2026:
- Week 1: Monday, Feb 5 - Process auto-withdrawals
...

Monthly (1st of Month)

January 1, 2026: Process auto-withdrawals
February 1, 2026: Process auto-withdrawals
March 1, 2026: Process auto-withdrawals
April 1, 2026: Process auto-withdrawals
...

Note: If the 1st falls on a non-working day, the cron still processes. Admin can process payments on the next business day.

Last Run Information

The system tracks the last auto-withdrawal run.

Stored Option

Option Name: wpsslastautowithdrawalrun

Data Stored:

array(
    'timestamp' => '2026-01-15 02:00:00',
    'processed' => 12,
    'failed' => 2
)

Admins can view this information to verify auto-withdrawal is running correctly.

Disabling Auto-Withdrawal

To stop auto-withdrawal processing:

1. Go to Settings → Payments → Automatic Withdrawals
2. Uncheck Enable Auto-Withdrawal
3. Click Save Payout Settings

Result:

• Cron job is cleared (wpclearscheduled_hook)
• No new auto-withdrawals created
• Existing pending withdrawals remain (still need processing)

Developer Hooks

Actions

wpssautowithdrawal_created

Fires when auto-withdrawal is created:

add_action( 'wpss_auto_withdrawal_created', function( $withdrawal_id, $vendor_id, $amount ) {
    // Custom logic after auto-withdrawal created
}, 10, 3 );

Filters

wpssautowithdrawal_threshold

Modify threshold per vendor:

add_filter( 'wpss_auto_withdrawal_threshold', function( $threshold, $vendor_id ) {
    // Custom threshold logic
    return $threshold;
}, 10, 2 );

wpssautowithdrawal_schedule

Modify schedule:

add_filter( 'wpss_auto_withdrawal_schedule', function( $schedule ) {
    // Return 'weekly' or 'monthly'
    return $schedule;
}, 10, 1 );

Functions

Check if auto-withdrawal is enabled:

$enabled = \WPSellServices\Services\EarningsService::is_auto_withdrawal_enabled();

Get threshold amount:

$threshold = \WPSellServices\Services\EarningsService::get_auto_withdrawal_threshold();

Get schedule:

$schedule = \WPSellServices\Services\EarningsService::get_auto_withdrawal_schedule();

Get eligible vendors:

$earnings_service = new \WPSellServices\Services\EarningsService();
$eligible = $earnings_service->get_eligible_vendors_for_auto_withdrawal();

Manually trigger processing:

$earnings_service = new \WPSellServices\Services\EarningsService();
$result = $earnings_service->process_auto_withdrawals();

Troubleshooting

Auto-Withdrawals Not Processing

Check:

1. Auto-withdrawal is enabled in settings
2. WordPress cron is functioning
3. Check last run timestamp
4. Verify server time is correct
5. Check error logs

Debug:

// Check if cron is scheduled
$timestamp = wp_next_scheduled( 'wpss_process_auto_withdrawals' );
echo date( 'Y-m-d H:i:s', $timestamp );

// Manually trigger (for testing)
do_action( 'wpss_process_auto_withdrawals' );

Vendor Not Getting Auto-Withdrawal

Verify:

1. Vendor balance >= threshold
2. Payment method configured
3. Payment details saved
4. No pending auto-withdrawal exists
5. Available balance (not pending clearance)

Check Vendor Meta:

$method = get_user_meta( $vendor_id, 'wpss_payout_method', true );
$details = get_user_meta( $vendor_id, 'wpss_payout_details', true );
var_dump( $method, $details );

Wrong Schedule Running

Verify:

1. Schedule setting in admin
2. Check scheduled cron time
3. Confirm cron recurrence

$crons = _get_cron_array();
foreach ( $crons as $timestamp => $cron ) {
    if ( isset( $cron['wpss_process_auto_withdrawals'] ) ) {
        echo date( 'Y-m-d H:i:s', $timestamp );
        print_r( $cron['wpss_process_auto_withdrawals'] );
    }
}

Next Steps

• Manual Withdrawals: Learn about manual withdrawal process
• Earnings Dashboard: Track earnings in vendor dashboard
• Commission System: Understand commission calculations
• Admin Processing: Admins see withdrawal approval workflow