Commission System (Global & Per-Vendor)

Commission System

The commission system determines how revenue is split between the platform and vendors for each completed order.

Overview

When a buyer purchases a service, the order total is divided between the platform commission and vendor earnings. The platform takes a percentage commission, and the vendor receives the remainder.

How Commission Works

  1. Order Created: Buyer completes purchase
  2. Total Calculated: Package price + add-ons
  3. Commission Applied: Platform percentage deducted
  4. Vendor Earnings: Remaining amount credited to vendor
  5. Payment Released: Funds available after clearing period

Key Components

ComponentDescription
Order TotalFull price paid by buyer
Commission RatePlatform percentage (default 10%)
Platform FeeDollar amount taken by platform
Vendor EarningsAmount vendor receives after commission

Default Commission Settings

The plugin comes with these default commission settings:

Global Commission Rate: 10% Per-Vendor Rates: Enabled (vendors can have custom rates)

Commission Calculation

Order Total: $100.00
Commission (10%): $10.00
Vendor Earnings: $90.00

The commission is stored in the platformfee field and vendor earnings in vendorearnings when an order is marked as completed.

Configuring Global Commission

Set the default commission rate that applies to all vendors.

Admin Configuration

  1. Go to WP Sell Services → Settings → Payments
  2. Find Commission Settings section
  3. Enter Commission Rate (%): Value between 0-50
  4. Check Per-Vendor Rates to allow custom rates per vendor
  5. Click Save Commission Settings
Commission settings tab
Full commission settings

Commission Rate Field:

  • Minimum: 0%
  • Maximum: 50%
  • Step: 0.1%
  • Default: 10%
  • Description: “Default percentage deducted from vendor earnings for all orders”

Commission on Add-ons

Commission is calculated on the full order total, including add-ons. Tips are excluded from commission calculations.

Per-Vendor Commission Rates

When Enable Vendor Rates is checked, you can set custom commission rates for individual vendors.

Setting Custom Vendor Rates

Via Vendor Profile:

  1. Go to WP Sell Services → Vendors
  2. Click on vendor name
  3. Find Commission Settings section
  4. Enter custom commission rate
  5. Click Update

The custom rate overrides the global rate for that vendor’s orders.

Use Cases:

  • Reward top performers with lower commission
  • Promotional rates for new vendors
  • Premium vendors with higher commission
  • Special partnership agreements

Commission Priority

When calculating commission, the system uses:

  1. Per-Vendor Rate (if set) – highest priority
  2. Global Rate (default) – fallback

When Commission is Calculated

Commission is calculated when the order is marked as completed.

Order Completion Flow

Order In Progress → Delivered → Buyer Accepts → Order Completed
                                                  ↓
                                         Commission Calculated
                                         Vendor Earnings Credited

Database Fields Updated:

  • commission_rate: The percentage applied
  • platform_fee: Dollar amount of commission
  • vendor_earnings: Net amount to vendor

Example Timeline

Day 1: Order placed for $100 Day 3: Vendor delivers work Day 5: Buyer accepts delivery Day 5: Order status changes to “completed”

  • Commission calculated: $10 (10%)
  • Vendor earnings: $90
  • Funds added to vendor balance

Commission in Order Details

Admin Order View

Admins see complete financial breakdown:

Order Total: $100.00
Commission (10%): $10.00
Vendor Earnings: $90.00

Vendor Order View

Vendors see their earnings after commission:

Order Total: $100.00
Your Earnings: $90.00
Order commission breakdown

Commission details are stored in the wpss_orders table with these fields:

  • total: Order total amount
  • commission_rate: Percentage applied
  • platform_fee: Commission amount
  • vendor_earnings: Vendor’s net earnings

Tips and Commission

Tips are commission-free. 100% of tip amounts go directly to the vendor.

Example with Tip:

Order Total: $100.00
Tip: $10.00

Commission (10% of $100): $10.00
Vendor Earnings: $90.00 + $10.00 tip = $100.00

Tips are tracked separately and not included in commission calculations.

REST API Endpoints

The Earnings Controller provides API access to commission and earnings data.

GET /wpss/v1/earnings/summary

Retrieve vendor earnings summary including commission paid.

Response:

{
  "total_earned": 12450.00,
  "available_balance": 2670.00,
  "pending_clearance": 1280.00,
  "withdrawn": 8500.00,
  "pending_withdrawal": 0.00,
  "completed_orders": 124
}

GET /wpss/v1/earnings/history

Get detailed earnings history with commission breakdown per order.

Parameters:

  • page: Page number (default: 1)
  • per_page: Results per page (default: 20, max: 100)

Response includes:

  • Order number and service
  • Total amount
  • Vendor earnings after commission
  • Commission rate applied
  • Platform fee amount

Refunds and Commission

When an order is refunded, commission is reversed.

Full Refund

Original Order: $100.00
Commission Collected: $10.00
Vendor Earned: $90.00

→ Full Refund Issued
→ Commission reversed: -$10.00 (returned to buyer)
→ Vendor earnings deducted: -$90.00

Partial Refund

Commission is reversed proportionally:

Original Order: $100.00
Commission: $10.00
Partial Refund: $50.00

→ Commission reversed: $5.00
→ Vendor earnings deducted: $45.00

Troubleshooting

Commission Not Calculated

Check:

  1. Order status is “completed”
  2. Global commission rate is set in Settings
  3. Vendor earnings field populated
  4. No database errors in debug log

Debug:

Enable debug mode in Settings → Advanced to log commission calculations.

Wrong Commission Amount

Verify:

  1. Correct commission rate applied (global or per-vendor)
  2. Order total is accurate
  3. No manual adjustments made
  4. Commission calculation happened on completion

Solution:

Check the order’s commissionrate, platformfee, and vendor_earnings fields in the database.

Developer Hooks

Filters

wpsscommissionrate

Modify commission rate before calculation:

add_filter( 'wpss_commission_rate', function( $rate, $vendor_id, $order ) {
    // Custom logic to modify commission rate
    return $rate;
}, 10, 3 );

wpssvendorearnings

Adjust vendor earnings after commission:

add_filter( 'wpss_vendor_earnings', function( $earnings, $order_total, $commission ) {
    // Custom adjustment logic
    return $earnings;
}, 10, 3 );

Actions

wpsscommissioncalculated

Fires after commission is calculated:

add_action( 'wpss_commission_calculated', function( $order_id, $commission_amount ) {
    // Log or process commission
}, 10, 2 );

Next Steps

Last updated: February 14, 2026