This article explains how commissions work in ShipTurtle and how you can configure them at different levels (global, vendor, category, product, and channel). You’ll also learn how ShipTurtle calculates commissions with discounts, shipping, and tax—and where to review and adjust payouts.
What is a commission?
In a multi-vendor marketplace, the merchant earns a commission for every product sold on the website. Based on your marketplace policy, the remaining amount is paid out to the vendor once the order is fulfilled.
ShipTurtle helps you calculate this automatically and keeps the calculations transparent for both you and your vendors.
1) Commission Levels in ShipTurtle
ShipTurtle allows you to set commissions at 5 levels. The system will apply the most specific rule available.
A) Global Commission (Default)
Applies to: All products across your marketplace (default commission).
Navigation path:
Settings → Multi Vendor Settings → Commission
B) Vendor Commission
Applies to: All products sold by a specific vendor.
Navigation path:
Manage Vendors → Edit Vendor
C) Category Commission
Applies to: All products within a specific category.
Navigation path:
Products → Categories
D) Product Commission
Applies to: A single product only.
Navigation path:
Manage Products → Edit Product
E) Channel Commission (Using Shopify Cost Price)
Applies to: Each product variant using the Cost Per Item value in Shopify.
This overrides all other commission levels (global/vendor/category/product).
Navigation path (enable setting):
Settings → Multi Vendor Settings → Commission → “Set commission automatically using Shopify Cost Per Item”
Order of precedence (important)
ShipTurtle applies commission rules in this order:
Global < Vendor < Category < Product < Channel Commission
Example
- Global commission = 20%
- Vendor A commission = 25%
- Product X commission = 10%
Final commission = 10% (Product commission overrides vendor + global)
2) Channel Commission using Shopify “Cost Per Item”
In Shopify, each product variant has a field called Cost per item (also known as cost price). ShipTurtle can use this to automatically calculate commission per product.
How it works
If:
- Product price = $100
- Cost per item = $70
Then merchant commission =
(Price - Cost) / Price = (100 - 70) / 100 = 30%
So ShipTurtle treats it like a per-product margin-based commission.
Enable it
Go to:
Settings → Multi Vendor Settings → Commission
Enable: “Set commission automatically using Shopify Cost Per Item”
Once enabled, commission is calculated using Shopify product data for each variant.
3) Variable vs Fixed Commissions
ShipTurtle supports three ways to calculate commission:
A) Variable % (percentage-based)
Example:
- Product price = $100
- Commission = 30%
- Quantity sold = 2
Merchant earns = 30% × $200 = $60
B) Fixed per unit
Example:
- Fixed commission = $5 per unit
- Quantity sold = 2
Merchant earns = 2 × $5 = $10
C) Mix of Variable + Fixed
Example:
- Variable = 30%
- Fixed = $5 per unit
- Quantity sold = 2
Merchant earns = (2 × $5) + (30% × $200) = $10 + $60 = $70
4) Handling Discounts, Shipping, and Tax
You can fine-tune how commissions behave using these settings.
A) Commission on full price vs discounted price
You can decide whether commission is calculated on:
- Full (original) price, or
- Discounted price
This can be configured at Global and Vendor levels.
Example
- Product price = $100
- Discount = $10 per unit → discounted price = $90
- Quantity = 2
- Commission: 30% + $5 per unit
If commission is on full price:
Commission = (2 × $5) + (30% × $200) = $70
If commission is on discounted price:
Commission = (2 × $5) + (30% × $180) = $64
B) Discount % shared by vendor
You can decide what percentage of the discount is borne by the vendor.
Example
- Discount = $10 per unit
- Vendor shares = 60%
Vendor bears $6 per unit
Merchant bears $4 per unit
Configured at Global and Vendor levels.
C) Commission calculated on shipping
You can configure how shipping charged to the customer is divided between merchant and vendor:
- Split shipping in the same proportion as product commission, OR
- Use a fixed % retained by the merchant
Examples
- If merchant retains all shipping → set Fixed % = 100%
- If vendor gets all shipping → set Fixed % = 0%
D) Commission inclusive or exclusive of tax
Decide whether variable % commission should be calculated on:
- Price including tax, or
- Price excluding tax
Example
- Product price = $100 (includes $20 tax)
- Quantity = 2
- Commission: 30% + $5 per unit
If commission is exclusive of tax, base is $80 per unit:
Commission = (2 × $5) + (30% × $160) = $58
E) Service tax levied on commission
If applicable in your region, you can add service tax on the final commission.
- Set it to 0 if not applicable.
5) Managing Payments (Commissions Page)
When an order comes into ShipTurtle, commission calculations appear in the Commissions page.
What you can do there
- View line-item level commission breakdown
- Click the Merchant earning / Vendor payout pop-ups to see detailed calculations
- Use Adjustment column to manually tweak payouts for exceptions
- Mark items as Paid per row or using bulk selection
6) Recalculating Commission Invoices
Sometimes commission may be incorrect due to:
- margin changes
- wrong values entered while configuring commissions
How to recalculate
- Update the relevant commission settings (product/vendor/category/global, etc.)
- Go to the Commissions page
- Select the relevant orders
- Click Actions → Recalculate Commission
Important rule
Recalculation is allowed only for orders that are:
- Not invoiced
- Not paid
If an order is already invoiced/paid, you must first cancel invoice/payment status before recalculating.
If you’re stuck, reach us at team@shipturtle.com or open a ticket on the support page.