54% Commission on Digital Products When It Should Be 90%

[Ignez]

Hello, community!

I am facing an issue regarding the commission I am receiving on my digital products on Zazzle, and I would like to know if anyone else has experienced this or has any suggestions.

On March 21st, I reached out to Zazzle support because I noticed I am receiving only 50% commission instead of the 90% I should be getting. The product price is $16.60 AUD, and with a 90% commission, the correct amount should be $14.94 AUD (90% of $16.60).

However, the amount shown on my payment statement was $8.96 AUD, which would be a 54% commission on the product price, not the expected 90%. This amount was shown as $5.34 USD after conversion to US dollars, but I still don’t understand the reason for the discrepancy.

When I contacted support, the response I received was that they would consult the community about the issue and would update me soon. However, up to now, I have not received any further response.

I would like to know if anyone else has encountered something similar, or if there’s any explanation for these amounts and what I should do next.

Thank you for your attention, and I appreciate any help you can provide.

P.S.: There is a photo attached for better clarification of what I am referring to.

[Sara_H · Accepted solution]

@Ignez  You have the double ++ next to the AUD which signifies a sale that is subject to "sales related taxes"  I'm not sure the percentage is in your country but in UK they deduct a 20% VAT "sales related tax"

There  is also a + next to your 90% which indicates a transaction fee

"+ When your royalty rate is 15% or greater, a transaction fee of 5% is applied to your earnings.

++ Domains that include VAT (and other sales related taxes) will have 20% deducted from Sale Price before royalties are calculated."

Your photo doesn't show whether it was referred or not as that would carve out more (15%)

We need @ColsCreations genius mind to break it all down

[Connie]

They take off that 5% excess royalty fee even on the digital downloads that are SUPPOSED to be higher than 15%!?

[Sara_H]

@Ignez 

The customer also could have used a coupon (eg 50%) which would have brought your royalty down

There was a 50% sale that started March 12 - March 18 and they could have been buying other items in their cart and the 50% coupon covered it all (you don't specify what your digital product was but your digital sale did happen March 13)

I downloaded @ColsCreations magical spreadsheet and it works out give or take

so the net royalty was $5.60 minus your country's sale tax (the double ++ which is taken off as well)

So congrats on the sale - I don't think there's anything to do as everything is calculated correctly imho

[Ignez]

Hi Sara_H,

Thank you so much for your availability and the detailed explanation. It was essential in helping me understand the chain of events that led to the value I received. I recalculated everything carefully and analyzed it until I fully understood what happened.

Now that I have a better grasp of the process, I did the calculations to illustrate what Zazzle does and how the deductions work. I think this could help others understand what happens to the commission amounts, as, from what I can see, many people are unaware of how things are calculated and the impact of taxes, discounts, and fees.

Here are the calculations I made:

1. Original Price: 16.60 AUD for the Digital Product

2. 20% Deduction (Sales Tax – VAT or other sales-related taxes, even though in Australia the VAT is 10%):
   16.60 × 0.20 = 3.32 AUD (Sales tax deducted)

3. Amount after the tax deduction:
   16.60 - 3.32 = 13.28 AUD

4. Transaction Fee of 5%:
   16.60 × 0.05 = 0.83 AUD (Transaction fee)

5. Amount after the transaction fee deduction:
   3.32 + 0.83 = 4.15 AUD
   16.60 - 4.15 = 12.45 AUD

6. 90% Royalty:
   12.45 × 0.90 = 11.205 AUD (Royalty after the transaction fee)

7. Currency Conversion to USD (the exchange rate applied is 0.477 – not sure if anything else is applied, but on that day, the exchange rate was 0.6284):
   11.205 × 0.477 = 5.35 USD

This is how I calculated what I actually received. The final amount that reaches the seller is impacted by various deductions, including sales tax (VAT), transaction fees, and currency conversion, which can fluctuate until the payment is made.

Once again, thank you very much for your availability. 😊
Wishing you an excellent rest of the week!

[Ignez]

Thank you so much for your availability and the detailed explanation. It was essential in helping me understand the chain of events that led to the value I received. I recalculated everything carefully and analyzed it until I fully understood what happened.

Now that I have a better grasp of the process, I did the calculations to illustrate what Zazzle does and how the deductions work. I think this could help others understand what happens to the commission amounts, as, from what I can see, many people are unaware of how things are calculated and the impact of taxes, discounts, and fees.

Here are the calculations I made:

1. Original Price: 16.60 AUD for the Digital Product

2. 20% Deduction (Sales Tax – VAT or other sales-related taxes, even though in Australia the VAT is 10%):
   16.60 × 0.20 = 3.32 AUD (Sales tax deducted)

3. Amount after the tax deduction:
   16.60 - 3.32 = 13.28 AUD

4. Transaction Fee of 5%:
   16.60 × 0.05 = 0.83 AUD (Transaction fee)

5. Amount after the transaction fee deduction:
   3.32 + 0.83 = 4.15 AUD
   16.60 - 4.15 = 12.45 AUD

6. 90% Royalty:
   12.45 × 0.90 = 11.205 AUD (Royalty after the transaction fee)

7. Currency Conversion to USD (the exchange rate applied is 0.477 – not sure if anything else is applied, but on that day, the exchange rate was 0.6284):
   11.205 × 0.477 = 5.35 USD

This is how I calculated what I actually received. The final amount that reaches the seller is impacted by various deductions, including sales tax (VAT), transaction fees, and currency conversion, which can fluctuate until the payment is made.

Once again, thank you very much for your availability. 😊
Wishing you an excellent rest of the week!

[Ignez]

Hi Sara_H,

Thank you so much for your availability and the detailed explanation. It was essential in helping me understand the chain of events that led to the value I received. I recalculated everything carefully and analyzed it until I fully understood what happened.

Now that I have a better grasp of the process, I did the calculations to illustrate what Zazzle does and how the deductions work. I think this could help others understand what happens to the commission amounts, as, from what I can see, many people are unaware of how things are calculated and the impact of taxes, discounts, and fees.

Here are the calculations I made:

1. Original Price: 16.60 AUD for the Digital Product

2. 20% Deduction (Sales Tax – VAT or other sales-related taxes, even though in Australia the VAT is 10%):
   16.60 × 0.20 = 3.32 AUD (Sales tax deducted)

3. Amount after the tax deduction:
   16.60 - 3.32 = 13.28 AUD

4. Transaction Fee of 5%:
   16.60 × 0.05 = 0.83 AUD (Transaction fee)

5. Amount after the transaction fee deduction:
   3.32 + 0.83 = 4.15 AUD
   16.60 - 4.15 = 12.45 AUD

6. 90% Royalty:
   12.45 × 0.90 = 11.205 AUD (Royalty after the transaction fee)

7. Currency Conversion to USD (the exchange rate applied is 0.477 – not sure if anything else is applied, but on that day, the exchange rate was 0.6284):
   11.205 × 0.477 = 5.35 USD

This is how I calculated what I actually received. The final amount that reaches the seller is impacted by various deductions, including sales tax (VAT), transaction fees, and currency conversion, which can fluctuate until the payment is made.

Once again, thank you very much for your availability. 😊
Wishing you an excellent rest of the week!

[Ignez]

Hi @Sara_H ,

Thank you so much for your availability and the detailed explanation. It was essential in helping me understand the chain of events that led to the value I received. I recalculated everything carefully and analyzed it until I fully understood what happened.

Now that I have a better grasp of the process, I did the calculations to illustrate what Zazzle does and how the deductions work. I think this could help others understand what happens to the commission amounts, as, from what I can see, many people are unaware of how things are calculated and the impact of taxes, discounts, and fees.

Here are the calculations I made:

1. Original Price: 16.60 AUD for the Digital Product

2. 20% Deduction (Sales Tax – VAT or other sales-related taxes, even though in Australia the VAT is 10%):
   16.60 × 0.20 = 3.32 AUD (Sales tax deducted)

3. Amount after the tax deduction:
   16.60 - 3.32 = 13.28 AUD

4. Transaction Fee of 5%:
   16.60 × 0.05 = 0.83 AUD (Transaction fee)

5. Amount after the transaction fee deduction:
   3.32 + 0.83 = 4.15 AUD
   16.60 - 4.15 = 12.45 AUD

6. 90% Royalty:
   12.45 × 0.90 = 11.205 AUD (Royalty after the transaction fee)

7. Currency Conversion to USD (the exchange rate applied is 0.477 – not sure if anything else is applied, but on that day, the exchange rate was 0.6284):
   11.205 × 0.477 = 5.35 USD

This is how I calculated what I actually received. The final amount that reaches the seller is impacted by various deductions, including sales tax (VAT), transaction fees, and currency conversion, which can fluctuate until the payment is made.

Once again, thank you very much for your availability. 😊
Wishing you an excellent rest of the week!