The 7 most common errors in marketplace payouts
From incorrect commission rates to phantom deductions: these are the errors we encounter most often in settlements, and how to recognize them.
1. Missing payouts
The simplest and most costly error: an order was delivered but does not appear in any settlement. This happens mainly around return windows (the marketplace 'waits' and then forgets to pay out) and with orders that fall between two settlement periods. Without an order-by-order check, this error is invisible: the total amount of the settlement matches the specification — an order just isn't on it.
2. Incorrect commission rate
You agreed on 12%, but 15% is being deducted. Or the rate is correct in January and deviates from February onward after a 'category reclassification' you were never informed about. Per order the difference is cents or euros; across thousands of orders it adds up to serious amounts.
3. Returns deducted twice
A customer returns an item. The marketplace deducts the order amount from the next payout — and then processes the return again as a separate credit line in a later settlement. You pay the return back twice.
4. Commission charged on returns
On a return, the commission should be refunded. Frequently the selling price is reversed but the commission remains — you end up paying a referral fee on a sale that never completed.
5. Unjustified or unannounced fees
Shipping cost corrections, 'service fees', advertising contributions you never activated, penalties for late delivery while your tracking data proves otherwise. Fees are the junk drawer of a settlement: without checking against a list of permitted cost types, all sorts of things slip through.
6. VAT errors in commission calculation
Is the commission calculated on the amount including or excluding VAT? Marketplaces are inconsistent on this point. A commission silently calculated on the VAT-inclusive amount is effectively 21% higher than agreed.
7. Late payouts
Payment within 14 days was agreed; in practice it becomes 30 or 45. That is not a missing euro but it is missing cash flow — and often a contractual commitment you can hold the marketplace to.
- Always check settlements at order level, never on total amount alone.
- Record your contract terms (commission, payment deadline, permitted fees) as testable rules.
- Keep evidence: export files, tracking data, return confirmations.
Let the checks run automatically from now on.
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