Description
WooCommerce Plugin
Multi-Vendor Commission Calculator
Marketplace has 47 vendors. Vendor A sells $4,320 worth of products this month. You owe 15% commission. That is $648. But you are running Excel. Formula breaks because someone edited column C. Result shows $1,842. You pay $1,842. Vendor happy. Accountant reviews next month. Discovers error. You overpaid $1,194. Vendor already spent money. Cannot recover funds. Lost $1,194 on calculation error. Multiply by 47 vendors. Monthly reconciliation takes 8 hours. Errors cost thousands annually. Commission Calculator solves this. Calculates commissions automatically from completed orders. Three-tier rate system (default, per-vendor, per-product). Vendor dashboard shows real-time earnings. Reconciliation interface with bulk payment processing. CSV export for accounting. Zero spreadsheet errors. Zero overpayment losses. Automated marketplace math.
Auto Calculation
Three-Tier Rates
Vendor Dashboard
Bulk Reconciliation
The spreadsheet commission trap
Handmade marketplace. 23 active vendors. Monthly revenue $87,000. Store owner maintains Excel sheet for commissions. Column A: vendor name. Column B: order total. Column C: commission rate. Column D: =B2*C2 for commission amount. Works fine January. February arrives. New vendor joins. Owner adds row 25. Sorts by vendor name alphabetically. Excel row references break. Formula in D12 now references wrong row. Vendor G commission rate (20%) accidentally applied to Vendor M orders (should be 10%). Vendor M earns $8,400 this month. Should owe $840 (10%). Excel calculates $1,680 (20% from wrong row). Owner pays $1,680. Discovers error in March. Vendor M already withdrew funds. Cannot recover $840 overpayment. Same spreadsheet has 6 other formula errors that month. Lost $2,100 total on math mistakes. Multiply by 12 months. Annual loss: $25,200 from spreadsheet reconciliation errors alone. Commission Calculator prevents this. Order completes. Plugin reads order total automatically. Identifies vendor from product assignment. Applies correct rate from three-tier hierarchy (product rate overrides vendor rate overrides default). Calculates commission. Stores in database table. Zero formulas. Zero human input. Zero errors. Vendor M order: $8,400. Vendor M rate: 10%. Commission: $840.00 exactly. Every time. No exceptions.
Automatic Calculation
Order status changes to Completed. Plugin triggers. Reads order line items. Identifies vendor per product. Fetches commission rate (product, then vendor, then default). Calculates: item_total × rate ÷ 100. Creates commission record. Updates vendor earnings. Zero manual input. Happens in milliseconds.
Three-Tier Rate System
Default rate: 10% (applies to all). Vendor B rate: 15% (overrides default for Vendor B). Product XYZ rate: 25% (overrides vendor and default). Hierarchy automatic. System picks most specific rate. New vendor joins, inherits default. Promote vendor, update their rate. Special product, set product rate. Complete flexibility.
Vendor Dashboard
Vendors log in. See dashboard: Total Earnings ($4,829), Pending ($1,240), Paid ($3,589). Recent commissions table shows last 20 orders with dates, products, amounts. No phone calls asking “when do I get paid?” Self-service transparency. Reduces support tickets. Deploy as admin menu or frontend shortcode.
Bulk Reconciliation
Reconciliation day. Filter: Vendor B, Status Pending, Last Month. Shows 24 commissions totaling $3,842. Select all. Click “Mark as Paid.” System updates 24 records. Timestamps payment date. Vendor B dashboard updates. Takes 10 seconds. No spreadsheet export. No PayPal CSV matching. Instant reconciliation.
Why manual commission tracking fails
Print-on-demand marketplace. 156 vendors. Monthly revenue $340,000. Operations manager handles commissions. End of month arrives. Downloads order export CSV from WooCommerce (2,847 orders). Opens Excel. Filters by vendor. Calculates subtotals. Copy vendor A orders, paste to commission sheet. Applies rate formula (12%). Copies result. Creates PayPal payment. Repeats 156 times. Process takes 11 hours. During copy-paste marathon, makes mistakes: Row 483 filters wrong, includes vendor B orders in vendor A total. Vendor A gets extra $247. Formula in row 892 accidentally set to 0.12 instead of =0.12 (text not number). Calculation breaks. Vendor X commission shows $0 instead of $1,240. Vendor X emails angry “where is my money?” Requires investigation, recalculation, apology. Two days wasted fixing errors. Total monthly cost: 13 hours of $45/hour labor = $585. Plus $247 overpayment loss. Plus vendor relationship damage. Annual cost: $7,020 in pure reconciliation overhead plus thousands in overpayment losses. Commission Calculator eliminates this. Order completes automatically. Commission records created automatically. Reconciliation interface shows all vendors, all amounts, all timestamps. Filter vendor A, see $4,329 pending in 0.3 seconds. Mark paid. Done. Vendor A sees updated dashboard immediately. Zero export. Zero Excel. Zero errors. Time savings: 11 hours per month = 132 hours per year = $5,940 annual labor savings alone. Add overpayment prevention. ROI achieved in first month.
Manual export and copy-paste formulas create calculation errors
Store manager exports orders monthly. 2,847 orders. Copies vendor A rows. Pastes to commission sheet. Applies =SUM(B2:B87)*0.15 formula. Accidentally includes header row in sum range (=SUM(B1:B87)). Header contains text “Order Total.” Excel interprets as 0. Formula calculates 0 instead of $8,490. Manager pays $0. Vendor A contacts “missing payment.” Requires manual audit. Finds error on row 42. Recalculates. Apologizes. Pays late. Vendor upset. Happens 3-5 times per month across different vendors. Chronic problem.
Multi-rate systems impossible to maintain in spreadsheets without errors
Vendor B: 10% commission. Vendor C: 15% commission. Product XYZ: 25% commission (high-margin promo). Order arrives: Vendor B sells Product XYZ. Which rate? Product rate overrides vendor rate = 25%. But spreadsheet does not know this. Manager manually checks each order. “Is this product special?” Looks up product list. Applies rate. Takes 45 seconds per order. Scale to 2,847 orders = 35 hours just checking rates. Cannot sustain. Shortcuts taken. Errors introduced. Vendor disputes ensue.
Commission Calculator: Reads order data directly, applies rate hierarchy automatically
Order #4892 completes. Item: Product XYZ, sold by Vendor B. Plugin checks product meta: _wc_mvc_commission_rate = 25%. Found. Uses 25%. Calculates commission: $120 item total × 0.25 = $30.00. Creates commission record in database: order_id=4892, vendor_id=B, rate=25%, amount=$30.00, status=pending. Stored. End of month, reconciliation interface queries database. Shows Vendor B: 84 commissions totaling $4,280. Includes Product XYZ at 25%, regular products at 10%, all calculated correctly. Zero human rate checking. Zero errors. Automatic hierarchy application every single order.
🛍️ Real Example: Handmade Marketplace Overpayment
Before: Excel formulas break, vendor overpaid by $1,194
May 2024. Vendor A sells $4,320 worth of jewelry. Commission rate: 15%. Should owe: $4,320 × 0.15 = $648. Operations manager opens commission spreadsheet. Column A: vendor names. Column B: monthly totals. Column C: rates. Column D: commissions (=B*C formula). Adds May data. Someone edited column C last week, inserted new column for notes. Formula column shifted from C to D. Rate data now in column E. Manager does not notice. Formula in D row still calculates =B2*D2. But D2 now contains last month’s commission amount ($1,842) instead of rate (0.15). Result: $4,320 × $1,842 = ERROR (shows #VALUE). Manager sees error, assumes formula broke. Manually types “=$4320*$1842/100” thinking $1842 is rate (15.42%). Calculates $79.54. Obviously wrong. Tries different formula. Confused. Asks colleague. Colleague fixes: “rate is 15%, so $4320*0.15 = $648”. But accidentally types 0.42 instead of 0.15 (keyboard slip). Calculates $1,814.40. Seems reasonable. Pays $1,814.40. Vendor A receives payment. Month passes. Accountant reviews. Discovers Vendor A overpaid: paid $1,814.40, should have paid $648. Overpayment: $1,166.40. Vendor A already withdrew funds, spent money. Cannot recover. Total loss: $1,166.40 on single vendor single month due to spreadsheet column shift and manual entry error. Multiply by 23 vendors × 12 months = catastrophic losses.
After: Plugin calculates $648.00 exactly, every time, no human input
Same scenario with Commission Calculator installed. May 2024. Vendor A sells $4,320 worth of products. Plugin active. Each order completes, plugin triggers. Order 1: $120, Vendor A. Fetches rate: 15% (stored in user meta). Calculates: $120 × 0.15 = $18.00. Creates commission record. Order 2: $89, Vendor A. Calculates: $89 × 0.15 = $13.35. Records. Continues for all 36 orders in May. End of month: 36 commission records for Vendor A in database. Operations manager opens Reconciliation interface. Filters: Vendor = A, Status = Pending, Month = May. System queries database: SUM(commission_amount) WHERE vendor_id=A AND status=pending AND MONTH(date_created)=5. Result: $648.00 (sum of 36 individual commissions). Displays in interface with order breakdown. Manager reviews. Clicks “Select All” checkbox. Clicks “Mark as Paid” button. System updates 36 records: status changed from pending to paid, date_paid set to now(). Done. Vendor A dashboard updates automatically: Pending $648 moves to Paid section. Total time: 15 seconds. Zero formulas. Zero manual calculation. Zero errors. Exact amount: $648.00. Same result if run calculation 100 times. Math deterministic. Database-driven. Immune to human error. Overpayment prevented. $1,166.40 loss avoided. Plugin pays for itself immediately.
📈 Print-on-Demand Refund Scenario
Challenge: Customer orders custom t-shirt ($40). Vendor C commission: 20% = $8. Order completes. Commission recorded. Week later, customer requests refund (print error). Store issues full refund. But forgot to adjust commission manually. End of month, pays Vendor C $8 for refunded order. Lost $8 on phantom commission.
Solution: Commission Calculator hooks into order status changes. Order refunded, status changes to Refunded. Plugin detects status change. Queries commissions table for order_id. Updates commission status from pending to refunded. Reconciliation interface excludes refunded status. Vendor C dashboard shows refunded commissions separately. End of month, only counts pending and paid. Vendor C sees: Earned $240 (30 orders), Refunded $16 (2 orders), Net Payable $224. Pays $224. Accurate. Automatic refund handling prevents overpayment.
Result: Refunds tracked automatically. Status management prevents paying for cancelled sales. Commission integrity maintained. Vendor sees transparency (why $16 deducted). No disputes. Manual tracking would miss 30-40% of refunds (forgotten or overlooked). Plugin catches 100%.
Complete feature set
Full commission management system. Automatic calculation. Flexible rates. Vendor transparency. Bulk reconciliation. CSV export. Refund handling. Zero spreadsheet maintenance.
⚡ Auto Calculation
• Triggers on order complete
• Reads line items automatically
• Identifies vendor per product
• Applies rate hierarchy
• Calculates commission instantly
• Stores in database table
• Updates vendor totals
• Zero manual input required
🎚️ Rate Management
• Default site-wide rate
• Per-vendor rate override
• Per-product rate override
• Smart hierarchy (product > vendor > default)
• Decimal precision (10.25%)
• Set during vendor onboarding
• Update any time
• Historical rates preserved
📊 Vendor Dashboard
• Total earnings display
• Pending commissions sum
• Paid commissions history
• Recent 20 orders table
• Order number links
• Product name display
• Date and amount columns
• [shortcode] for frontend
💰 Reconciliation
• Filter by vendor
• Filter by status (pending/paid)
• Filter by date range
• Bulk select checkboxes
• Mark paid with one click
• Order total summaries
• Record count display
• Commission amount totals
📁 Data Export
• Export to CSV format
• All commission fields included
• Filtered export (respects filters)
• Import to accounting software
• Excel-compatible format
• Date-stamped filenames
• One-click export button
• Backup and archival
🔄 Refund Handling
• Auto-updates on refund
• Changes status to “refunded”
• Excludes from pending totals
• Vendor sees refund separately
• Prevents overpayment
• Maintains audit trail
• Commission integrity preserved
• 100% refund capture rate
Perfect for
Multi-Vendor Marketplaces
Etsy-style stores. 50+ vendors selling different products. Each vendor different rate. Each product different margin. Complex commission structure. Manual tracking impossible at scale. Plugin handles complexity automatically. Vendor A: 10%. Vendor B: 15%. Product XYZ: 25% (all vendors). System applies correct rate every order. Handles 10,000 orders/month easily.
Affiliate Programs
Referral commission tracking. Affiliate A refers customer. Customer buys $500. Affiliate A earns 5% = $25. Assign affiliate as “vendor” on products they promote. Commission calculated on referred sales. Dashboard shows affiliate their earnings. Export for payment processing. Scale to hundreds of affiliates without spreadsheet chaos.
Consignment Stores
Antique shop accepts consignment items. Seller X brings 12 items. Each sells, Seller X gets 60%, store keeps 40%. Assign products to Seller X. Set rate 60%. Items sell. Commission tracked automatically. End of month: Seller X earned $847 on 7 sales. Pay $847. Remaining 5 items still in inventory (pending). Clear accounting. Transparent consignment management.
Wholesale Distributors
Sales reps sell to retailers. Rep A lands $15,000 order. Earns 3% commission = $450. Rep B sells smaller accounts, gets 5% to incentivize. Different products have different rep assignments. System tracks which rep sold what. Commission split automatically. Monthly reconciliation shows each rep total. Pay commissions accurately. Motivate sales team with transparent tracking.
Common use cases
Use Case 1: New Vendor Onboarding
Vendor Z applies to sell on marketplace. Approved. Admin creates WordPress user account. Edit user profile. Check “Is Vendor” box. Set commission rate 12%. Assign default products. Done. Vendor Z starts listing products. Each product automatically inherits 12% rate. First order arrives. Commission calculated at 12%. Vendor Z logs in, sees dashboard, sees first $14.40 commission. Transparent from day one. Zero configuration per product (unless override needed).
Use Case 2: Promotional Product Higher Rate
Store runs promotion. Product ABC featured item. Want to incentivize vendors to stock Product ABC. Increase commission temporarily from default 10% to 30% for Product ABC. Edit product. Set commission rate 30%. Save. All vendors selling Product ABC now earn 30% on those sales. Campaign runs two weeks. 47 units sold across 8 vendors. Each earns 30%. Campaign ends. Edit product, remove rate override. Reverts to vendor default (10%). Flexible product-level control.
Use Case 3: Monthly Reconciliation Workflow
First of month. Operations manager opens Reconciliation interface. Filters: Status = Pending, Date Range = Last Month. Shows 847 pending commissions across 34 vendors. Total: $24,892. Exports CSV for accounting records. Reviews any disputes (zero). Selects all. Clicks “Mark as Paid”. System updates 847 records to paid status. Batch payment sent via PayPal. Vendors check dashboards, see updated paid amounts. Total time: 5 minutes. Compare to spreadsheet method: 8-12 hours manual work.
🚀 Setup Process
Step 1: Install Commission Calculator and WooCommerce (both required)
Step 2: Vendor Commissions → Settings → Set default commission rate (e.g., 10%)
Step 3: Users → Edit vendor user → Check “Is Vendor” → Set vendor-specific rate (optional)
Step 4: Products → Edit → Assign to vendor → Set product rate (optional override)
Step 5: Orders complete automatically. Commissions calculated. View reconciliation. Mark paid. Done. System operational.
Frequently asked questions
What happens to existing orders before plugin installation?
Plugin only calculates commissions for orders completed AFTER activation. Historical orders not retroactively calculated. Clean start. If need historical data, manually create commission records or continue using old system for pre-installation period. Plugin handles all future orders automatically from activation forward.
Can multiple vendors sell the same product?
No. Each product assigned to one vendor. If need multi-vendor for same item, create separate product listings per vendor (Product A by Vendor X, Product A by Vendor Y). Alternatively, use post author as default vendor (product creator gets commission). Or assign to store admin for house products (no vendor commission).
How does rate hierarchy work exactly?
Plugin checks in order: (1) Product-specific rate (highest priority). If set, uses that. (2) Vendor-specific rate. If product has no rate but vendor does, uses vendor rate. (3) Default site-wide rate. If neither product nor vendor has rate, uses default. Example: Default 10%, Vendor A 15%, Product XYZ 25%. Vendor A sells Product XYZ → Uses 25% (product overrides vendor).
Does this handle taxes or shipping commissions?
Commission calculated on line item product total only (item subtotal). Does not include taxes or shipping. If order: Product $100, Shipping $10, Tax $8, Total $118 → Commission calculated on $100 only. This is standard practice (vendors earn commission on product price, not fees/taxes). Configurable via filter hooks if need custom logic.
Can vendors see other vendors’ earnings?
No. Vendor dashboard isolated. Vendor A logs in, sees only Vendor A commissions. Vendor B logs in, sees only Vendor B commissions. Privacy maintained. Only site administrators with manage_woocommerce capability see all vendors in reconciliation interface. Vendor users see their own data exclusively.
What if I change commission rate mid-month?
Commission rate stored per commission record at calculation time. Change vendor rate from 10% to 15% on day 15. Orders before day 15 show 10% (recorded historically). Orders after day 15 show 15% (new rate applied). Reconciliation shows both rates accurately. Historical commissions unaffected by rate changes. Rate snapshot preserved per commission.
Does plugin integrate with payment gateways for auto-payout?
No automatic payouts. Plugin tracks commissions only. Payment processing separate (intentionally). Export CSV with vendor PayPal emails and amounts. Use batch payment tools. Or integrate Stripe Connect via custom development. Auto-payout requires financial compliance (money transmitter licenses). Plugin avoids this complexity. You control when and how to pay vendors.
What about updates and support?
One-time purchase includes lifetime updates. Future WordPress compatibility free. Future WooCommerce compatibility free. Future PHP compatibility free. No renewal fees. Pay once, own forever. Updates delivered automatically via WordPress admin.
Technical requirements
WordPress
6.0 or higher
WooCommerce
8.0 or higher
PHP
8.2 or higher
Compatibility
HPOS & All themes
