How it works
From a sale to a payout, step by step.
Everything a builder or contributor should know before they start.
Chapter 1
The short version
A builder lists a product and a cut. A contributor earns that cut on real sales.
A builder connects their own Stripe account, lists a product and posts an offer: a percent, a term, and which sales count. A contributor applies, gets accepted and receives a tracked link and a promo code. When a customer pays the builder through Stripe, Splitbag matches the charge to the contributor, works out the commission, collects it from the builder and pays the contributor.
Splitbag never touches the builder's customer payments. It reads them. The only money Splitbag moves is the commission owed.
Chapter 2
Attribution, in three tiers
How a sale gets matched to the person who earned it.
The builder picks the easiest tier that fits. Tracked links, promo codes and the script all end the same way: a Stripe charge with the contributor's id on it.
- Tier A, zero code. A Splitbag link redirects to the builder's Stripe Payment Link with the contributor's id attached. No cookie, no script.
- Tier B, promo code. Splitbag makes a promotion code per engagement on the builder's Stripe account. Any charge using it is attributed.
- Tier C, snippet. One script tag saves the visitor's id and the builder passes it to Stripe at checkout.
- After a customer's first paid charge, that Stripe customer is bound to the engagement. Upgrades and renewals stay attributed for the offer's term.
- Last click wins by default. Each charge gets at most one attribution per slice kind, so the same dollar is never paid twice.
Chapter 3
Slice kinds
What counts toward an offer.
Every offer has one slice rule. It says which part of the product's revenue the contributor's cut applies to.
- Code or link: sales that arrive through the contributor's link or code.
- Source: sales that start on a landing page or a UTM source the contributor owns.
- Country: sales from customers in a country or locale.
- Price: sales of one Stripe price or product, for example a new plan.
- Manual claim: a sale the contributor claims and the builder approves. Used for closing deals.
Chapter 4
Holds
Why a new commission is pending for a while.
A commission is pending for the length of the product's own refund window, which the builder sets. When the hold ends, the commission becomes payable on the first statement after that.
Pending, approved, paid. A rejected or clawed-back commission shows as such with the reason.
Chapter 5
Statements
The monthly close.
Statements close on the 1st of each month at 00:00 UTC. The lines are frozen: attributed charges, commissions, any clawbacks, and Stripe's pass-through costs as their own line. Builders and contributors each get a statement with a PDF and a CSV.
When an engagement ends, a final statement closes within 7 days.
Chapter 6
Payouts
How and when contributors are paid.
On close, Splitbag debits the builder, by US bank account through Stripe by default, with a card as the fallback. Once the debit settles, the contributor is paid through Stripe Express from settled funds.
Balances under the payout minimum roll forward to the next statement. Payouts land inside the New Jersey 30-day and New York 5-business-day windows, measured from settlement.
Splitbag acts as the contributor's agent in receiving the commission. It holds nothing beyond settlement and earns no interest on it.
Chapter 7
Refunds and disputes
What happens when money comes back.
If a customer is refunded or disputes a charge, the commission on it is reversed in proportion on the next statement, for as long as the charge can still be disputed. It shows as a signed clawback line.
If a bank debit fails late, after a payout has gone out, the contributor's balance can go negative and is netted on the next statement, and the builder is debited again.
Either side can contest an attribution decision with evidence. An admin decides and the decision is recorded.
Chapter 8
Keeping it honest
Fraud signals and ranking.
Every attribution carries risk signals: shared email domains, conversion speed right after a click, duplicate customers across engagements, and more. High-risk deals are held until someone reviews them.
Self-referral, cookie stuffing, bidding on the product's brand name and leaking promo codes are banned in the Contributor Agreement. Builders can rotate a leaked code in one click.
Listings rank by Stripe-verified revenue the builder chooses to disclose. A Featured slot is labeled and never reorders the organic list.
Chapter 9
Taxes
What contributors receive at year end.
US contributors paid $600 or more in a year receive a 1099-NEC. Stripe collects the tax ID during Express onboarding and files through its 1099 service. Builders keep their own books for the commissions they pay.