How Do Payouts Work? (Docs don't show)
I'm still waiting for automatic or self directed payouts before I switch over to FluentAffiliate. Any timeline on that?
But in the meantime, I tried to look into how they currently work but the docs don't explain it.
It explains how to set a minimum amount, etc. then it says
"Once everything is filled out, click the Next (Review Payout) button to proceed."
Ok, so next I'm expecting it next to say something like click a button to pay the affiliate.
But instead, we jump to:
"Now, on the Payout dashboard, you'll see your newly created payout listed." "...Here, you can see the total amount paid to your affiliates"
But how does the actual payment happen?
Do I have to copy each PayPal email address, go over to PayPal and manually send each affiliate the money owed? Do I get a csv file I can upload to PayPal for bulk payment?
This incredibly important step is not in the docs.
I have the same question please 🙏
Thanks for pointing this out!
At the moment, FluentAffiliate doesn't send payouts automatically through PayPal, bank transfer, or any other payment gateway. The payout system is used to create a payout batch, track payout records, and export a CSV with details like the affiliate's payout email and amount.
So yes, the actual payment is currently handled outside FluentAffiliate (for example, via PayPal or your preferred payment method). Once you've sent the payments, you can keep track of them using the payout records in FluentAffiliate.
Automatic or self-directed payouts aren't available yet, and we don't have a timeline to share at the moment. We'll definitely pass along your feedback about both the feature request and the documentation.
Thanks so much Farjana Rahman, I appreciate you picking this up. I'm still not clear on how the payment happens then.
Let's say I use PayPal. It sounds like I will get a CSV that is a list of all the amounts that I owe to my affiliates.
What do I do then? Do I have to go into PayPal and manually make a payment to each person one at a time?
If so, then how do I let the system know that I have paid them? What if it takes me 3 days to pay them after I have exported the CSV, how will I know if there have been new referrals due since then?
Nicolai You're correct, the actual payment is handled outside FluentAffiliate. The payout flow is mainly for recording and managing payouts within FluentAffiliate.
The CSV provides the payout details, which you can use to pay your affiliates through PayPal (or another payment method).
Once you've sent the payments, you can manually mark those transactions as paid in FluentAffiliate. Any new referrals that come in after a payout is created won't be included in that batch. They will be available for the next one.
Thank you for clearing that all up Farjana Rahman that's very helpful.
Farjana Rahman So, I use Stripe for my business. I need to download the CSV and upload to... where? I've never done this before and I guess I never realized that payment was sent from the platform -- makes sense though because there;s not a processor connected. Anyways, I have no idea how to do the CSV thing and pay my affiliates. I don't get a ton - in fact I only have one right now - but it's still a pain.