Commission rules

A Commission Rule tells the plugin who gets paid, how much, and when. Each rule maps a scope (a product, a category, or the entire store) to one or more Transfer Accounts and a payout amount.

Creating a rule

1. Go to Refinery Payouts → Commission Rules → Add New.
2. Give the rule a descriptive name (e.g. “Acme Studio — 70/30 split”).
3. Toggle Enable rule to Enabled.
4. Add one or more rule sections — each section is a self-contained “if/then” clause.
5. Click Publish.

Rule scopes

Each section starts with a scope. Choose what triggers the payout:

• Product — Match specific WooCommerce products. Use the search field to add one or more.
• Category — Match all products in one or more categories.
• Global — Match every order line item. Use this for store-wide affiliate or platform-fee splits.

Commission structures

Inside each scope, choose how to calculate the payout:

• Flat — A single amount applied to every matching line item. Choose between a percentage of the line total or a fixed amount per unit.
• Tiered — A list of conditions, each producing a different rate. Conditions can compare the line item quantity, the line item total, or the order total against a threshold (e.g. quantity >= 10, order_total > $500).

Tiered rules in detail

Tiered rules are evaluated top to bottom. The first condition that matches wins. Each condition has:

• A field: quantity, line total, or order total.
• An operator: greater than, greater than or equal, less than, less than or equal, or equal to.
• A threshold value.
• A rate and type (percentage or fixed) to apply when the condition matches.

You can also chain conditions with AND / OR logic to build more specific rules (for example, “20% if quantity is at least 10 AND order total is over $200”).

Assigning a transfer account

Each rule section ends with a Transfer Account dropdown. Choose which payee receives the calculated commission. To split a single product across multiple payees, add additional rule sections — each section is processed independently and creates its own Stripe Transfer.

How rules are matched at checkout

When an order’s payment completes, the plugin walks through every line item:

1. Loads all enabled commission rules.
2. For each line item, finds rule sections whose scope matches.
3. For each matching section, calculates the payout amount and creates a Stripe Transfer.
4. Logs every attempt — successful and failed — to Refinery Payouts → Logs.

If a line item matches multiple rules, all matching transfers fire. There’s no “first match wins” cap at the rule level — that’s controlled by how you scope your rules.

Disabling a rule temporarily

Set Enable rule to Disabled on the edit screen and save. The rule stays in the list but is skipped during payout processing. This is safer than trashing the rule if you want to bring it back later.