How refunds affect your earnings and payouts

When a refund is approved, you fund the refunded item price out of your earnings for that order, and Esano keeps its 20% fee. The same applies to cancelled custom orders. While a refund request is open, only the payout for that order is paused.

Who pays what

On a sale, you keep 80% of the item price and Esano keeps a 20% fee. Card processing is included in that fee. On an approved refund:

• You fund the refunded price. The part of the item price that goes back to the buyer comes out of your earnings.
• Esano keeps its 20% fee. It isn't given back.
• Esano absorbs card processing fees that aren't returned.
• Tax goes back to the buyer separately, from the tax collected. Your earnings change by the item amount only. See what happens to sales tax when you refund.

A refund you offer yourself costs you the same as one Esano approves after a buyer request.

Examples

A buyer pays $12.00 for a file. You'd earn $9.60 and Esano's fee is $2.40.

• Partial refund of $5.00: the buyer gets $5.00 plus any tax share. Your earnings on the order drop from $9.60 to $4.60.
• Whole-item refund of $12.00: the buyer gets $12.00 plus tax. The $9.60 you would have earned is gone. Because Esano keeps its fee, the remaining $2.40 is recorded as an amount you owe and taken from your future earnings.

The refund form shows This order's payout before and after, so you can check the effect before you submit.

If the sale was already paid out

The refunded amount is recorded against your earnings. If it's more than your balance, the difference becomes an amount you owe. Esano takes it from future earnings before any bank payout and never debits your bank account. See negative balances and amounts you owe.

What gets paused during a request

• Open refund requests and refund offers. The amount at stake on that order is held until Esano records a decision. Esano decides within 5 calendar days. The rest of your eligible balance is paid on schedule.
• If Esano sides with your shop, the pause ends and the held amount is paid on the next payout Friday after it becomes eligible. The order page shows "Esano sided with your shop."
• If the buyer cancels their request, the payout picks up where it left off.
• An overdue decision never releases funds automatically.

A refund made outside Esano that isn't yet matched to a shop, or an open review of an order, holds only the affected amounts in the same way. A review of your whole shop can pause payouts more widely until it's resolved.

How this fits with the payout schedule

Earnings become eligible after a 14-day hold. For ready-made downloads that starts at payment. For custom work it starts at final delivery. Bank payouts run every other Friday with a $25 minimum after deductions. See payout schedule and the $25 minimum.

Where to see it

• Orders and Payouts show badges such as Partly refunded and Refunded. See order payout badges.
• The order page shows the refunded amounts under the item list and a Payout timeline, where a refund appears as Esano refunded or You refunded.
• Balance history lists each refund as its own entry. See download payout statements.

The binding terms are in the Terms of Use, under Payment Process.