This article clarifies how partner bookings and refunds are processed, helping you understand any discrepancies you may see in your monthly Marketpay settlements.
Partner commissions: How they affect your payout
When a sales agent (partner) sells one of your tours on their webshop or Boxoffice and the booking is paid by credit card, our Palisis Marketpay system automatically handles the commission for you. If both you and the sales agent have separate merchant accounts, our payment provider, Adyen, automatically performs a split.
This means the partner’s commission is automatically sent to them, and only your net revenue (the total booking value minus the commission) is directed to your account. This is why you may not see the full booking value in your payout; the commission has already been handled for you.
Why refunds can cause a discrepancy
This is a key point of confusion for many operators. When a booking is refunded, the entire booking amount is debited from your account in the month the refund is processed—even if the original booking was for an event in a future month.
For example:
- A booking for a September tour is made in July.
- The guest cancelled and was refunded on 15 August.
- The full refund amount is debited from your account in the August payout.
- The original booking’s revenue will be paid out to you (with the commission split) in the September payout.
This is why your August payout may appear lower than expected; a refund from a previous period is being deducted from your current month's revenue.
Understanding the refund workflow
This workflow illustrates why payouts can appear confusing when refunds are involved, particularly when a refund is processed before the original booking is paid out.
Initial booking: A booking is created (e.g., in July) for an event in the future (e.g., September). The payment is processed, but the payout is scheduled for the month of the event.
Refund action: A refund is initiated and processed in a different month than the booking's payout (e.g., August).
Immediate debit: The full refund amount is immediately debited from the owner's account during the payout for the month the refund was processed (August). No commission is split or recovered from the partner at this stage.
Delayed payout: The original booking's payout, which includes the commission split, happens on its scheduled month (September).
The discrepancy: The owner sees a negative entry on their August payout for the refund, and a separate, positive entry for the split-out booking on their September payout. This can make their August revenue seem unexpectedly low and lead to confusion.