We've already covered fraud scenarios in the Help Center articles on how fraud protection works in SATHI and fraud flags and their meaning, but there's another common situation brands deal with every day: refunds and returns, and how commissions are handled when they happen.
Since orders are part of a live shopping experience, customers may request refunds after making a purchase. To protect brands from paying commissions on refunded orders, SATHI uses Return Window & Payout Rules to control how and when commissions are processed.
The Return Window is a holding period that temporarily pauses commission payouts after an order is placed, giving customers enough time to request a refund or return before commissions become payable.
For example, if your brand sets a 30-day return window, commissions linked to those orders stay on hold for 30 days before they can be paid out. If the order is refunded during that period, the commission is automatically rejected and no payout is made.
How it works:
A customer places an order
The commission is created and appears under Payments → Pending
The commission is placed on hold for the return window period. This defaults to 14 days and can be customized in settings
During this time, payout actions are disabled and refunds or returns are monitored automatically
Once the return window closes:
No refund filed → the commission becomes payable, with status Payable
Refund filed → the commission is automatically Rejected
In addition to the return window, commissions may also be subject to a Minimum Payout Threshold. SATHI only processes payouts once an ambassador's total eligible commissions meet this threshold. For example, if your minimum payout is set to $20, any amount below this remains on hold under On Hold — Below Minimum $ until the threshold is reached.
Both rules can be customized:
Go to Settings
Click Preferences
Open Return Window & Payout Rules
During the hold period, commissions may appear under these statuses:
On Hold — Return Window: Waiting for the return period to end before becoming eligible for payout
On Hold — Below Minimum $: Held until the ambassador reaches the minimum payout threshold
Rejected — Refunded (Pre-Payout): The order was refunded during the return window, so the commission was automatically rejected
Payable — Pending: The return window has passed successfully, and the commission is ready for payout
In some cases, a commission may already have been paid out when a refund is detected afterward. When this happens, SATHI initiates a clawback: the refunded commission amount is deducted from the ambassador's future payouts to keep payouts accurate and fair.
Without these safeguards, a brand could end up paying commissions on orders that get refunded days or weeks later, with no clean way to recover that cost. The Return Window and Minimum Payout Threshold catch this automatically before a payout ever goes out, and clawbacks handle the rare case where a refund comes in after payment, so payouts stay accurate without you needing to track refund timing manually.
Still need help?
Reach out anytime to our Support team using the button at the bottom-right corner of your dashboard, or email us at [email protected].
