Earnings Payout Timeline

If you’re a new seller looking to set up a payout method, or want to learn how to initiate a payout, please refer to this article.

One of the most common questions sellers ask after a show is “when do I get my money?” 

There are two processes that occur before your earnings (the money you made from sales) are available in your bank account or Paypal:

1. Your earnings need to process. For most sellers, earnings will begin processing once your order is confirmed as delivered to the buyer (i.e., scanned by the carrier). Earnings then take up to 4 hours to be processed by our payments provider before they are available in your Whatnot account balance. 
   • See below for Early Payout exceptions and country-specific nuances.
2. You need to initiate a payout request. You can initiate a payout at any time for available funds in your Whatnot balance. Once this payout request is initiated, it typically takes 1-2 business days (3-4 days for non-US payouts) for the funds to be available in your bank account or Paypal account. 

See the image below for a summary of the timeline from making a sale to getting the money in your bank account:

Early Payout

Whatnot has an Early Payout program aimed at rewarding trustworthy sellers with faster payouts. If you are a seller with Early Payout, your earnings will be processed instantly once you generate the shipment label for the order. Though these funds will be immediately available in your Whatnot account balance, initiating a payout request still takes 1-2 business days to complete (3-4 days for ex-US payouts). 

Special Shipment Methods

Most shipment methods offered through Whatnot include a carrier scan upon delivery to the receipt. However, there are some special shipment types that have limited tracking. For these shipment methods, we don’t rely on carrier delivery scans to begin processing earnings. Instead, earnings begin to process when:

Note: The above only applies to non-Early Payout sellers. Early Payout sellers still have their earnings processed instantly after label generation.

FAQs

Earnings Processing

How might the earnings processing timeline differ for sellers in different countries?

See below for the timeline for earnings processing by sellers in different countries. 

Note: Requesting a payout will typically take an additional 1-2 business days for US and UK sellers and 3-4 business days for sellers in other countries.

How can I check the status of earnings for a particular order?

You can see whether your earnings are available to initiate payout by checking either: (a) the Orders page on iOS/Android, or (b) the Orders page in the Seller Hub. On this page, you’ll see a badge that lets you know the order’s earning status. 

On Seller Hub web, this is reflected in the Earnings Status column in the table.

Earning status definitions:

• Processing: Your earnings are in the process of becoming available.

  • For shipped orders, your earnings will begin processing 4 hours after delivery is confirmed. 

  • For Free Pickup orders, your earnings will begin processing 3 days from order creation or after pickup—whichever comes last. 

• Completed: Your earnings are available to initiate payout. 
• Cancelled: Your potential earnings for this order are not available because the order was cancelled. 

A buyer reached out saying they received their order, but the order status is still “Shipping” and my earnings have not begun processing. What should I do?

It’s common for carriers to be delayed in scanning orders after they dropped them off to buyers. We recommend waiting a few days for the carrier scan to update. If your shipment is still not marked as delivered 72 hours later, you may reach out to our Seller Support team.

Where can I see a list of all my processing earnings?

On the Transactions page on Seller Hub web or iOS/Android app, you’ll see a table of all your recent transactions. When you filter on “Processing,” this view will include all your earnings from orders that are not yet complete. On web, you can click on the Order ID in the table to see more information.

I’m an Early Payout seller. Why are some of my earnings “processing” as opposed to being available for payout?

To create a trustworthy experience for all users, we may need to put your early access to earnings on a temporary hold due to your selling or payout history. In these rare cases, your earnings will remain “processing” until 4 hours after the order has been confirmed as delivered to the buyer, which is our typical timeline for non-Early Payout sellers.

You can learn more here about payment holds for Early Payout sellers.

What is the timeline to receive funds from tips?

For sellers without Early Payout in the US and CA, tips take 3 days to process after being placed; this processing timeline is 4 days for sellers in other countries. For Early Payout sellers (all countries), tips should be available in your account balance instantly. 

Like earnings from orders, processed tips will be available in your account balance for you to initiate payout. See more information on tipping.

Payouts

How can I check the status of my payout request?

Please navigate to the Payouts page on either Seller Hub web or on your iOS/Android app. In the Payout History table, you will find a list of all your payout requests, including the status of those payouts and the arrival date.

If your payout has a “processing” status, this transfer is still in progress and the funds have not yet arrived to your bank/Paypal. Please reference the “estimated arrival date” for when you can expect to receive these funds.

If your payout has a “completed” status, this means that the funds have arrived at your bank or Paypal. In rare cases, it’s possible that your bank may be withholding the funds for further review before transferring to your account. In these cases, please contact your financial institution directly.

Why did my payout request fail?

It’s possible for the status of your payout to say “failed.” This means that the funds were not successfully transferred to your bank/Paypal, and instead have been returned to your Whatnot balance. 

A payout request may fail because your payout information in Stripe is not accurate. Please check that your payout information is accurate and try again.

A payout request may also fail because it was rejected by your bank/Paypal. Whatnot does not have visibility into why the request may have been rejected – please contact your financial institution directly.

What does it mean if my account balance is negative?

You may have a negative account balance if costs exceed available earnings. For example, if you have $0 available in your account balance, and then you receive a surcharge of $3 for a shipping label adjustment, your account balance will be -$3.

You are not able to initiate payout requests until your available account balance is positive.