Early Payout Program

Early Payout gives eligible sellers faster access to earnings. 

Usually, earnings become available only after orders are confirmed delivered. With Early Payout, your earnings appear in your Whatnot balance as soon as you generate the shipping label. 

On this page: 

• When you get paid with Early Payout
• How to qualify for Early Payout
• Check if you qualify for Early Payout
• How to keep Early Payout access
• Payment holds for Early Payout sellers
• Frequently asked questions (FAQs) 

When you get paid with Early Payout

With Early Payout, earnings show up in your Whatnot balance as soon you generate the label for your order. No need to wait for delivery. 

You'll still need to start a payout to move the funds to your bank. Payouts usually arrive within 1–2 business days.

The table below shows when you can start a payout with Early Payout, compared to the standard timeline: 

How to qualify for Early Payout

You’ll unlock Early Payout automatically once you meet all requirements:

• Average seller rating of 4.8 or higher, and
• At least 10 live shows hosted, and
• Either:
  • Lifetime sales of at least $/£/€100,000 (before fees), or
  • At least 1,000 lifetime orders (excluding giveaways & tips)

Once you meet the requirements, you'll get access to Early Payout within 24 hours. You can check your eligibility anytime. 

Early Payout access doesn't work retroactively, so it won’t apply to orders made before gaining access. Faster payouts will be applied to any new orders sold after Early Payout access is granted. 

Check if you qualify for Early Payout

You can check if you qualify for Early Payout from the app or website. 

You’ll find a tracker that shows how you’re doing on each of the Early Payout requirements.

Here’s an example of the eligibility tracker on whatnot.com: 

How to keep Early Payout access

To keep Early Payout: 

• Keep your average rating at 4.8 or higher, and
• Ship reliably and avoid high rates of refunds, cancellations, and unfulfilled orders

If you lose access to Early Payout: 

• Orders follow the standard earnings payout timeline and become available about 4 hours after delivery is confirmed
• Early Payout will be restored once your metrics return to eligible levels
• Early Payout access can be restored as:
  • Your average rating returns to 4.8 or higher, and/or
  • Refund, cancellation, or unfulfilled rates normalize through future sales

Payment holds for Early Payout sellers 

Even with Early Payout, some of your earnings may be placed on hold. 

When a payment hold applies, those funds will not be paid out early. Instead, they’ll follow the standard timeline for sellers without Early Payout. 

Holds are rare, but can happen in a few situations:

• New or infrequent sellers: While you’re getting started and learning best practices, you may experience payment holds. 
• Unusual selling patterns: A sudden increase in sales volume can trigger a short-term hold.
• Fulfillment performance issues: If you have an unusually high ratio of refunds, cancellations, or delayed shipments, we may delay payout to ensure buyers are receiving their items. In these cases, your earnings will be released according to the standard payout timeline or once your performance improves. These holds can be avoided by consistently shipping on time, without cancellations or refunds. 

While funds are held: 

• They won't be included in Early Payout, and will instead follow the standard payout timeline for your region. 
• They’ll show as Processing in your ledger.
• Once marked Completed, they’ll be available for payout as usual.

Frequently asked questions (FAQs)

Why don’t I have Early Payout yet? 

You may not have met all requirements. Check your progress from the Payouts page in Seller Hub. 

Why did I lose access to Early Payout? 

Access is removed if your rating drops below 4.8 and/or your rate of refunds, cancellations, or unfulfilled orders rise. Access is restored once your metrics improve. Learn more about maintaining access to Early Payout. 

Is there a fee for Early Payout? 

No. Early Payout follows the same fee structure as standard earnings. Learn about Whatnot’s seller fees and commissions schedule. 

I have access to Early Payout now. Why am I still waiting for earnings to process?

Early Payout only applies to sales made after you qualify. Orders created before you gained Early Payout access will still follow the standard payout timeline (earnings start processing after order delivery is confirmed).

For any new sales made once you have Early Payout, your earnings will move into your Whatnot balance as soon as you generate a shipping label.

Related resources

• Learn about the general earnings payout timeline 
• Track your earnings or payout status
• Troubleshoot issues with earnings or payout