Paying hosts: commission, statements, clawbacks
Four ways a host can be paid, the monthly minimum, referrer cuts, and what happens when a sale is refunded after you already paid.
10 minute read
A host is the business that lets your machine sit in their space. What you owe them is the number most likely to damage the relationship if it is wrong, so Operator X computes it the same way every month and shows the host the arithmetic rather than a total.
Every deal is set on the venue. Pick the basis that matches what you actually signed — you do not have to force a flat rent into a percentage.
| Deal | The host gets | Typical site |
|---|---|---|
| Share of sales | A percentage of sales after sales tax is backed out | Most placements — offices, shops, salons |
| Share of profit | A percentage of sales after tax and after what the product cost you | Partners who share the downside, franchise sites |
| Flat monthly rent | The same amount every month whatever sales do | Malls, gyms, airports, anywhere with a leasing team |
| Cents per vend | A set number of cents for every item delivered | Laundromats, clubs, high-traffic low-ticket sites |
Any of the four can also carry a monthly minimum — “the greater of 15% or $250”. Set the minimum on the venue and Operator X lifts a slow month up to the floor and marks the statement so you can see why the number is round.
Gross charged at the machine $1,082.50 − sales tax at 8.25% −$82.50 = net revenue $1,000.00 × host share 20% $200.00
Sales tax belongs to the state, not to the site. Paying a percentage of the tax-inclusive total overpays every host every month, and the gap compounds quietly. Operator X always backs tax out first.
A referrer is whoever introduced the site. Their cut comes out of your side, on the same base as the host's, and it never reduces what the host is owed. Together, the host share plus every referrer cut cannot exceed the whole base — Operator X refuses the deal rather than accruing more than you take in.
- 1. Record the deal on the venue
Serial, basis, percentage or amount, any monthly minimum, any referrer, and the host's bank account. Only the last four digits of the account are stored — the full number and the routing number are discarded on the way in and are never retrievable.
Venues → - 2. Let the month accrue
Opening P&L recomputes each site's statement from live sales. A flat-rent or guaranteed site accrues even in a month with no vends, because that is what you signed.
P&L → - 3. Pay, in full or in part
Host payouts shows what is owed per site per month with the arithmetic beside it. Paying less than the total is normal and leaves the remainder open; you cannot pay more than the host earned, and you cannot pay a month that has not accrued.
Host payouts → - 4. Send the statement
Each site has its own statement — open it from the venue or from the payout row. It shows the basis, the base, the percentage, the minimum if it applied, and every payment with the account's last four, and it is written to be forwarded to the host untouched.
Payouts and the host statement →
If a card is refunded after you already sent that month's share, Operator X freezes the payout you made and records the difference as a clawback. Money that left your account is never rewritten. Settle the clawback against the next statement, and tell the host — a surprise deduction is how trust breaks.
Two of my machines are at one site. Two statements?
No. List both serials on the one venue and the host gets a single pooled statement. Splitting a site into two venues is the most common way to accidentally double-pay a host.
I moved a machine to a new site and got an error.
One machine pays exactly one host. Clear the serial from the old venue first — that closes the old placement — then put it on the new one. The error names the venue currently holding it.
A bad month left profit negative. Do I invoice the host?
Never. A negative base pays zero. If that site has a signed monthly minimum, the minimum is still owed — that is the point of a guarantee.
Do free QuestX vends pay the host?
No. A promotional vend collects nothing, so it carries no tax and no host share. Stock still reconciles and the giveaway is reported at its retail value.
Does Operator X move the money?
Not in this release. It computes what is owed, holds the ledger and the statements, and records what you sent with the last four digits of the account. The transfer itself happens at your bank.