Refunds and Clawbacks
When a credited order is refunded, Spark! lowers the creator’s commission on its own, and takes back money already paid from their next payout.
Last updated: 2026-10-19
You shouldn't pay commission on a sale you gave back. Spark! watches every credited order for refunds in Shopify and adjusts the creator's commission automatically. You don't have to find the order, do the math or chase the creator.
What happens when you refund an order
When Shopify marks a credited order refunded or partially refunded, Spark! works out the new commission:
- Full refund: the commission drops to zero and the order shows as Revoked.
- Partial refund: the commission shrinks by the share of the order's subtotal you refunded. Refund $40 of a $100 order and a $10 commission becomes $6. Several partial refunds on one order add up.
What happens next depends on whether the creator has been paid for that order.
The commission hasn't been paid yet
Spark! lowers the order's commission. If the order is already in an open payout that you haven't marked paid, the payout total is recalculated, so you pay the right amount when you settle it.
The commission was already paid: the clawback
If the payout covering that order is already marked paid, Spark! records a clawback: a negative adjustment for the amount the creator was overpaid. You don't ask for the money back. The next time you click Create payout for that creator, open clawbacks are subtracted from their unpaid commission. If clawbacks are bigger than what they've earned since, no payout is created, and the clawback waits for future earnings.
You can see what's outstanding in two places:
- On the partner's page (open the creator from Spark! > Partners), the Negative balance card shows open clawbacks that will be netted from future earnings.
- Spark! > Partners > Finance counts open adjustments in your pending commissions, so the number you need to fund is already net of refunds.
What the creator sees
In the creator portal, under Earnings, creators see Refunded orders, Commission given back and, if they were paid before the refund, Owed from refunds. Nobody has to explain the change by email.
Spark! doesn't hold commissions for a returns period on its own. If you accept returns for 30 days, wait that long after an order before you include it in a payout. Fewer refunds will land after you've paid, and fewer clawbacks will carry over.
FAQ
Does an exchange lower the commission?
Only if Shopify records a refund on the order. Spark! reacts to refunds, not to returns or exchanges with no money back.
Does refunding shipping change the commission?
Commission is based on the order subtotal, so for a partial refund Spark! uses the refunded items' subtotal. A shipping-only refund leaves the commission as it was.
Can one refund be counted twice?
No. Each Shopify refund is recorded once, so a repeated update from Shopify doesn't take money back again.
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