# How a sale is worked out

Terms > The basics · How it works · https://vendordue.com/docs/how-a-sale-is-worked-out

**In short:** For each item sold, VendorDue takes the list price, takes off discounts and tax to reach revenue, applies the vendor's consignor rate, and rounds once to the cent. The vendor's share is the result, and what's left of revenue is yours. Every step is kept with the sale.

When an order comes in, VendorDue works out each item on it separately, using the terms of the vendor whose product it is. Open any sale in **Activity** and its **working** shows every step, in the order below.

## The working, step by step

Here is the stoneware mug, order #1047, in a store that adds tax at checkout:

**The stoneware mug, worked out** (example)

| | |
| --- | ---: |
| List price | $120.00 |
| **Revenue** | **$120.00** |
| Tax added at checkout, not shared | $9.90 |
| Consignor rate | 60% |
| **Vendor's share** | **$72.00** |
| Your share | $48.00 |

And a $40.00 vase bought with a 10% code on the whole order:

**A vase with an order discount** (example)

| | |
| --- | ---: |
| List price | $40.00 |
| Order discount | -$4.00 |
| **Revenue** | **$36.00** |
| Consignor rate | 60% |
| **Vendor's share** | **$21.60** |
| Your share | $14.40 |

1. **List price** is the item's price on the order, before any discount.
2. **Discounts** come off: an **Item discount** set on that product, and its part of an **Order discount** that covered the whole cart.
3. **Tax** comes out, if your prices include it. What's left is revenue: what the customer paid for the item, less discounts and tax.
4. **The consignor rate** is applied. Usually it's a share of revenue; it can be a share of Listed price or Profit, or a Fixed price per unit instead. See [What the share is of](https://vendordue.com/docs/share-basis).
5. **The result is rounded** once, half up, to the cent. That's the **vendor's share**, and the rest of the figure it was worked out on is **your share**.

## What isn't shared

Some money on an order belongs to neither side of the split. The working shows it, marked **not shared**, so nothing is hidden:

- **Tax.** By default a vendor's share never includes tax. If your prices include tax, you can share it on a vendor's consignor rate with **Tax: Shared**, and the share is worked out on the price with the tax in it.
- **Shipping** and **tips** on the order.
- **Duty**, where a customer paid it.

## Which rate a sale takes

A vendor's consignor rate can be one line or several. A sale reads down the vendor's list and takes the first rate row it matches: a product, a variant, a product type, a collection or a price range. The **Default** at the bottom takes whatever no row above it claimed. If the vendor follows the shop-wide consignor rate, its rows come after their own. See [Rate rows and the Default](https://vendordue.com/docs/rate-rows).

The working names the row the sale took, so you can always see why a sale earned what it did.

## When a sale can't be worked out yet

Sometimes VendorDue is missing something it needs. It never guesses: the sale waits in **Activity > Needs attention** and says what's missing. The common ones:

| It says | What to do |
| --- | --- |
| **No consignor rate was set when this sold** | Set the vendor's consignor rate. The sale is worked out with it straight away |
| **We do not know what this cost you** | The vendor is paid on profit, and the item has no cost. Add the cost |
| **Shopify's copy of this changed** | The order was edited in Shopify after VendorDue read it. Read it again |

See [Fix a problem](https://vendordue.com/docs/fix-a-problem) for every case.

## Once it's worked out

The working is kept with the sale and never redone. Changing a vendor's consignor rate later changes the sales after it, not this one. A refund comes off as its own line, worked out the same way. See [Refunds and returns](https://vendordue.com/docs/refunds-and-returns).

> **For your accountant:** Every line keeps its inputs: the amounts Shopify reported, the rate version, the basis, and the rounding. Discounts are taken in the amounts Shopify allocated to each line. Shares are integer cents with one half-up rounding per line, so a payout adds up exactly from its lines.

## Common questions

**Does the vendor share the cost of a discount?** On a share of revenue, yes: revenue is what the customer paid after discounts. On a share of the listed price, no: you carry the discount, and the working shows it added back.

**Do vendors get a share of shipping?** No. Shipping, tips and duty aren't shared. The working shows them as not shared.

**Is tax included in the vendor's share?** Not by default. If your prices include tax, you can choose Tax: Shared on a vendor's consignor rate.

**Can vendors see how their share was worked out?** Yes. Their page shows the same working for each of their sales, up to their share. They don't see your share.

Checked against VendorDue on 2026-10-06.