Hey guys, for last few months I am thinking about switching to non-exclusive authorhip and was calculating fees and etc.
While reading all information about who and how much he get one started to bother me a bit.
So basically we have:
- Price that customer pays (number that shows on items page)
- Price from which you receive your % (this price you will only see in invoices)
So there is this so-called buyers fee (for service and etc.) which is not part of the price from which you receive your %.
https://videohive.net/become-an-author
So if we open this link there we will find that non-exclusive authors get 45% and exclusive 63.5% of the price.
If you look at the diagrams that presented there you will clearly see that from real amount paid by customer authors get 36% for non-exclusive and 50% for exclusive at the start.
So is it only me who bugged by the fact that from really paid amount of money you get lower % that suggested on this page but this supposed to be explained by this mystical buyers fee?
You get the exact amount that is suggested. 45% of the item price for non-exclusive authors, and 63.5% and up of the item price for exclusive authors. For items which aren’t subject to ADP then in most cases that works out to 36% of the list price for non-exclusive authors, and 50% and up of the list price for exclusive authors.
It’s been calculated that way since 2014, and all of your sales have been subject to that calculation… with your statement showing the item price and the amount deducted for the author fee.
The price on the item page is the List Price, this price includes the Buyer Fee.
The List Price minus the Buyer Fee is the Item Price
The Buyer Fee is 20% of the List Price or a fixed value in author-driven pricing categories.
The Item Price is also your gross income of a sale.
Based on this gross income you have to pay the author fee
Exclusive Author Fee: 12.5-37.5%
Non-Exclusive Author Fee: 55%
example:
list price $10.00
buyer fee: 20%
exclusive author (starter)
$10.00 - 20% = $8.00 ($2.00 buyer fee, $8.00 gross income)
$8.00 * 0.375 = $3.00 author fee
$8.00 - $3.00 = $5.00 net income (or 50% of the list price)
non-exclusive author
$10.00 - 20% = $8.00 ($2.00 buyer fee, $8.00 gross income)
$8.00 * 0.55 = $4.40 author fee
$8.00 - $4.40 = $3.60 net income (or 36% of the list price)
Depending on your taxpayer status, US Withholding Tax (0-30%) may also be withheld on your gross income.
bad math, count again - 36% of the list price not 45%.
So, again what is bugging me is that % author receive is calculated not from amount paid by customer but list price (what paid by customer) minus buyer fee.
Who gets the buyer fee?
Envato. The buyer pays a fee to Envato, and the author pays a fee to Envato out of the remaining amount. If you’ve got an item with a $10 list price, it’s not subject to author driven pricing, and you’re a new exclusive author… then the buyers fee will be $2 and the authors fee will be $3, leaving you with $5.
And yes, it’s 36% in the example… not 45%.
So, from the real money customer pays for item you get 36% as non-exclusive, 50% as exclusive when you start.
Am I the only one who finds this a bit strange and got the feeling that authors get underpaid?
For example, if tomorrow will be decided that on 100$ item buyers fee will be 900$, will you still say that you get your % right?
I think I kind of get what you’re saying… but you were happy with 50% before reading the article, and it just seems a bit strange that you’re not as happy after reading it… even though you’re still getting 50%*.
*Or thereabouts, if you’re selling stuff in ADP categories.
I can’t say I am not happy, it is just after brief calculations I feel a bit, can’t find a word in English, but something like I was mislead and got wrong conclusion about how much I will earn. By the way from time to time new authors post the same question after their first sale.
I understand that excitement from first sales covers this difference in real %, but I can’t understand why for example authors with big incomes don’t question this thing, because with rough math in truth their income should be 10-15% higher.
That would be true if they were only getting 50% of the item price, i.e. the total price minus the buyers fee… but they’re getting 62.5% of the item price, which is 50% of the total price.
And im assuming your conclusion about how much you would earn has been the same from your first sale, to what it has been for your most recent sale. It’s been that you’ll get 50% of the total price, and you have got 50% of the total price.
Sure, the calculation is a bit complicated, I’ll give you that, but it’s been the same for a few years and it’s not exactly hidden.
Exactly my point, for few years no one was thinking that the % is not right? I don’t know any other marketplace where things calculated like this.
My point is that if it is written that you get 55% that you should get it from amount customer pays, not from so-called item price. I am not sure every customer knows that he is paying item price + buyers fee.
By the way, for what exactly is buyer fee charged?
Nowhere is it listed that you get 62.5% of the total price. It is written that you get 62.5% of the item price which, in most cases, is 80% of the total price. And that’s what you do get. You get 50% of the total price.
I get it, I don’t get why it is not written like this -
If you are non-exclusive you get 35% of money paid for your item
If you are exclusive you get 50-65% of money paid for you item
I have an idea why…
I just like for things to be plain and simple, because right now it can cause a bit of confusion… For example [quote=“SpaceStockFootage, post:11, topic:101318”]
You get 50% of the total price.
[/quote]
You will not find this line anywhere in article about being an author.
Sure, they may not say you get 5, but they do say you get 2.5 plus 2.5, for example… so it’s kind of the same thing. The calculation isn’t 50% of the sale price, but the calculation does work out to 50% of the sale price.
Why? I’ve no idea! But it’s right. You should get 50% and you do get 50%. Once again, that’s based on a new, exclusive author selling something which isn’t subject to author driven pricing.
correct, it’s 36%, typing error on my part
So it was called in the old times of Envato, before Feb. 2014, when each author received a commission for a sale. After Feb. 2014 the word commission was deleted from the websites and legal terms and replaced by the system with gross income, buyer- and author fees.
Before Feb. 2014 an exclusive author received 50% -70% of the selling price and a non-exclusive 33%.
Like @Sealord said, it was written like this before 2014. Plain and simple. Now you have this strange thing.
My idea that is stated like this to make look % you receive little better than they are. Cause with some play with words you receiving not 50% but 65%, but not from the price for which item is sold but from item price. I don’t think customers are bothered with how prices are set, they not see that item price like 80$+20$ buyer fee, the see it as 100$ as it stated in the items page, authors on the other hand see price on the item page and in statement they see price from which their part is calculated. I’ve noticed that line about buyers fee is disappeared from statements.
As I said any other marketplace I tried have plain and simple system where your % is calculated from price customers pay. Why we should have this strange system? What is the point?
But you’ve never been under the impression that you get 65%, because it’s apparent from your balance and your statement that you’re not getting 65%… you’re getting 50%. The only way you might be under the impression that you’re getting 65% is by reading the article that you read, which prompted this thread. And in that article, it’s clearly stated that you don’t get 65% of the list price, you get 65% of the item price.
As I’ve said, I’m not entirely sure why they do it, but they do. And as them doing it that way means I get 50%, and them not doing it that way would also mean I get 50%, I’m not too concerned!
You maybe not, I am. And I don’t think that international marketplace should explain things in a manner where things can be misunderstood or lead to wrong conclusions. I think transparency and honesty is one of the cornerstones of mutual respect and chance for everyone to work in comfortable environment. When you need to do this math, and think about why this done in a way it is done some bad ideas can come to the head and this is surely not good for mutual trust and respect.