Why Your Fee Is On Top, Never Deducted, Explained | Harmonia
The 20% platform fee is billed to the brand on top of the commission, never deducted from the athlete. The athlete keeps 100% of the commission the brand sets.
The platform does not take a cut of your earnings. The 20% platform fee is billed to the brand on top of the commission, never deducted from the athlete. You earn the commission the brand sets, in full. If a brand sets $50 per sale, you receive $50, and the brand pays a separate $10 fee on top. This guide shows the math, where the fee appears on the brand's invoice, and how the ledger keeps both sides honest.
The short version
- The fee is on top. The 20% platform fee is added to the brand's bill, not subtracted from the commission.
- The athlete keeps 100%. You receive the full commission the brand sets for its program, a flat dollar amount or a flat percentage.
- The brand's cost is commission plus 20%. A $50 commission costs the brand $60: the $50 you earn plus a $10 fee.
- Billed monthly to the brand. We invoice the brand through Stripe Billing, net-30, on the 1st of the following month: the commission pool plus the 20% fee.
- Charged only on real sales. The fee applies only when an athlete drives an attributed sale.
What "on top" means
A platform fee comes down to who pays it. There are two ways a platform can charge one.
| Fee model | Who pays | What the athlete gets |
|---|---|---|
| On top (Harmonia) | The brand pays the fee as a separate amount added to its bill. | 100% of the commission the brand set. |
| Deducted (legacy networks) | The fee is taken out of the commission before payout. | Less than the headline rate. |
Harmonia uses the on-top model. The commission the brand sets is the amount you earn, and the 20% sits on the brand's side of the bill. Nothing is taken out of your payout to cover it.
This is why premium brands can run an affiliate program without discounting. The brand pays a clear cost per sale, the athlete earns the full commission, and the shopper pays full price with no discount code to enter. Everyone sees the same numbers.
The math, worked through
Say a brand sets a commission of $50 per sale. Here is every line, for both sides.
| Line | Amount |
|---|---|
| Commission you earn | $50 |
| 20% platform fee (billed to the brand) | $10 |
| Brand's total cost for the sale | $60 |
| Your payout | $50 |
The fee is 20% of the commission, added to the brand's cost. It is never a slice of your $50. Your payout is the full commission, every time.
The same math holds for a percentage commission. If a brand sets 10% of a $200 order, your commission is $20, the fee is $4 billed to the brand, and the brand's total cost is $24. You receive the full $20.
Why we built it this way
A fee deducted from the athlete makes the athlete absorb the platform's cost. Putting the fee on the brand's side keeps your commission whole and keeps the brand's cost visible on the invoice. The platform earns from the brand it serves, not from the athlete's payout.
How the fee appears on the brand's invoice
The brand sees the fee in plain numbers, every month. We invoice the brand through Stripe Billing, net-30, on the 1st of the following month. Each invoice is two parts:
- The commission pool. The total commission every athlete earned for that brand during the period. This is the money that becomes the athletes' payouts.
- The 20% platform fee. Twenty percent of that commission pool, added on top.
So an invoice is the commission pool plus the 20% fee. There is no subscription, no setup fee, and no commission bond. The fee is charged only on real attributed sales, so a month with no sales has no fee.
For the brand's full view of this, see how our fee works and the broader breakdown in what brands pay: the commission pool and fee.
Ledger parity: the athlete is paid the full commission
The numbers are not shown one way and paid another. The system records them the same way it states them.
- The athlete is owed the full commission. When you drive an attributed sale, the ledger records the full commission the brand set as the amount owed to you. Nothing is subtracted for the platform.
- The 20% is added on the brand's side. The fee is a separate amount marked up to the brand, recorded against the brand's invoice, not against your balance.
- What you are paid equals what was set. Your payout is always the full commission. The amount paid out matches the commission the brand set, with the fee living entirely on the brand's bill.
This is what "ledger parity" means: the amount you are paid and the commission the brand set are the same number. The fee never moves between the two. For your own view of every line, see understanding your earnings.
When you get paid
The fee model and the payout timing are separate things, but they meet on the brand's invoice. Payouts run automatically through Stripe Connect. Once your brand's monthly invoice clears, we pay out daily, with a $25 minimum; balances under that roll forward. On December 15 we pay out any remaining balance regardless of the minimum. We issue your 1099-NEC automatically at year-end.
The invoice that pays you is the one carrying the commission pool plus the 20% fee. The day the brand's payment settles, your commission becomes payable and joins the next daily payout. For the full lifecycle from sale to bank, see how athletes get paid and the affiliate payout timeline.
Quick reference
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| Who pays the platform fee? | The brand, on top of the commission. |
| How much does the athlete keep? | 100% of the commission the brand set. |
| What is the fee rate? | 20% of the commission. |
| What does a $50 commission cost the brand? | $60 ($50 commission + $10 fee). |
| When is the fee charged? | Only on a real attributed sale. |
| How is the brand billed? | Monthly via Stripe Billing, net-30, on the 1st of the next month. |
For the locked definitions, see platform fee and net commission.
FAQ
Does the platform fee come out of my commission?
No. The 20% platform fee is billed to the brand on top of your commission, so it is never deducted from your payout. You earn the commission the brand sets, in full. If the brand sets $50 per sale, you receive $50. The fee is a separate line the brand pays, not a cut taken out of what reaches you.
How much do affiliate platforms take?
On Harmonia the platform fee is 20%, and it is billed to the brand on top of the commission, not taken from the athlete. Many legacy affiliate networks instead deduct their cut from the commission, so the athlete receives less than the headline rate. Harmonia does the opposite: the athlete keeps 100% of the commission the brand sets, and the 20% is added to the brand's bill.
What does the brand pay per sale?
The brand pays the commission it set plus a 20% platform fee on top. If the commission is $50, the fee is $10, so the brand's total cost for that sale is $60. The fee is charged only when an athlete drives a real attributed sale. There is no subscription, no setup fee, and no commission bond.
How is the 20% fee billed?
We invoice the brand monthly through Stripe Billing, net-30, on the 1st of the following month. The invoice is the commission pool its athletes earned plus the 20% platform fee on top. Athletes are paid from the cleared commission once the brand's invoice clears.
Do athletes keep 100% of the stated commission?
Yes. The athlete is paid the full commission the brand set, with nothing subtracted for the platform. The ledger records the full commission as the amount owed to the athlete, and the 20% fee is added on top as the brand's cost. The amount the athlete is paid always equals the commission the brand set.