The tier ladder
Every vendor lands in one of five tiers, set automatically by lifetime GMV. Your rate applies to gross merchandise value (GMV) on every transaction and is netted from each on-chain payout at the moment the order ships — you see the full sale value in your vendor dashboard and the commission is itemized line-by-line on your payout history.
| Tier | Lifetime GMV threshold | Commission rate | Who it's for |
|---|---|---|---|
| New vendor | $0 — starter | 50.00% | Default rate for every newly-onboarded vendor. Applies until you cross the first GMV threshold. |
| Growth | $10,000+ lifetime GMV | 35.00% | Vendors who've validated demand and shipped consistent orders. |
| Scale | $50,000+ lifetime GMV | 25.00% | Mid-tier sellers with a repeatable catalog and steady review velocity. |
| Established | $200,000+ lifetime GMV | 20.00% | Top-of-category vendors with strong operations and low refund rates. |
| Strategic partner | $1,000,000+ lifetime GMV | 15.00% (floor) | Best rate on the platform. Also available manually for category-exclusive and strategic launch partners. |
How tiers are evaluated
Rates are re-evaluated quarterly based on your rolling 90-day GMV. As you cross each threshold, your tier (and rate) updates automatically and the new rate applies to every order from that point forward. Rate decreases (you earned a better tier) take effect immediately; rate increases (you dropped a tier) follow a 30-day notice. Strategic launch and category-exclusive partners can be placed at the 15% floor manually by the partner team, regardless of GMV.
How payouts work (v1 — crypto)
Crypto payouts to your wallet within minutes of marking each order shipped — no waiting for weekly batches. Three steps:
- Customer pays in crypto — BTC, ETH, or USDC via NOWPayments at checkout.
- You ship the item and mark shipped in your orders queue. This is the trigger.
- Your USDC arrives in your wallet — typically within 5 minutes, after Ethereum confirmation. The platform treasury wallet signs a
transfer(your_address, line_subtotal − commission)on the USDC contract. The commission stays with the platform; gas is paid from treasury.
You set your ERC-20 wallet address once in vendor portal → settings. Every shipped line item triggers its own on-chain transfer with a unique tx hash you can verify on Etherscan.
What the commission covers
| Cost center | Share of commission | What you'd pay solo |
|---|---|---|
| Payment processing (NOWPayments crypto + gas) | ~8% | NOWPayments fee + Ethereum gas per payout |
| Customer acquisition (organic + paid) | ~27% | $60–120 CAC on solo paid |
| Escrow + dispute resolution | ~10% | Would need to build or contract |
| Trust & safety / verification | ~7% | Internal compliance hire |
| Hosting / engineering / security | ~10% | SaaS stack + DevOps |
| Customer support T1/T2 | ~13% | Outsource at $30/ticket |
| Margin | ~25% | — |
Shares above are illustrative for the 50% default tier and scale down with your effective rate. We invest the margin into product improvements that benefit vendors directly (better discoverability, better tooling, better fraud signals).
How the override works in our system
Each vendor record carries an optional commissionRateBps field (basis points, range 1500 = 15.00% to 5000 = 50.00%). If set, the override applies on every transaction. If null, the platform default (currently 5000 bps = 50.00%) is used. The vendor's effective rate is displayed prominently on the vendor portal dashboard, the settings page (with the full tier ladder), and itemized per-transaction on the payouts page. Admin can change the rate within the 15–50% band; the change is logged with timestamp and admin identity, and a 30-day notice applies to rate increases (rate decreases take effect immediately).
Where you'll see your rate
- Vendor portal dashboard — top-of-page KPI tile shows "Your commission rate: X%" with a hint about the next tier.
- Vendor portal settings — read-only display of your effective rate, plus the full volume tier ladder showing where you sit and how far to the next tier.
- Vendor portal payout history — each on-chain transfer shows the commission applied at your effective rate, with a tx hash linking to Etherscan.
What's NOT included
- Advertising is sold separately at $5 CPC floors via the self-serve ads program. Commission does not include sponsored placements.
- API access is included for active vendors; non-trivial integration support engagements may be quoted separately for $100M+ partners.
- Cold-chain shipping is included free for buyers but vendors are responsible for shipping costs to the carrier (this is netted in the vendor's product margins, not the commission).
- Refunds & chargebacks reduce GMV (and therefore commission) proportionally — you don't pay commission on refunded orders.
How to discuss a strategic placement
Email partnerships@peptide.best with:
- Your current vendor ID (if listed)
- Your trailing-3-month GMV (or honest projection)
- What you'd want (manual placement at 15% floor, category exclusivity, launch terms, etc.)
- What you'd offer (volume commitment, category coverage, etc.)
We respond within 3 business days.
Questions about how this works
Contact us. For specifics about your current rate, ping partnerships@peptide.best.