How to Check Commission on Shipping and Discounts

Start with the commission base in your agreement

Before opening any report, settle one question: on what amount is commission supposed to be calculated? Marketplaces and categories differ. The base may be the selling price after discounts, the price before discounts, or the price with or without shipping or other customer-paid charges. Do not assume. Read it from your own documents.

• Seller agreement and annexures: look for the definition of the commission base, or terms such as selling price, net sales value or invoice value.
• Rate card: note the commission rate by category, price band or brand, and its effective dates.
• Amendments and emails: rate changes are often communicated outside the main contract.
• Discount funding: check who bears each discount, because a marketplace-funded discount may be treated differently from a seller-funded one.

If the wording is unclear, get written clarification from your account manager before you raise any claim. Always confirm the latest terms, since they change.

Pull order-level data, not the summary

A settlement summary shows only the total commission deducted. You need the order or SKU-level report for the same period. Ask for or download the detailed settlement file and map these columns:

• Order ID, SKU, order and settlement dates
• MRP or list price
• Seller-funded and marketplace-funded discounts, if shown separately
• Customer-paid shipping or handling charges, if shown
• Item selling price or taxable value
• Commission rate applied and commission amount charged
• Return or cancellation status

Column names vary by marketplace and report type. If a column you need is missing, ask support for a report that includes it. Start with a sample of one or two weeks rather than a full year.

Recalculate commission line by line

For each order, compute expected commission = agreed commission base × agreed rate. Then subtract it from the commission actually charged.

1. Copy the agreed rate from your rate card into a helper column.
2. Build the base exactly as your agreement defines it, for example selling price after seller discount, excluding shipping.
3. Multiply base by rate to get expected commission.
4. Calculate variance as charged minus expected.
5. Filter for variances beyond a small rounding tolerance.

Whether GST on commission is part of the figure depends on how your report presents it. Check the report definitions and your tax adviser for the correct treatment, and compare like with like.

Back-solve the base to find the pattern

When variances appear, work backwards: implied base = commission charged ÷ rate applied. Compare that implied base with each candidate:

• Equal to MRP: the discount was probably ignored.
• Equal to selling price plus shipping: shipping was probably included in the base.
• Equal to selling price after only one of two discounts: a discount was partly applied.

Sort the variances by SKU, category, discount type and date. A pattern such as every order with a promotional discount points to a system-level issue rather than a one-off error. It also makes your dispute far stronger.

Where shipping and discount errors usually hide

These are the places worth checking first:

• Promotional periods: sale events where discount funding changes mid-month.
• Orders with customer-paid shipping: the shipping line may be bundled into the item value.
• Rate changes: orders placed before a revision but settled after it.
• Returns and partial cancellations: commission reversed on the wrong base, or not reversed at all.
• Bundles and combos: discounts allocated unevenly across SKUs.

Tools like MarketplaceMetrics by Fundle automate this recalculation by checking commissions and fees against agreed terms. Myntra Excel reports are reviewed today, and other marketplaces are in scope discussion. A well-built spreadsheet works for a first pass.

Raise the claim and keep it repeatable

Raise one consolidated ticket per pattern, not one per order. Attach the clause from your agreement, the rate card, a sample of affected order IDs, your recalculation, and the total variance. Record the ticket number, date and response in a recovery tracker, and note when each case closes and whether the money arrives in a later settlement.

Repeat the check monthly. Errors found early are easier to prove and are less likely to cross any dispute window in your agreement, which you should confirm in the contract.