Marketing and ad deductions are non-sales charges that reduce your Myntra payout, such as ad spend, promotional contributions and related tax. To verify them, take the deduction line from your settlement report and match it to the campaign record, the invoice and the terms in your seller agreement. Anything you cannot match by period, amount and reference should be raised as a query.
What counts as a marketing or ad deduction
A payout can be lower than expected for reasons unrelated to sales: advertising spend, marketing or promotional contributions, and other programme charges. Which of these apply to you depends on the programmes you have joined and on your Myntra seller agreement, rate card and any campaign or promotion confirmations.
Keep these separate from commission, shipping and return-related charges. If everything sits in one bucket, you cannot tell whether a short payout is a fee error, a campaign you forgot about or a returns issue.
- Ad or campaign spend: charges for visibility or performance programmes you opted into.
- Marketing or promotional contributions: amounts agreed for sale events or brand-funded discounts.
- Other programme fees: any additional charge tied to a specific scheme.
- Tax on these charges: shown on the invoice or settlement line.
Names and structures change by programme and over time. Confirm current terms in your agreement and Seller Portal instead of relying on memory or an old email.
Where to find the numbers you need
Reconciling a deduction needs four records, not one. The settlement report tells you what was taken; the other three tell you what should have been taken.
| Source | What to look for | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Seller agreement and rate card | Agreed contribution basis, event terms, applicable programmes | Defines what is allowed |
| Campaign or ad records | Budget, start and end dates, spend reported | Shows what you authorised |
| Ad or marketing invoices | Invoice number, period, taxable value, tax, total | Shows what was billed |
| Settlement or payout Excel report | Deduction line, reference, date, amount | Shows what was deducted |
Do not hardcode tax rates in your sheets. Read the tax shown on each invoice, and ask your tax adviser to confirm the current treatment of these charges.
Common reasons a deduction does not match
Most mismatches have an ordinary explanation. Check these before assuming an error, then escalate what remains.
- Timing: spend incurred in one period may be deducted in a later settlement cycle.
- Tax treatment: the dashboard may show spend before tax while the deduction includes it.
- Different spend definitions: campaign dashboards and invoices may not agree to the rupee.
- Campaign continuing after you thought it ended: check pause and end dates.
- Contribution applied outside terms: wrong SKUs, wrong dates or a rate different from the one confirmed.
- Duplicate or repeated lines: the same reference appearing in two cycles.
- Credit notes not applied: a reversal issued but not visible in payout.
Write the reason against each line in your working file. A line marked "explained: timing" is much easier to revisit than one you silently accepted.
A cycle-by-cycle check you can repeat
- Filter the deduction lines. From the settlement Excel, pull every line that is not a sale, commission, shipping or return item.
- Group by type and reference. Ads, marketing contributions and other programme fees should each have their own subtotal.
- Match to invoices. Compare period, invoice number and total. Note any line with no invoice.
- Match to campaign records. Confirm the spend was within the budget and dates you approved.
- Test against agreed terms. For contributions, confirm the basis and event dates against your agreement or written confirmation.
- Carry forward timing gaps. Keep a list of items expected in the next cycle so they are not forgotten.
- Flag the rest. Anything unmatched on amount, period or reference becomes a query.
Doing this every cycle is far easier than rebuilding a quarter of deductions when the finance close arrives.
Raising a dispute with the right evidence
Follow the seller support or finance query route given in your agreement and Seller Portal, and check any time limit for raising claims there. Late queries are harder to win, so do not let flagged lines sit.
A strong query is specific and short. Include:
- the settlement cycle, date and deduction reference;
- the amount deducted and the amount you expected, with the difference;
- the relevant invoice or campaign record;
- the clause, rate card entry or confirmation you are relying on;
- a clear request: reversal, credit note or written explanation.
Log each query with its ticket number, date raised, amount and status. Track it until the credit actually appears in a later payout, because a promised reversal is not recovered money until it shows up in your settlement.
Making this routine instead of a quarterly scramble
Spreadsheets work when the volume is small. As SKUs, campaigns and settlement cycles multiply, matching by hand gets slow and lines slip through.
MarketplaceMetrics by Fundle reconciles marketplace sales and settlements for Indian brands, checks commissions and fees against agreed terms, and tracks returns and recovery cases. Myntra Excel reports are reviewed, and other marketplaces are in scope discussion. Pricing is a tailored quote based on your setup.
Whichever tool you use, keep three habits: one owner for payout review, a fixed monthly cut-off, and a running list of open queries with amounts.
Worked example
Illustrative example only. These figures are made up to show the method and are not Myntra rates or real results.
| Item | Amount (₹, illustrative) |
|---|---|
| Ad invoice taxable value | 40,000 |
| Tax shown on the invoice | 6,500 |
| Invoice total | 46,500 |
| Ad and marketing deduction in settlement | 52,000 |
| Unexplained difference | 5,500 |
The brand then checks whether another invoice for the same period explains the ₹5,500, whether part is a timing carry-over, and whether an agreed contribution applies. If none explains it, the brand raises a query with the settlement reference, invoice and campaign record attached, and logs ₹5,500 as an open recovery.
Questions and answers
Why is my Myntra payout lower because of ad charges?
Ad or campaign spend you opted into can be deducted from settlements instead of billed separately. Check your campaign records, the ad invoices and the deduction lines in your settlement report to confirm the period, amount and reference all agree.
Are marketing contributions the same as commission?
No. Commission is the marketplace's fee on sales under your agreement, while marketing or promotional contributions relate to specific events or programmes. Keep them in separate buckets so you can test each against its own terms and rate card.
What GST applies to ad and marketing charges?
Do not assume a rate. Read the tax shown on each invoice or settlement line, and confirm current treatment and any input credit eligibility with your tax adviser, since rules and invoicing practices can change.
How long do I have to dispute a wrong deduction?
Time limits depend on your seller agreement and Myntra's current process, so check both and do not assume. As a habit, review deductions every settlement cycle and raise queries as soon as a line fails to match.