How consignor payouts work
Paying consignors in ResaleOS is two jobs that the system keeps cleanly separated. First, earnings accrue automatically — every sale splits the line total between you and the consignor and credits their balance (optionally after a hold). Second, you record the payout — pay one consignor or a whole batch by check, Zelle, bank transfer, PayPal, cash or store credit, and ResaleOS draws the money down off their balance and writes it to the ledger. This guide walks the full path from a sale closing to the money leaving, plus the holds, the net-payable rule, CSV exports, and where it all shows up afterwards.
Accrual is automatic. Paying out is a deliberate action.
A consignor's balanceis simply the money you owe them — it goes up on its own as their items sell, and it only comes down when you pay them or when they spend store credit. ResaleOS never moves money to a consignor on its own: there's no automatic ACH run, no “auto-pay at $50” threshold. You decide when to pay, and recording a payout is the moment the balance drops. That gives you a balance you can trust and an audit trail for every dollar.
What you owe the consignor from items that have sold. Rises on every sale, falls on every payout.
What they owe you (a layaway, a bought item). Subtracted before you can pay — see net payable below.
A separate spendable wallet. One way to “pay” a consignor is to convert their balance into credit, with a bonus.
You can never pay out more than a consignor's net payable — their balance minus anything they owe you:
This is enforced on the server, not just in the UI — and it's compared in whole cents so floating-point dust never blocks a full-balance payout. A second guard re-checks the balance the moment money moves, so two staff members can't accidentally pay the same balance twice.
How a balance builds
Earnings accrue automatically when an item sells
When a sale is fully paid, ResaleOS splits each line total between you and the consignor using the item's split rate (or the account's default split — typically 50%). Any surcharges you model — cleaning fees, tag fees, card-processing fees — adjust the split according to who absorbs them. The consignor's share is credited to their balance, and a sale row lands on their ledger.
This is fully hands-off — you never type a consignor's earnings by hand. It works the same whether the sale came from POS, your online storefront, or a connected marketplace. Refunds and sale edits write matching reversing rows, so the balance always reflects reality.
Payout holds (optional) delay when the credit lands
If you turn on payout hold rulesin Settings → Account defaults, a freshly sold item's earnings are held rather than credited immediately — covering you for the return window before you owe the consignor. In-store sales and online sales get their own hold lengths (15 and 30 days by default).
How holds release
- A daily job sweeps every fully-paid sale whose hold has expired and releases the credit to each consignor's balance — no action needed from you.
- Need the money available sooner? Open the sale and hit Release hold early on the earnings card to credit it right away.
- Held earnings show as pending releaseon the account so you (and the consignor, in their portal) can see what's coming but not yet payable.
Holds delay when a balance goes up— they don't hold up a payout you've decided to make. Leave hold rules off and earnings credit the instant a sale is paid.
Paying consignors
ResaleOS is a record-and-export tool for payouts — it tracks what you owe, helps you pay it externally, and logs that you did. Money to the consignor moves through your own bank, Zelle, PayPal or checkbook; ResaleOS gives you a worklist or CSV to do it from, then you mark it paid. The exception is store credit, which moves entirely inside ResaleOS. Every method is recorded the same way and draws the balance down identically.
Pay one consignor — the Record payout modal
Open any consignor's account and click Pay out consignor. Enter an amount (capped at their net payable), pick a method, and optionally add a reference (check number, transaction ID) and a note. Save, and the balance drops, total paid ticks up, and a payout receipt with a P- number is created.
Pick Store Credit as the method and a bonus field appears: enter, say, 10% and ResaleOS issues the consignor 110% of the payout amountas spendable wallet credit. Their balance drops by the amount, their store-credit wallet rises by amount + bonus — turning a $510 cash payout into $561 of in-store spending. The consignor's saved payout details (Zelle email, bank fields, etc.) live on their account, and you can export a single-payout CSV right from the modal.
Pay everyone at once — the Pay consignors workspace
Go to Accounts → Pay consignors (or select consignors in the accounts table and choose to pay them). The workspace lists everyone with a balance owed, grouped into tabs per payout method so you can knock out all your checks, then all your Zelles, in clean batches.
| Consignor | Payout via | Balance | Pay amount |
|---|---|---|---|
✓ Olivia BennettC-001042 | Check | $248.00 | $248.00 |
✓ Marcus ReedC-000817 | Zelle | $132.50 | $132.50 |
✓ Priya ShahC-001190 | Bank transfer | $94.25 | $94.25 |
✓ The Vintage Co.C-000455 | Store credit | $510.00 | $510.00 |
Pick a date rangeand the pay amounts default to what each consignor earned in that window (capped at their live balance) — perfect for a monthly payout run. Edit any amount inline, tick the ones you're paying, then Mark as paid to record them all in one go. Store-credit payouts in the batch can share a bonus %, and you can email receipts to everyone with an address on file.
Export a CSV, pay externally, then mark as paid
Recording a payout doesn't move money — it logs it. To actually pay people, Export CSV from the workspace (or a single consignor) builds the right file for each method, so you can upload to your bank or work down a list at the counter.
- Bank transfer CSV — columns follow your configured bank-transfer template (sort code / account number / IBAN / name / reference) plus an amount column, ready to upload to your bank.
- PayPal / Venmo CSV — recipient handle or email, the amount, currency and reference.
- Zelle worklist — Zelle has no bulk format, so this is a pay-from list: who to pay, the email/phone, and how much.
- Check worklist — who to make each check payable to and the amount.
The export uses the exact amounts you've set in the table, so the file matches what you record. Typical flow: export → pay through your bank/app → come back and Mark as paid. Exports never touch balances — only recording a payout does.
Where every payout shows up
The consignor ledger
Every payout writes a signed payout row with a balance-after snapshot, the method, and its P- number. A store-credit payout adds a matching credit row to the wallet. This ledger is the audit source of truth.
The consignor portal
Consignors with a login see their running transaction history — sales, releases, fees and payouts — alongside their current balance and store-credit wallet. It's read-only; they can't request a payout there.
Payout receipt email
If the consignor has an email and the setting is on, recording a payout fires a receipt — including the bonus line item on store-credit payouts.
Reports → Payouts & payables
The payouts report totals what you've paid in any window by method, while the payables view shows what's still owed — so you can reconcile and forecast your next run.
Made a mistake? Cancel reverses it
There's no “pending” payout state — a payout is completed the moment you record it. The way to undo one is to cancel it, which adds the amount back to the balance, reverses total paid, and writes a payout cancelledledger row. For a store-credit payout the clawback is capped at the wallet's current balance, so if the consignor already spent some you may need a small manual credit to square it.
Frequently asked
Does ResaleOS send the money?
For check, Zelle, PayPal, bank transfer and cash, no — you pay externally and record it (export a CSV to make that fast). Store credit is the one method that moves entirely inside ResaleOS.
Is there an auto-payout threshold?
No. Balances accrue automatically, but paying out is always a deliberate action you take. That keeps you in control of timing and cash flow.
Why can't I pay the full balance?
If a consignor owes you money (a layaway or a purchase), that amount owed is subtracted first. You can pay up to the net payable — balance minus what they owe.
What are payout holds for?
They cover your return window. Earnings on a fresh sale are held (15 days in-store / 30 online by default) before crediting, so you don't pay out on something that might come back. Optional, and releasable early.
How does the store-credit bonus work?
On a store-credit payout, enter a bonus % (0–100). The consignor's wallet rises by amount + bonus, while their balance only drops by the amount — a margin-friendly way to keep money in your store.
Can I pay a whole batch at once?
Yes — the Pay consignors workspace lets you select many consignors, default amounts to a date range, and record them all with one click, grouped by payment method.
Do exports change balances?
Never. A CSV export is just a worklist for paying externally. Only recording a payout (single or batch) draws down a balance.
Can two staff pay the same balance?
No. Payouts run in a transaction with a balance guard, so a concurrent second payout that would overdraw the balance is rejected — ask the user to retry.
How do I undo a payout?
Cancel it. The amount returns to the balance and a payout cancelled row is logged. Store-credit clawbacks are capped at the current wallet balance.
One balance, every method, a ledger you can trust
Most consignment tools either lock you into a single payout rail or treat payouts as a spreadsheet bolted onto the side. ResaleOS keeps a single balance per account that accrues on its own, lets you pay it out however you actually pay — check, Zelle, bank transfer, PayPal, cash or store credit — and records every movement to one ledger that the consignor can see too. Holds protect your return window, net payable protects you from overpaying, and a transactional balance guard protects you from double-paying. No reconciliation gymnastics, no parallel books.
Run your next payout in minutes
Spin up a free trial, import your consignors and balances, and try a single payout, a bulk run, and a CSV export. Or book a 15-minute call and we'll map your exact payout cadence — weekly checks, monthly bank transfers, store-credit bonuses and all.