A clawback is the reverse of a commission. The order was counted, the creator was paid, and then the customer sent the product back or disputed the charge. The brand takes the commission back, usually by deducting it from the creator’s next payout. Stripe’s documentation describes the chargeback side: the cardholder questions the payment with their issuer, the payment is reversed, and the money leaves the merchant along with a dispute fee (Stripe).
Clawbacks exist because returns are common. NRF estimates that 15.8 % of US retail sales will be returned in 2025, and 19.3 % of online sales (NRF). A commission program that never clawed back would pay for one in five online orders that did not stick.
Example. A creator is paid $450 in April on 50 orders at $9 each. In May, six of those orders are refunded. The brand claws back $54 from the May payout. If May’s commission is $300, the creator receives $246. Example numbers.
When brands use it. The pain this answers: “I have no idea which creator actually drove sales.” Half of that question is which creator; the other half is which sales stayed sold. Brands either hold commission until the return window closes (no clawbacks, slower payouts) or pay fast and claw back (faster payouts, deductions later). Categories with high returns, such as apparel, tend to hold; consumables tend to pay fast.
The creator’s view. Ask which of the two the brand does, how long the return window is, and whether the brand shows the order list behind a clawback. A clawback with no order list is a number the creator has to take on trust. Chargebacks are usually excluded from the base outright.
On HourlyUGC. When HourlyUGC counts the sales, it reads them from a connected Shopify store or its pixel, so the orders behind a payout are the store’s own, with their refunds. Next step: start a campaign on HourlyUGC.