GMV commission for creators means you are paid a percentage of the gross merchandise value of the orders credited to your video or your link. GMV is the order value before the brand’s costs. It is the sales kind of commission; the other kind is a share of the ad spend behind your video, and a brand can offer either or both. The number on the offer (“15 % of GMV”) only means something once you know what the brand counts as order value, what refunds do to it, and how an order gets credited to you.
“They said 15 % of GMV and my payout was half what I worked out”
That line comes up because three things sit between the rate and the money: the definition of GMV, the refund rule, and the attribution window. None of them is hidden on purpose. They are just not on the offer.
What GMV is, and what it is not
Shopify’s guide says GMV “measures the total value of goods sold through your store or platform, before expenses and fees,” and gives the formula as selling price times units sold, or transactions times average order value (Shopify, checked 2026-11-07). Its example: 200 necklaces at $50 plus 150 bracelets at $30 is $14,500 of GMV for the month.
The same guide lists what varies by definition:
- Discounts. GMV before discounts counts money the brand never received. Most creator deals count the subtotal after the buyer’s discount, which matters when your own code is a discount code.
- Shipping, taxes, duties. Some definitions include them, some do not. A commission on a $45 order is different from a commission on a $45 order plus $8 shipping and $4 tax.
- Refunds. Some definitions net them out, some do not. For a creator commission they almost always are: the brand will not pay you on an order it refunded.
- Costs. Never subtracted. GMV is not profit, which is why a brand with thin margins cannot pay a high GMV share.
So the first question for any GMV offer: “15 % of what, exactly: subtotal after discount, before shipping and tax, net of refunds?”
How an order gets credited to you
A GMV commission only pays on orders the brand can tie to you. Four ways that happens:
- Your link or code. Shopify Collabs counts a commission when a purchase is made through your affiliate link or discount code, holds it as “pending” during a merchant-set holding period of 1 to 90 days, and cancels it if the order is canceled or fully refunded in that window (Shopify Help Center, checked 2026-11-07).
- A pixel or connected store, last touch. The store records the last creator touch before the order, inside a window. On HourlyUGC, that is a connected Shopify store or the Hourly Pixel, last touch within 7 days, with creator links and codes; orders are counted once (HourlyUGC blog, checked 2026-11-07).
- The ad platform’s count. When your video runs as an ad, the platform reports conversions per ad and the brand pays on that.
- A marketplace’s rules. Amazon Associates credits items added to the cart “within 24 hours” of arriving through your link (Amazon Associates Help, checked 2026-11-07).
A buyer who watches your video, waits two weeks, then searches the brand and orders is a sale you drove that no window will credit to you. That leak is part of every GMV deal. It is why the rate has to be higher than it looks.
The other way a GMV deal pays nothing: thousands of link clicks and no orders. The clicks are yours; the checkout is the brand’s. Price, page and offer decide whether a click becomes GMV, and none of them is in your hands. That is the case for asking for a share of ad spend alongside, or instead of, a share of sales.
The arithmetic, with the leak in it
Example. Offer: 15 % of GMV, subtotal after discount, net of refunds, last touch within 7 days, 30-day hold.
- Your video runs as the brand’s ad for a month. The store records 100 orders with your touch inside 7 days.
- Average subtotal after your 10 % code: $45. GMV credited: $4,500.
- 8 orders are refunded in the 30-day hold. GMV after refunds: $4,140.
- 15 % of $4,140: $621, paid after the hold.
Same month, counted on the ad platform’s 7-day click window instead of the store’s last touch: the platform reports 70 conversions, the brand pays on those, and the number is $434 at the same rate. Two honest counts, two payouts. Ask which one pays before you film. Example numbers, not a forecast.
Percentage of GMV or a flat amount per order?
| Percentage of GMV | Flat per order | |
|---|---|---|
| Pays more when | Carts are large or vary | Carts are small and the same |
| You know in advance | The rate, not the number | The number per order |
| Brand’s reason | Scales with what they earn | Protects margin on a cheap hero product |
| On HourlyUGC | 1 % to 50 % of each order | $1 to $500 per order |
Ask for the average order value. At a $30 AOV, 10 % is $3 an order and a flat $4 beats it. At a $120 AOV, 10 % is $12 and no flat offer under that is worth taking.
Reference points for the rate
There is no market average for creator GMV commission. There are published schedules:
- Amazon Associates pays fixed rates on qualifying revenue by category: 10 % on Luxury Beauty, 4 % on Apparel, 3 % on Beauty, 1 % on Grocery (Amazon Associates, checked 2026-11-07). That is the floor: no brief, no rights, no video required.
- A brand asking you for a video it will run in its own ads is asking for more than an affiliate link, and the rate, or a share of ad spend on top, should reflect that. How to compare offers: UGC creator rates: commission vs flat.
The six questions for any GMV offer
- GMV defined on what: subtotal after discount, before or after shipping and tax?
- Net of refunds, and how long is the hold?
- Which count pays: my link and code, the store’s last touch, or the ad platform?
- What is the window?
- When and how is the payout made, and is there a minimum?
- Can the rate change mid-deal? It should apply to future videos only. On HourlyUGC, a change “applies to videos delivered from now on” and earlier videos keep their terms.
If the answers are written, the offer is real. If they are not, read Is commission UGC legit? before you film.
Disclosure
A GMV commission is a material connection. The FTC’s FAQ suggests “I get commissions for purchases made through links in this post” and says “Affiliate link” alone is not enough (FTC, Endorsement Guides FAQ, checked 2026-11-07). Say it in the video and next to the code. Details: FTC disclosure for UGC creators.
Find campaigns on HourlyUGC
Brands on HourlyUGC pay in every way: hourly, per video, commission on sales at 1 % to 50 % of each order or $1 to $500 per order, a share of Meta ad spend at 1 % to 30 %, CPM, samples, or a mix. The count (Meta, or a connected Shopify store or the Hourly Pixel, last touch within 7 days) and the terms are on the brief before you accept. Find campaigns on HourlyUGC.