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How Commission Payouts Work: When You Get Paid, and How
Quick answer: commission payouts move through three stages — created, approved, then paid — and only the last one is money you can actually withdraw.
Key takeaways
- Commission payouts move through three stages: created → approved → paid.
- The waiting period exists so refunds can reverse before money leaves the business.
- Only the paid balance is money you can actually withdraw.
Your dashboard says you have earned something. Your bank account disagrees. This gap between “earned” and “in my hands” is where most referral programmes lose people’s trust — not because anything is wrong, but because nobody explained the sequence. Here it is, stage by stage.
A commission moves through three states: created when a referred purchase completes, approved once the refund window closes, and paid when it is withdrawn or credited to your wallet. The delay between created and approved exists so that commissions on refunded orders can be reversed before money leaves the business.
What are the stages a commission passes through?
Three, and only the last one is money you can use. Understanding this sequence removes almost every payout question people have:
| Stage | What it means | Can you withdraw it? |
|---|---|---|
| Created / pending | A referred purchase completed and generated commission | No |
| Approved | Refund window passed; commission confirmed | Yes |
| Paid | Transferred to your wallet or payment method | Already yours |
| Rejected | Underlying order refunded or cancelled | No — reversed |
A dashboard total that includes pending commissions is showing you what you have earned, not what you can withdraw today. If the two numbers differ, look for the status column before assuming something is broken.
Why is there a waiting period at all?
Because orders get refunded, and a commission paid on a refunded order is money that has left the business twice. Every referral programme in existence holds commissions for a period matching its returns window — the alternative is either paying out on sales that never really happened, or chasing affiliates for money afterwards, which is worse for everyone.
MHM Stores reverses commissions on refunded orders, which is why the holding period exists. It is not a cashflow tactic and it is not a way to avoid paying you. The practical consequence is simple: expect a lag between someone buying and your balance becoming withdrawable, and plan around the approved figure rather than the pending one.
Subscription renewals follow the same logic. Each monthly renewal is its own transaction, generating its own commission that moves through the same three stages independently.
How does the money actually reach you?
Through one of two routes, and they suit different people. The first is a wallet balance held in your account, usable within the store. The second is an external payout — bank transfer or a payment processor — moving the money out of the ecosystem entirely.
Wallet credit is faster and has no transfer costs, which makes it the sensible default for smaller balances. Given that commissions here are modest per person — 3.00 AED from a direct referral’s monthly subscription at the published Level 1 rate — a bank transfer of a 12 AED balance is not a rational use of anyone’s time. Letting it accumulate against your own shopping is usually the better route.
External payout makes sense once the balance is large enough to be worth the administrative step. Your available methods and any thresholds are shown in your affiliate dashboard on My Hub — check there rather than relying on this article, since payment options change more often than mechanics do.
What can reduce or reverse a commission?
Four things, all of them ordinary. First, refunds — if the underlying order is returned, the commission attached to it is reversed, whatever stage it had reached.
Second, cancellations. Recurring commissions depend on an active subscription; when a member you introduced cancels, future commissions from them simply stop occurring. Nothing already approved is taken back. Third, your own status: affiliate access at MHM Stores is tied to an active membership, so allowing your own subscription to lapse ends new earning. Fourth, attribution failure — if a referral’s click was never recorded because they switched devices or cleared their browser, no commission is created at all, and there is nothing to recover after the fact.
None of these are unusual, and none are specific to this programme. They are the standard reasons a dashboard total differs from an expectation. How referral commissions work covers the tracking side in detail.
What should you check in your dashboard each month?
Three numbers, in this order: visits, referrals, and approved balance — because each one tells you where a problem lives. Visits confirm your link is being clicked at all. If visits are zero, the link isn’t reaching anyone or isn’t clickable in the format you shared.
Referrals against visits tells you whether the conversation is working. Plenty of visits and no referrals means people are looking and deciding against it — which is useful information rather than a failure, and usually means the fit wasn’t there. Approved balance against total earned tells you how much is still inside the refund window.
Once a quarter, check something that isn’t a number: whether the people you referred are still active. Recurring commission quietly depends on retention, and a member who stopped shopping usually cancels soon after. If you want to know what any of this compounds to, the full four-level math lays it out without decoration.
Check your visits, referrals and approved balance in one place.
The bottom line on how commission payouts work
Once you know how commission payouts work — created, approved after the refund window, then paid — the gap between “earned” and “in my wallet” stops feeling like a problem. For the mechanism behind the money, see how a referral commission works, and how it stacks up against cashback and store credit.
Investopedia defines commission in the wider sense. Want to watch your own payouts add up in AED? Join the MHM Stores network.
Frequently asked questions
Why is my commission still pending?
Because the refund window on the underlying order has not closed yet. Commissions stay pending until the purchase can no longer be returned, at which point they move to approved and become withdrawable. This is standard across referral programmes.
Can I take my commission as store credit instead of cash?
Yes. Wallet credit is the faster route with no transfer costs, which usually makes it the better option for small balances. Given that commissions are modest per referral, most members will find accumulating credit more practical than requesting transfers.
What happens to my commission if the order is refunded?
It is reversed. Commission exists as a percentage of a real completed sale, so a refunded sale removes the basis for it. This applies whether the commission was pending or already approved.
Do I keep earning if I cancel my own subscription?
No. Affiliate status is tied to an active membership, so new commissions stop when your subscription lapses. Commissions already approved remain yours. Check your balance before cancelling.
Is there a minimum payout amount?
Check your affiliate dashboard for the current threshold, as this setting can change. Where a minimum applies, commissions accumulate until the balance reaches it — which, at these rates, can take several months for a small network.
How often are commissions paid?
Commissions become available individually as each one clears its refund window, rather than on a fixed monthly cycle. Your approved balance therefore grows continuously rather than jumping on a set payday.
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