Q: Did lowering the minimum payout threshold change partner behavior?
More than I expected. Our minimum payout was $100 before a partner could withdraw. A chunk of small partners hovered just under it and quietly went inactive.
What we changed:
— Dropped the threshold from $100 to $25
— Kept the same monthly net-30 schedule
Result: among partners earning $25-$99, the share who stayed active the next quarter rose from 34% to 58%. Getting paid something, even small, kept them engaged. Our payout processing costs went up modestly, around $300/month in extra transaction fees, against thousands in retained partner revenue.
The psychology: a partner sitting at $40 they can never withdraw assumes the program isn't working for them and stops. Pay them, and they treat it as real.
The caveat: very low thresholds raise per-transaction fee load and can attract micro-fraud chasing tiny payouts. $25 was our sweet spot, $5 would not have been. Match the threshold to your payment processor's per-payout cost.
Got a question? Send it in.
More than I expected. Our minimum payout was $100 before a partner could withdraw. A chunk of small partners hovered just under it and quietly went inactive.
What we changed:
— Dropped the threshold from $100 to $25
— Kept the same monthly net-30 schedule
Result: among partners earning $25-$99, the share who stayed active the next quarter rose from 34% to 58%. Getting paid something, even small, kept them engaged. Our payout processing costs went up modestly, around $300/month in extra transaction fees, against thousands in retained partner revenue.
The psychology: a partner sitting at $40 they can never withdraw assumes the program isn't working for them and stops. Pay them, and they treat it as real.
The caveat: very low thresholds raise per-transaction fee load and can attract micro-fraud chasing tiny payouts. $25 was our sweet spot, $5 would not have been. Match the threshold to your payment processor's per-payout cost.
Got a question? Send it in.