Below is a detailed explanation of our Marketplace Discounts and how they affect the distribution of funds.
Discount Types and Options explained
Trellus Discounts have a wide range of options to choose from, offering a great deal of flexibility in creating exciting promotions for your customers. The list below describes the options that are currently available or will be in the near future.
Discount Type: Automatic vs Manual (Discount Code)
- Automatic Discounts: Are applied to customer orders automatically if the discount conditions are met without the customer having to type in a code at checkout.
- Manual Discounts: Require the customer to type in a discount code for the discount to be applied to an order where the discount conditions are met.
Funding Source: Trellus vs Merchant
- Trellus-funded: Discounts and promotions offered by Trellus, which can be applied to any product on the Marketplace that meets the requirements of the discount. As a merchant, you will be reimbursed in a separate transaction for the amount of the discount.
- Merchant-funded: Discounts created by an individual merchant, which apply only to products from the merchant’s storefront. The customer will pay a lower subtotal on the affected items and Trellus platform fees will be calculated based on the lower, discounted subtotal. (Coming Q1 2026)
Applies to: Product vs Delivery Fee
- Product Discount: Takes into account and applies to one or more product within a customer order
- Delivery Fee Discount: Applies to the Delivery Fee on Marketplace Delivery orders
Each order can have at most one Product Discount and one Delivery Fee Discount Applied to it. See Resolving Conflicts When Multiple Discounts Apply below for an explanation of what happens when multiple discounts could be applied to the same order.
Resolving Conflicts When Multiple Discounts Apply
Each individual order can only have a single (1) Product Discount and a single (1) Delivery Fee Discount applied to it. If more than one automatic discount can be applied, or if the customer tries to enter a manual code when an automatic discount is already applied, conflicts will be resolved using the following rules / tie-breakers in order:
- If the two discounts lead to different discount amounts, the discount that provides the larger discount to the customer will be applied
- If the discount amounts are the same, but one discount is merchant-funded and the other is Trellus-funded, the merchant-funded discount will be applied
- If both discounts are for the same amount and from the same funding source, the discount that was created first will be applied
How Discounts Affect Payment Flow
For an explanation of normal fees and payment flow, see Understanding fees on the Trellus Marketplace. Discounts affect this flow differently depending on the funding source and what the discount applies to.
Delivery Fee Discounts
- Trellus Funded Delivery Fee Discounts: The amount paid by the customer will be reduced by the discounted amount. Only any remaining Delivery Fee amount paid by the customer after the discount will be included in the Platform Fee. In effect, Trellus is charging a lower amount for the delivery attached to the order.
- Merchant Funded Delivery Fee Discounts: The customer will pay a discounted amount for the delivery fee. The total Delivery Fee amount will be deducted from the transaction as part of the Platform Fee. In effect, Trellus is still paid the full Delivery Fee, but the merchant covers the discounted amount on behalf of the customer from the amount they would net for the order.
Product Discounts
- Merchant Funded Product Discounts: The order will be treated as a normal order with the discounted subtotal. All taxes and fees will be calculated based on the discounted subtotal.
- Trellus Funded Product Discounts: You will see two separate transactions in the Financials tab on the Trellus Dashboard and within Stripe Connect. The first transaction will look like a non-discounted Marketplace Order transaction, with fees and taxes calculated based on the discounted subtotal amount. Immediately following this transaction, there will be a second transaction in the full amount of the Product Discount that was applied to the order. This is a direct transfer of funds from Trellus to your Stripe Connect account and not subject to any processing fees.
Example Transaction: Trellus provides a 25% discount to customers. A customer buys an item from your storefront, normally priced at $100. For simplicity, we’ll assume that the item is not taxable and the order is placed as a pickup order with no Delivery Fee or Gratuity. Shortly after accepting the order, you should see two separate payments in your Financials tab, as below:
The $75.00 payment is payment from the customer, and will have the associated Platform fees withheld as usual (in this case, $7.50 Trellus commission + $3.22 in Stripe fees) :
The second payment for $25.00 is a direct transfer from Trellus to your Stripe Connect account for the amount of the discount. This will not have any associated fees:
In total, you will net slightly more money in this case than if you had sold the product without the Trellus discount, as the Stripe fees and Trellus commission are not applied to the reimbursement amount.
If you have any questions or need further assistance, please contact our support team here.