I feel it’s very dishonest to not be upfront about this and instead just handwave people away with a link. You’ve been so forward will all other information, why not this?
So here, let’s do it this way, and I ask you to please correct me if any of this math is wrong, if it is, please provided the correct math, and if any additional math needs to be provided, please do so, and if I’m also wrong about any of my interpretations of what’s written, please correct that as well.
DISCLAIMER:
This is only considering what affects the seller, not the consumer. The person who purchases credits also gets a cut taken that goes to steam and what not, so that’s where some of these other percents listed on Payout | VRChat Creation are coming from, but for the seller, those numbers aren’t relevant, as it doesn’t impact their “earned credits,” nor does it impact the amount of credits the user who purchased those credits receives. They still get what they paid for.
The values here are also subject to change, and approximates.
My math may also be wrong according to what order things fees are applied and exchange rates are applied, so I’m making some assumptions here.
- Credit Exchange Rate. The current exchange rate for Payouts is $0.005 U.S. Dollars per Earned Credit.
- Seller Transaction Fees. Transaction Fees of approximately 15.3% will be applied to any sale of Seller Content. This percentage will be deducted from the total number of Credits comprising the purchase price of any Seller Content, rounded up to the nearest full Credit. These fees go to VRChat and the applicable CE Partners.
- Payout Transaction Fees. Transaction Fees may be assessed when you initiate a Payout. Such fees will be deducted from the amounts paid to you by VRChat or our CE Partner. Transaction Fees vary depending on payment method chosen and will be shown on the Platform and/or by our CE Partner facilitating Payouts.
Let’s do some math, assuming 1200 VRChat Credits as our avatar price.
15.3/100=0.153 (this is turning the 15.3% into a number we can use)
1200*0.153=183.6 (this is how we get the number to applying the 15.3% fee)
1200-183.6=1016.4 (round up to 1017) (this is applying the 15.3% fee)
1017*0.005=5.085 (this is the at-point-of-sale post-fee "exchange" into "earned credits", see below)
That final step in that bit of math there, that little *0.005, the credits are getting turned into “earned credits” which is (if I understand correctly) just terminology for VRC turning the credits into revenue and then noting down our share of the earned revenue that we can redeem once we’ve earned an arbitrary set amount, and “earned credits” would then not be able to spent anywhere else other than used as a payout (again, if I’m interpreting things correctly), since they aren’t actually even credits anymore.
Now, consider you have to have a minimum of 100 USD worth of “earned credits” to make a payout. Oh, let’s not forget, there can also be a payout transaction fee. So let’s say you manage to get 100$, 500$ or 1000$ of “earned credits” and decide to make a payout. This is assuming the halving due to the “exchange” rate has already occurred due to some particular wording in the creator economy TOS, seen here.
- Revenue Share. The term “exchange” as used in the Terms and these CE Rules with regards to Credits means a transaction in which a Seller forfeits VRChat Credits in order to receive a revenue share from VRChat in U.S. Dollars calculated based on the number of VRChat Credits forfeited and the then-in-effect exchange rate. VRChat does not directly exchange or convert Credits to U.S. Dollars. “Payouts” in U.S. Dollars represent a share of the revenue that VRChat has earned through the VRC Creator Economy based on a Seller’s contributions, which are quantified through the Seller’s Earned Credits.
Now, math time. We’re using the approximate number for the payout transaction fee provided on this page, Payout | VRChat Creation.
1.5/100=0.015 (this is turning the 1.5% into a number we can use)
100*0.015=1.5 (this is how we get the number to apply the 1.5%)
100-1.5=98.5 (this is applying the 1.5%)
500*0.015=7.5
500-7.5=492.5
1000*0.015=15
1000-15=985
So the transaction fees for payout to Tilia or Paypal (I’m don’t know which, and this is an approximate) aren’t too bad, but it’s still another cut.
Let’s say you sell an avatar at 2400 VRC Credits, or 20 dollars to the user. Let’s sell this avatar enough times to reach minimum payout amount.
Assuming some things from earlier.
2400*0.153=367.2 (see my first set of math for knowing what's happening here)
2400-367.2=2032.8 (round up to 2033)
2033*0.005=10.165
100/10.165=9.83 (this is determining how many avatars we have to sell to meet payout req)
10.165*10=101.65 (we sell 10 avatars at minimum since we can't sell 9.83 avatars)
Now, let’s make the payout exchange rate the same as the currency purchase exchange rate, which is 0.00833333333333333333 (just a very long decimal, not infinite) rather than 0.005. We’ll do this both with and without the fee from VRC.
Let’s also calculate the purchase exchange rate. (rounding up to whole numbers for sanity purposes, otherwise technically the exchange rate is NOT static across the different prices, which gets… icky.)
5/600=0.00833 (shortening these for sanity because long decimals)
10/1200=0.00833
20/2400=0.00833
50/6000=0.00833
100/12000=0.00833
600*0.00833=4.99 (shortening these for sanity as well, and if more 3s were added to the 0.00833 number, it'd actually turn these into whole numbers!)
1200*0.00833=9.99
2400*0.00833=19.99
6000*0.00833=49.99
1200*0.00833=99.99
So we’ve verified that exchange rate so
2032.8*0.008333...=16.93 (this is with the fee)
2400*0.008333...=19.99 (this is without)
therefore to meet minimum payout
100/16.93=5.9
16.93*6=101.58 (this is how many avatars we have to sell at minimum to reach payout.)
19.99*6=119.94
As a side note, I don’t know why they chose such a horribly long decimal.
Now, there’s some interesting terminology about payouts.
- Payout Requests. Payout Requests can take up to 30 calendar days to process. We may impose a limit on both the amount and frequency of your Payouts based on the age of your account, your history as a Seller, and your compliance with the Terms. Initiating a Payout Request does not guarantee that you will be able to exchange your Earned Credits for U.S. Dollars. VRChat alone has the authority and discretion to determine if your request will be honored. In addition, our CE Partner may establish requirements that you must meet to their satisfaction before being able to receive a Payout. Upon submitting a Payout Request, the requested amount for Payout will be deducted from your Account, pending approval and processing of such Payout. In the event your Payout Request is denied, or the Payout is otherwise unable to be completed, the deducted Credit balance will be restored to your Account. We may not be able to remit payments to certain countries, entities, or individuals because of legal or other considerations.
I wonder if they’re safeguarding themselves from this system being used for money-laundering with the whole “age of your account” “history as a seller” thing. If so, I mean, good? There’s definitely that potential for abuse. I just have to wonder who keeps the “discretion” in check from being abused as well?
