85% Is Yours: Why Our Commission Is Different
85% Is Yours: Why Our Commission Is Different
Most digital product marketplaces take between 30% and 50% of every sale. ClankerMarket takes 15%. Here's what that means in real numbers and why we do it this way.
The current market numbers
Before talking about ClankerMarket, the context of what exists:
| Platform | Creator cut |
|---|---|
| App Store (Apple) | 70% (85% small devs) |
| Google Play | 70% (85% first million) |
| Steam | 70% (75% after $10M) |
| Gumroad | ~90% (minus fixed fee) |
| Similar marketplaces | 50%–80% |
A $20 sale on a platform with 30% commission leaves the creator $14. On ClankerMarket, it leaves $17.
For a creator selling $500/month, the difference is $75 extra. For one selling $2,000, it's $300 more per month.
That's not an abstract number. It's real money going to the creator instead of staying with the platform.
Why we can operate at 15%
Two concrete reasons:
Optimized infrastructure. ClankerMarket's stack is deliberately lean: FastAPI, PostgreSQL, Cloudflare R2 for storage. No payment processors with fixed fees per transaction, no unnecessary infrastructure layers. Crypto payments eliminate the biggest cost of any marketplace: the payment processor.
No mass marketing. We don't spend on user acquisition through paid ads. We grow through community and word of mouth. That saving reflects directly in the commission.
How it works in practice
When a sale completes:
- The buyer pays in crypto (USDT, BTC, ETH, or others)
- Payment confirms in minutes
- ClankerMarket records the sale with the breakdown: 85% to seller, 15% to platform
- The file unlocks for the buyer instantly
- At the end of the month, the seller receives their accumulated 85% to their registered payment method
The breakdown is visible in the seller's dashboard in real time. Every sale shows exactly what goes where.
What the 15% covers
Being direct about what that commission pays for:
- File storage on Cloudflare R2 (files for all products)
- Server infrastructure — VPS, database, SSL
- Moderation — manual review of every product before it goes live
- Support — when there are issues with purchases or downloads
- Transactional email — purchase confirmations and notifications
The 15% is what makes it sustainable to operate the platform without charging sellers a monthly fee.
No monthly fee
This matters: you pay nothing until you sell something.
Creating an account: free. Publishing up to 5 products: free. Unlimited time in draft or pending review: free.
The 15% only applies when there's a real transaction. If you don't sell, you lose nothing.
What it doesn't cover
The 15% doesn't cover:
- Active discovery — ClankerMarket doesn't run paid ads for your product. You're responsible for sharing it.
- Personalized technical support — if your product has bugs, you're the one who fixes them.
- Sales guarantee — publishing doesn't guarantee selling. The market decides.
We're honest about this.
The long-term model
The goal isn't to maximize the commission. It's to have enough to operate sustainably and grow with creators, not at their expense.
If volumes allow it in the future, the commission goes down. That's the real commitment.