Getting paid with ZenVideo OTT

This article discusses monetizing your content on ZenVideo OTT.

In this article

• What payout methods are supported?
• When do I get paid?
• Will I receive a breakdown of sales?
• What about taxes?
• Are there any international payout fees?
• What verification information do I need to provide to get paid?
• How do I set up my payout?
• What if I have apps?

What payout methods are supported?

We are currently able to payout via checking account with a financial institution. At this time we cannot guarantee that any other bank accounts, such as savings or virtual bank providers will be supported and may see higher payout failures. 

When do I get paid?

Payouts are made on a monthly basis. Payouts occur on the 15th of each month (or nearest business day) for the previous month's sales. 

For example: If you sold 100 copies of your film in March, you will receive payment for those sales on April 15th (or nearest business day). 

• If the 15th of the month is on a Saturday, the payout will be on the 14th (that Friday).
• If the 15th of the month is on a Sunday, payout will be on the 16th (that Monday). 

⚠️Note: During pre-orders and free trials, you will not receive payment. Customer cards are charged once your video content is released and you will receive your payout for all pre-orders after the month of release. 

Will I receive a breakdown of sales?

In addition to the details found on your Dashboard, we will send a monthly invoice outlining gross sales, all fees, and units sold for the month. We will also provide a breakdown of sales based on sales of Packages and geographic location. Geographic breakdowns will appear in the local currency, as well as converted to USD. To read more, visit Understanding payout statements.

What about taxes?

As of the end of 2020, ZenVideo OTT will collect and remit US state sales tax for all transactions (subscriptions, one-time payments, and renewals) for both new and existing customers. Please see our Sales Tax guide for more information. ZenVideo OTT also collects & remits VAT from European customers on your behalf (VAT is shown in USD on your statement). If you have over 200 transactions and $20,000 in sales each year, we will send you a 1099-K filing.

Are there any international payout fees?

There is a 2% fee per transaction when currency is converted.

For example, if the transacted currency does not match your payout currency then there will be a conversion fee.

What verification information do I need to provide to get paid?

In order to send you payouts every month, our payment processor requires identity verification as part of the compliance duties for running an online marketplace. These differ per country and are all listed here:

United States

• Business type—is the account for an individual or a business?
• First and last name of the individual account owner or company representative if it’s a business
• Date of birth
• Last 4 numbers of the SSN of either the individual account holder or company representative
• Business address (can be a personal address for individuals)
• Business name and tax ID (Employer Identification Number - EIN), if a business
• Full SSN OR government ID or passport only if we’re unable to verify with just the last 4 of SSN.

Canada

• First and last name of the individual account owner or company representative if it’s a business
• Date of birth
• Business type—is the account for an individual or a business?
• Business address (or personal address if an individual)
• SIN of the individual or the company representative OR scan of government ID or passport
• Business name and tax ID (Business Number), if a business

Europe & the UK

• Business type—is the account for an individual or a business?
• First and last name of the individual or one or more company representatives if a business*
• Date of birth for each company representative
• Business address (or personal address if an individual)
• Scan of government ID or passport of the individual or company representative(s)
• Personal address of each company representative if it’s a business
• Business name and tax ID (if a company)
• Scan of government ID or passport for the individual account owner (or each company representative if a business)

⚠️Note: European businesses must submit company representative information for anyone who owns 25%+ of the business.

Australia

• First and last name of the individual account owner or company representative if it’s a business
• Date of birth
• Business type—is the account for an individual or a business?
• Scan of government ID or passport of the individual or company representative
• Business address (can be a personal address for individuals)
• Business name and tax ID (Australian Company Number / Australian Business Number, ACN / ABN), if a business

New Zealand

• First and last name of the individual account owner or company representative if it’s a business
• Date of birth
• Business type—is the account for an individual or a business?
• Scan of government ID or passport of the individual or company representative
• Business address (can be a personal address for individuals)
• Business name and tax ID, if a business

How do I set up or update my payout?

Go to your payout page by navigating to Site > Billing. You can see detailed instructions on setting this up in this guide.

What if I have apps?

⚠️Note: Get in touch with us if you'd like to add Branded Apps to your ZenVideo OTT site.

Earnings

If you have Branded Apps, your earnings from those apps will be paid out directly to you from the app stores themselves minus any store commissions they take:

• Apple will pay you for earnings from your iOS and tvOS apps

• Google will pay you for earnings from your Android and Android TV apps

• Roku will pay you for earnings from your Roku app

⚠️Note: Samsung Tizen and Microsoft Xbox apps currently do not support in-app purchases. Users on those platforms will purchase their subscriptions through your ZenVideo OTT website and will be treated as web customers. A web customer purchases your product using the browser checkout page. 

Amazon Fire TV supports in-app purchases.

Fees

Customers who subscribe to your OTT channel through an in-app subscription are still subject to your monthly subscription fee. Because the money for in-app purchases never crosses through ZenVideo's hands, we do not deduct those fees from your payout. Instead, we charge those monthly subscription fees to the credit card you have on file.

In-app purchases are not subject to the 2.5% + $0.30 transaction fees applied to web purchases. The store commissions take the place of this fee.