Squidoo Payday FAQ
Figuring out how the payout works was one of the first things I wanted to learn as a new lensmaster. I asked a lot of questions in the forum, and I asked some to Squidoo HQ directly. I've been around for a while now, and I'm just about certain I have it straight. ;)
I always help answer questions in SquidU, and thought it was time I wrote out everything here in one place. Hopefully you find it helpful.
As I see new questions in the Lensmasters Lounge I'll be adding more to this lens.
What is the minimum payout?
Can I change the default?
$1.00 is the minimum amount required to receive a PayPal deposit from Squidoo.You can select the amount you want to reach before you get paid. Start by going to your dashboard. Select the My Profile tab. Scroll down to your Payment Settings. One of the options there is Cash Payout Threshold:. Click on the Change link next to it. You will be able to choose from $1, $5, $10, $15, $20, $50...or $1 million ;)
I always suggest setting your threshold to $1.00. You only see your individual lens pay stats when you reach your threshold and get your PayPal deposit. If you want to wait for a higher sum you can leave it in your PayPal account before transferring it to your bank account.
If you do not reach your Cash Payout Threshold your earnings are held in your "Reserve Hopper" until the next month, or as many months as it takes to reach it.
When will I see my first payout?
How long until I start earning money with Squidoo?
Your first payday will be 2 months after you published your first lens.Even if you haven't made any sales yet through a money maker module, you will most likely earn a portion of Squidoo's AdSense revenue.
One reason you wouldn't is if the lens is a WIP lens, a Work In Progress. If your lens has a
symbol on your dashboard it's WIP.Another reason you wouldn't earn AdSense revenue is if you created the lens near the end of the month. Your lens didn't have enough time to have an average lensrank high enough to reach the paying tiers.
What day of the month do we get paid?
When is pay day?
According to Squidoo, expect it on the 15th of the month, and if it comes before that it's early. They really just say that incase they run into a snag. Payday is usually well before the 15th.2009 payout dates:
January 9th
February 10th
March 11th
April 7th
May 14th
June 10th
2008 payout dates:
January 8th
February 7th
March 8th
April 8th
May 7th
June 4th
July 10th
August 7th
September 8th
October 6th
November 10th
December 11th
2007 payout dates:
May 9th
June 8th
July 6th
August 6th
September 7th
October 10th
November 7th
December 12th
How is AdSense paid out to lensmasters?
What are the payout tiers?
AdSense and Glam Ad revenue is not paid out based on clicks from your lens. The amount generated by all of Squidoo's lenses is added together and divvied up based on a Tier system.There are usually 3 Tiers, I've seen a 4th reported on rare occasions. The "best" (read: worth the most $) is to have a lens in the first tier. The average lensrank, per lens, per month, is used in determining which Tier your lens falls in for payday.
Note:
The lenrsanks posted below are rough guidelines. Lens averages might be off by mere decimals from one another. After your lensranks are averaged they are then reordered based on the calculated ave. of all other lenses.
Tier 1 is for lenses with an overall lensrank of 1 up to 2,000.
Tier 2 is for lenses with an overall LR of 2,001 up to and including 10,000.
Tier 3 is for lenses with a LR of 10,001 up to 85,000.
Tier 4 ...some low rating lenses have gotten a 1 cent payout, sorry, I don't have any stats on that one.
Each month the amount each Tier receives varies depending on sitewide traffic and Ad click-throughs.
As an example, on the December 2008 payday:
Tier One got 25% of the ad pool
Tier Two got 17% of the ad pool
Tier Three got 8% of the ad pool
These are all of the previous tier payouts since this system was implemented:
July 6, 2007
$3.80
$0.65
$0.05
August 6, 2007
$5.99
$1.03
$0.06
September 7, 2007
$4.12
$0.73
$0.04
October 10, 2007
$3.32
$0.56
$0.03
November 7, 2007
$4.67
$0.79
$0.06
December 12, 2007
$6.05
$1.03
$0.05
January 8, 2008
$6.23
$1.06
$0.05
February 7, 2008
$6.91
$1.18
$0.08
March 8, 2008
$8.77
$1.49
$0.08
April 8, 2008
$8.94
$1.53
$0.08
May 7, 2008
$8.32
$1.42
$0.07
June 4, 2008
$7.53
$1.28
$0.07
July 10, 2008
$8.09
$1.38
$0.07
August 7, 2008
$7.78
$1.32
$0.07
September 8, 2008
$11.27
$1.76
$0.08
October 6, 2008
$10.97
$1.85
$0.08
November 10, 2008
$11.75
$1.96
$0.08
December 11, 2008
$12.00
$1.94
$0.08
2009
$11.63
$1.82
$0.08
February 10, 2009
$11.56
$1.82
$0.08
March 11, 2009
$11.43
$1.81
$0.08
April 7, 2009
$11.44
$1.85
$0.08
May 14, 2009
$13.06
$2.10
$0.09
June 10, 2009
$10.15
$1.51
$0.07
What is the deduction for?
Something isn't adding up.
Squidoo takes 2% out of our AdSense pay to cover PayPal expenses.That's why you might notice different amounts on the monthly stats verses individual lens stats.
When will earnings show up in my PayPal account?
Where is my money?
If you see the payday "blue box" on your dashboard and then check to see if you have gotten the deposit in your PayPal account, don't be surprised if it's not there right away.Some months the deposit happens later that day, some months it happens the next day, and on rare occasions it happens a few days later.
What is the $$$ column on my dashboard for?
Why does each row show $0.00?
The $$$ column only shows sales that have been made through your lens' money maker modules (Amazon, eBay, CafePress etc.). Adsense earnings will not show up on your dashboard stats.Since we are paid two months after a sale is made the totals you see are for more than one month's worth of sales. Don't expect to receive all of what you see pending in one payment.
How do I make sure the payout is correct?
Keep your own records
Many lensmasters like to keep record of their earnings. I know there are quite a few of us with spreadsheets and other documents.If you think you will want to do this it's best to start right away. It can be difficult trying to get it all together months down the road.
I use Excel to keep track of how each lens and group are doing, and to see how much I've contributed to various charities. At a glance I can see how I'm doing over a months time, or year, or since I've started.
I also earn money through my lenses from various affiliate programs that I've joined. I keep track of those sales as well.
It's also a good idea to print or save the lensranks of your lenses. Remember they have started using your average lensrank over the month, so doing this at the beginning, middle, and end of the month might be the way to go. I just print out the final day of the month for a rough idea. This way you verify if your lens was put in the correct tier.
How much did you make on your very first payday?
The amount before any charity deductions were taken out.
How much was your highest single Squidoo payment so far?
Select the closest figure to your actual PayPal deposit.
You may want to wait on this poll until after you've been here a while. ;)
Time for a little Q&A
If I haven't covered your question post it below, and I'll do my best to answer it for you here.
KatherineKouture wrote...
Great lens! Full of useful information, thanks for answering all my questions! I can't wait until I start getting paid!
Posted July 01, 2009
Christene wrote...
in reply to GrumpyOldChef What is your Cash Payout Threshold set to? And is your PayPal email address correct? What messages have you gotten each payday?
Posted June 23, 2009
GrumpyOldChef wrote...
Thanks for this, all is explained.
Except why I've been here with multiple lenses for nearly 2 years and am still waiting for a payout.
That's not really true, I'm not waiting - I don't ever expect one.
I've been waiting for Adsense for 5 years and have given up on that too. LOL
Posted June 23, 2009
simplegirl wrote...
thanks for the information....as a new squid I was wondering how this worked.
Posted June 12, 2009
Christene wrote...
in reply to guacha If a lensmaster had a handful of lenses in the third tier that's what they would have made. Or, they'd have earned that if they started using Squidoo before this system was implemented. When I started there wasn't a Tier system at all.
Posted June 08, 2009
guacha wrote...
Thaks for the info.
But you said that for tier the average is (last month) 0,09$, and in the voting peple say 8%, that earn between 0,26 and 0,5 $ ¿How is this possible?
Thaks again
Posted June 08, 2009
RawBill wrote...
This is an awesome Lens with fantastic info!
I have learned a lot from it, Thanks!
Posted June 07, 2009
BevsPaper wrote...
This will be extremely helpful to many lensmasters! It should be required reading for all newbies. 5*s and a fav
Posted June 06, 2009
JackiSefton wrote...
Very interesting lens that has explained everything I had been wondering about. Well done.
Posted June 05, 2009
Teddi14 wrote...
I am also lenrolling this to my lens about getting your lens noticed. :-)
Posted June 02, 2009
Teddi14 wrote...
Great job here! I am going to add this lens link to my Squidoo blog. 5*'s!!!
Posted June 02, 2009
lakeerieartists wrote...
You really revamped this since I saw it last. Great job. Blessings. :)
Posted June 02, 2009
StephenC wrote...
Found this lens by accident and you have answered all my questions! Thanks!
Posted May 17, 2009
Christene wrote...
in reply to tvyps Payday happens once a month. That's when you see how much your lenses earned in all. It get posted at the top of your dashboard in the big blue box. If you reach your payout threshold you will then also get individual Royalty stats for each lens.
Posted May 16, 2009
tvyps wrote...
Thanks for the response to my forum question...however, you mentioned that the amount shows up in "payday stats"...where is that located and is it updated frequently so you can see how you are doing? Thanks. Terry
Posted May 16, 2009
Astrieanna wrote...
Thanks for this information.
As a newbie around here I really appreciate the clear explanation. =D
Posted May 13, 2009
dotcomboy wrote...
Do I have to pay PayPal receive fees or does Squidoo have MassPay?
Posted April 26, 2009
partybuzz wrote...
in reply to Christene
Thanks so much for your answer and link. I knew it depended on how much I sold, but it was the commission amount I wondered about. Anyway, it does stand to reason that Squidoo would have more sales than I would as an individual, and for general products, that is a higher commission rate. I think it would be better to use the modules, especially if they boost my rank. They're easier, too! Thanks for clearing that up for me!
Posted April 15, 2009
Christene wrote...
in reply to partybuzz It depends on how much YOU sell in a month and how much SQUIDOO as a whole sells in a month. There is a chart on Amazon's affiliate program page where you can see what % are earned based on the number of items sold. Amazon Performance Fee Structure
Remember too that if you sell through a Squidoo module that boosts your lensrank, and you could earn more from tier payouts.
Posted April 15, 2009
partybuzz wrote...
You explained everything really well, but I do have a quesiton. It's about the Amazon payout. Do you know how much 50% is? In other words, what per cent does Squidoo get in Amazon commission? I read in one of the lenses (don't remember which one) that Squidoo gets a larger commission than an individual would, so that it is still as profitable to use their module as it would be if you are an affiliate with Amazon and use your own links. Do you know if that is correct? I'm an affiliate with Amazon, that is why I ask.
Posted April 15, 2009
Tipi wrote...
Squidoo blessing to you for this lens. Informative and very worthy of lensrolling several times over, and a featured place with with me. - Thanks so much for putting this all together as a Squidoo help and resource lens. - Susie
Posted April 08, 2009
Nochipra wrote...
Thank you so much for this info. I'm a newbie with only 2 lenses so far and I'm still trying to learn how things work around here. I appreciate it:)
Nora
Posted April 06, 2009
P.S. Still stuck?
You can also drop by the SquidU.com forum and ask lensmasters there for help.
Lensmaster Christene, aka Christene S., has been a member since February 6 2007, has rated 260 lenses, favorited 21, and has created 122 lenses from scratch. This member's top-ranked page is "Sudden Onset Juvenile Diabetes". See all my lenses
by Christene
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