First sale went green on Tuesday and I still don't understand how the money reaches me

Sorry, this is going to be a basic one and I've searched but everything I find assumes I already know the vocabulary.

First sale went green on Tuesday. Small, $34 commission, but it's real and I've been refreshing the dashboard like an idiot. It says pending, then it says approved on the 15th of next month, and then apparently there's something called net-30 which I think means another thirty days after that? So the money exists in April for a sale in February.

What I don't understand is the actual mechanics of the last step. The network has my email and nothing else. At some point money has to leave them and arrive somewhere I control, and I have no idea what I'm supposed to have set up before then, or when. Do I need something in place now, or does it prompt me? Sorry if this is obvious to everyone.

congrats on the first one!! genuinely the hardest one you'll ever get

Not obvious at all, and the timeline you've worked out is right, which puts you ahead of most first-timers.

The mechanics: nothing happens automatically. Sometime before the payout date you go into your account settings, choose a payout method, and enter the details for it. The network then pays on their schedule to whatever you entered. If you enter nothing, the balance just sits there — it doesn't expire, but nobody chases you either, and I've seen people leave three months of commissions sitting unclaimed because they were waiting to be prompted.

Two things worth knowing before you choose. First, the minimum threshold is per-method and it varies a lot; on $34 you may not be able to withdraw at all yet on the method you'd prefer. Second, changing the payout method after you've entered it often triggers a hold on the next payment, so it's worth choosing something you'll still be happy with in six months rather than the fastest thing to set up tonight.

For the choice itself, don't take one answer from me — go and read the Payments & Processing board. That's where people post what actually cleared, on which method, and how long it took, and those threads are far more current than a general answer.

set the payout method up now while it's $34 and boring. not in april when it's $900

I would add one small habit that costs nothing today and saves an unpleasant afternoon later.

Keep a note of every payout: the date, the amount, the method and the network. A spreadsheet is fine; the format does not matter, only that it exists from the first one rather than being reconstructed from memory in eighteen months. People start these records at the point they become necessary, which is invariably the worst possible moment.

Congratulations on the sale. The first one is disproportionately hard.

Worth checking whether the network caps monthly payout volume on the method before you commit to it. Some do.

Reporting back as promised.

Set the payout method up in February on the boring one that hana_v's reasoning pointed me at, well before I needed it. Money landed on the 17th, seven weeks after the sale, which is exactly what the schedule said and I'd stopped expecting it by then.

$34, minus a bit. Somehow more satisfying than the salary that landed the same week.

Thank you all - and quietaccountant, the spreadsheet exists, two lines long so far.