# Network checkout or your own cart · Vendor Runbook > Source: https://vendorrunbook.com/compare/affiliate-network-checkout-vs-own-checkout Checkout choice ## Pick the checkout that still pays your affiliates. You want the affiliates on ClickBank, Digistore24 or JVZoo, and you also want Stripe, SamCart or a cart that already converts. Use the network order form when that network must charge the buyer and pay the affiliates, and use your own checkout when you recruit those affiliates and you take on the processor, the tax filings and the chargebacks, or connect Stripe through JVZoo at a 5% platform fee and pay affiliates from a file. Run your price and commission through the [Affiliate network fee calculator](/compare/affiliate-network-fee-calculator-what-a-vendor-keeps-per-sale) before you choose the cart. ### What you hand over when the network charges the card Digistore24's [pricing page](https://www.digistore24.com/pricing/) calls the company the merchant of record, the legal entity responsible for every transaction. Tax, affiliate payouts and chargeback handling sit inside the transaction fee. ClickBank's [seller page](https://www.clickbank.com/sell/) says ClickBank tracks the clicks, runs the purchase flow and does the merchant processing, so the charge is a ClickBank retail sale. The split that matters is who charges the card, whose books hold the tax, and who answers a dispute. A page on your domain can still be the network's cart, or it can be a cart whose processor you connected. Once you have chosen who charges the card, payout timing follows its own schedule. The [payout timeline](/compare/when-does-a-vendor-get-paid-payout-hold-and-reserve-timeline-by-affiliate-networ) shows each network's hold period and the date the money is released. ### When affiliates already use that network ClickBank's [overview of selling](https://www.clickbank.com/how-clickbank-works/) starts with a sales page you host and a listing on the marketplace. The buyer pays on ClickBank's order form, and ClickBank routes the money to affiliates, toward taxes, and to you. HopLink credit still applies when the buyer pays from a link on your site, provided the affiliate used a proper HopLink. ClickBank's [payment-link article](https://support.clickbank.com/en/articles/10535167-how-to-create-a-payment-link) says that credit is applied automatically. Digistore24 covers the EU and the US as the company on the transaction, and its checkout includes order bumps and one-click upsells. BuyGoods runs the checkout on its own marketplace, and its public pages give no vendor fee. My pick is the network checkout whenever the affiliates have to be found on that marketplace. The HopLink is what those affiliates already trust, and the commission is calculated on that same charge. ### Use SamCart or ThriveCart when you recruit the affiliates A cart that already converts is the right home when the affiliates are people you recruited and you will pay them yourself. SamCart's [Affiliate Center article](https://help.samcart.com/support/solutions/articles/60000648176-the-affiliate-center) describes a private sales team: the cookie can point at any destination URL, and affiliates are paid from a CSV you export. There is no marketplace bundled with that center. ThriveCart fits when you want a cart that takes no percentage of the sale. The affiliate program is on Pro+. Take this path when the sale does not need ClickBank marketplace tracking. The plan choice against SamCart is in [SamCart vs ThriveCart](/compare/samcart-vs-thrivecart). ClickFunnels holds the funnel, the email and the courses in one account. [ClickFunnels vs SamCart](/compare/clickfunnels-vs-samcart) sets Optimize and Dominate against SamCart Pro for affiliates you recruit. Stan Store is the link-in-bio store. Creator Pro is the plan where Stan sends commissions to affiliates you recruit, and that share leaves out order bumps and funnels. The plan choice against SamCart is in [SamCart vs Stan Store](/compare/samcart-vs-stan-store). ### PayKickstart when the launch still splits with JV partners PayKickstart is the cart for a vendor leaving a launch marketplace who still needs partner splits. Partner Contracts live in the account, and the affiliate center can list the offer on the marketplace PayKickstart advertises. You connect a processor, or use Connect processing. Set the two plans side by side in [PayKickstart vs SamCart](/compare/paykickstart-vs-samcart). The cart on its own is in the [PayKickstart review](/reviews/paykickstart). ### Use your own sales page with ClickBank Using your own checkout with ClickBank, in the only sense the help center describes, means you host the pitch and the purchase still uses a ClickBank payment link. That [article](https://support.clickbank.com/en/articles/10535167-how-to-create-a-payment-link) says the payment link is what lets a customer buy on the ClickBank order form, and that older sell.cgi links no longer work. The buyer goes to a hosted form on pay.clickbank.net, and the affiliate credit follows when the traffic arrived on a proper HopLink. When ClickBank credits the affiliate, ClickBank processes the payment. Stripe on your own account is the processor for a sale that never enters that payment link. Connections ClickBank lists, such as ClickFunnels and MemberMouse, sit beside the link. They are not a second cart that keeps the HopLink while your Stripe account charges the card. Sellers describe that payment step as a jump off their own site, with ClickBank collecting the money before the commission is split. Listing steps and the approval fee are in the [ClickBank review](/reviews/clickbank). ### Digistore24 external checkout still charges on Digistore24 A Digistore24 external checkout, on the [order-form feature page](https://www.digistore24.com/features/customizable-order-forms/), is a multi-step cart embedded on your sales page. The formats there are responsive, classic and multi-step. Payment still runs through Digistore24, which stays the company responsible for the transaction. Shopify can hold the inventory and ship the goods. Digistore24's [integrations page](https://www.digistore24.com/integrations/) says Digistore24 then handles checkout, the merchant role and the affiliate payouts. Onboarding and the security deposit are in the [Digistore24 review](/reviews/digistore24). ### JVZoo with Stripe: 5%, then you pay affiliates JVZoo's [FAQ](https://www.jvzoo.com/faq) sets the Stripe or PayPal connection at 5%. You attach an account you already have. JVZoo payment processing is 8.5%, and on that path JVZoo handles more of the payment work. With your own processor, the FAQ says the customer's payment goes to you after the refund period. That window is 30 days, and the first payout waits until the balance reaches $100\. JVZoo still keeps its platform fee. With Stripe on JVZoo, you pay the affiliates yourself. JVZoo's [article on manual mass payments](https://jvzoo.tawk.help/article/manual-mass-payments-paypal-mass-payment-and-mass-check-file) says this comes up when the seller uses Authorize.net or Stripe, because those processors do not support adaptive payments. You then pay from a PayPal mass-payment file or a check file. The [features page](https://www.jvzoo.com/features) also lists BlueSnap among the processors. The FAQ and that features page do not say who files sales tax or VAT when the charge lands in your Stripe account. When the company on the transaction matters more than keeping Stripe, read [ClickBank vs JVZoo](/compare/clickbank-vs-jvzoo) and [Digistore24 vs JVZoo](/compare/digistore24-vs-jvzoo). Approval and JVZooPay are in the [JVZoo review](/reviews/jvzoo). ### SamCart vs Digistore24 for the vendor choosing a checkout SamCart and Digistore24 solve different problems for a vendor. SamCart is a monthly subscription, and the affiliates are a private team you recruit. Digistore24 charges a fee on each sale, is the company on the transaction, and cites more than 125,000 affiliates on its pricing page. * SamCart Core is $79 a month. Pro is $199 a month and adds the private center, upsells, order bumps, A/B tests, an API and third-party processors, including SamPay. The charge runs on the processor you connect. * Digistore24 has no monthly fee. The per-sale fee starts at 2.9% plus $1, and that fee is where tax, affiliate payouts and dispute handling are bundled. * ThriveCart's standard plan is $47 a month after the trial, on its [checkout page](https://checkout.thrivecart.com/thrivecart-standard-monthly-plan/), with 0% platform fees on sales. The affiliate program and custom domains are on Pro+ only. Put a $97 price and a 50% commission through that same calculator for the network side of the comparison. The monthly plans are a separate bill, and that tool does not subtract them. SamCart's prices are on its [pricing page](https://www.samcart.com/pricing). The [SamCart review](/reviews/samcart) covers the Pro plan, the CSV payout and the renewal complaints. ### Four questions before you pick a checkout * If affiliates have to find the offer on a marketplace, use the network checkout. ClickBank and Digistore24 are built around that listing. SamCart's program is a private team you recruit. * If you want EU and US tax handled inside the transaction fee, that is Digistore24's merchant-of-record role, and the fee already includes it. * If the card deposit should land in your Stripe account, use JVZoo on your own processor, after that refund window, or a cart you run yourself. A ClickBank sale goes through the payment link. * If a one-click upsell has to stay inside the affiliate tracking, use Digistore24\. Its checkout includes order bumps and those one-click upsells. ### What to run before you switch carts Open the [Affiliate network fee calculator](/compare/affiliate-network-fee-calculator-what-a-vendor-keeps-per-sale) with your price, the commission you plan to pay, and the network fee you are assuming. Compare that figure with the monthly plan if you keep SamCart, ThriveCart or PayKickstart. ### Sources * [How to create a ClickBank payment link](https://support.clickbank.com/en/articles/10535167-how-to-create-a-payment-link) * [ClickBank for sellers](https://www.clickbank.com/sell/) * [How ClickBank works](https://www.clickbank.com/how-clickbank-works/) * [JVZoo FAQ](https://www.jvzoo.com/faq) * [JVZoo features](https://www.jvzoo.com/features) * [JVZoo manual mass payments](https://jvzoo.tawk.help/article/manual-mass-payments-paypal-mass-payment-and-mass-check-file) * [Digistore24 pricing](https://www.digistore24.com/pricing/) * [Digistore24 customizable order forms](https://www.digistore24.com/features/customizable-order-forms/) * [Digistore24 integrations](https://www.digistore24.com/integrations/) * [SamCart Affiliate Center](https://help.samcart.com/support/solutions/articles/60000648176-the-affiliate-center) * [SamCart pricing](https://www.samcart.com/pricing) * [ThriveCart standard monthly plan](https://checkout.thrivecart.com/thrivecart-standard-monthly-plan/) * [What vendors say about paying through the network](https://www.reddit.com/r/Affiliatemarketing/comments/qhfyoi/ways%5Fto%5Fintegrate%5Fa%5Fwebsite%5Finto%5Fcplcps%5Faffiliate/) ### Related * [Who handles tax, refunds and chargebacks](/guides/merchant-of-record-vs-payment-processor) * [What you keep on one sale](/compare/affiliate-network-fee-calculator-what-a-vendor-keeps-per-sale) * [When does a vendor get paid? Payouts by network](/compare/when-does-a-vendor-get-paid-payout-hold-and-reserve-timeline-by-affiliate-networ) * [ClickBank vs JVZoo for vendors](/compare/clickbank-vs-jvzoo) * [Digistore24 vs JVZoo for vendors](/compare/digistore24-vs-jvzoo) * [ClickBank review](/reviews/clickbank) * [JVZoo seller review](/reviews/jvzoo) * [Digistore24 for vendors](/reviews/digistore24) * [PayKickstart review](/reviews/paykickstart) * [How we research network rules](/methodology) * [Compare affiliate networks](/compare) --- [ ](/) For product owners selling through affiliate networks like ClickBank, BuyGoods, Digistore24 and JVZoo: approval, funnels, affiliates, payouts and chargebacks. 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