Commission Policy
What Testlyn keeps from each lesson, package and group seat, how the rate falls over time, and our promise never to raise the rate that applies to you.
Version 1.0 · effective 17 September 2026 · code G2 · All legal documents
This policy is part of the Tutor Agreement. It sets out the commission Testlyn LLC ("Testlyn", "we") keeps from payments that students make for your services on the Testlyn Tutors marketplace. Everything you receive is the price paid by the student minus the commission described here.
1. The rates
| Situation | Commission | Where it applies |
|---|---|---|
| Your first 100 hours taught on Testlyn | 20% | Lessons and trial lessons with students the marketplace brings you |
| From 100 hours taught | 15% | Same |
| From 500 hours taught | 12% | Same |
| A student you have taught for 40 hours or more | 8% | That student only |
| A student you have taught continuously for more than 3 months | 2 points less than the rate above, never below 8% | That student only |
| A student who first booked you through your personal link | 0% | That student, for as long as you both use Testlyn |
| A seat in your group course sold on the marketplace | 15% | Group courses |
When more than one line applies, you get the lowest rate.
2. How hours are counted
- Hours taught are the scheduled minutes of your lessons marked completed on Testlyn, across all your students, divided by 60. Cancelled, refunded and disputed lessons that were refunded do not count.
- Hours with a student are counted the same way, for lessons with that one student.
- Continuously for more than 3 months means your first completed lesson with that student was more than 90 days ago and you have completed at least one lesson with that student in the last 30 days.
- Your current rate is shown in Teach → Tutor profile → Payouts.
3. The rate is fixed when a lesson is booked
The commission rate is calculated and stored on each lesson, package or seat at the moment the student books or pays. It does not change afterwards, even if you cross a threshold before the lesson takes place. The next booking uses your new, lower rate.
4. Students you bring yourself
Share the link shown in Payouts (it ends in ?ref=own) with students you already teach. A student becomes your own student when both of these are true:
- their first booking with you is made after opening your personal link, and
- they have never booked you before through the marketplace.
We charge 0% commission on your own students. Today Testlyn also absorbs the card processing fee on those payments. If we ever start passing that fee through, it will be only the actual fee charged by the payment processor, it will be announced by email at least 30 days before, and it will never be described as, or combined with, commission.
A student who found you on the marketplace cannot be converted into your own student later by sending them the link.
5. Trial lessons
A trial lesson is commissioned at your normal rate. If the student buys a package of hours with you within 14 days after the trial lesson is completed, the commission on that trial is set to 0% and we pay you the difference.
6. Packages of hours
Students receive a discount on packages: 0% on 5 hours, 5% on 10 hours, 10% on 20 hours, 15% on 40 hours. You and Testlyn share the discount equally. Testlyn does this by lowering its commission on the package by half the discount percentage.
Example: your rate is 20%, the student buys 10 hours at a 5% discount. Commission on that package is 20% − 2.5 = 17.5%, applied to the discounted price.
Each lesson booked from the package carries the package's commission rate. You are paid lesson by lesson as each lesson is completed. If the student is refunded for unused hours, no commission is taken on those hours and nothing is paid for them.
7. Worked examples
| Case | Student pays | Commission | You receive |
|---|---|---|---|
| New tutor, 60-minute lesson at $15 | $15.00 | 20% = $3.00 | $12.00 |
| 150 hours taught, lesson at $20 | $20.00 | 15% = $3.00 | $17.00 |
| 45 hours with this student, lesson at $20 | $20.00 | 8% = $1.60 | $18.40 |
| 10-hour package at $15/h (5% off), per lesson | $14.25 | 17.5% = $2.49 | $11.76 |
| Group course seat at $80 | $80.00 | 15% = $12.00 | $68.00 |
| Your own student, lesson at $15 | $15.00 | 0% | $15.00 |
Amounts are rounded to the cent for each lesson.
8. Lessons paid in Vietnamese dong
When a student in Vietnam pays by bank transfer in VND, the lesson is sold by 8020 English (Công ty TNHH Ngoại Ngữ 8020) and you are paid by 8020 English under the Tutor Services Agreement with 8020 English. The same rates apply. 8020 English withholds Vietnamese personal income tax where the law requires it (currently 10% on each payment of 5,000,000 VND or more).
9. Our promise
The commission rate that applies to you, or to any student–tutor pair you are part of, will never be raised.
- If we publish a new schedule, it applies only to tutors who publish their first profile after the new schedule takes effect.
- Every threshold in section 1 can only move you to a lower rate.
- A promotion (for example a lower rate for your first month) always states its end date. When it ends you return to the rate printed in section 1, which is not a rate increase under this promise.
10. What commission pays for
Commission covers bringing students to you, payments and payouts, refunds and dispute handling, verification of badges, the Teach classroom for your marketplace students, and customer support. Payment processing fees on marketplace lessons, and Wise transfer fees for tutors paid by Wise, are paid by Testlyn out of its commission.
11. Taxes on commission
Commission is charged to you as a fee for marketplace services. Prices shown to students include any commission. Where a sales tax, VAT or similar tax applies to our fee under the law of your country, we will show it on your statement.
12. Questions
Your earnings, rate and each lesson's commission are shown in Teach → Tutor profile → Lessons and Payouts. Write to [email protected] if a number looks wrong; we reply within 2 business days.