When I access your vendor account, be prompted to top up account balance.
The vendor just requested a withdrawal...
The vendor is the recipient of the money, but has become a debtor.
I can't understand this system.
Hi. We have an article in the docs that should explain it. Short summary:
The original scenario first implemented in Multi-Vendor was when the marketplace received all the money for an order. Vendors' money went to their "balance" (that basically tracked what the marketplace owed vendors), and vendors received actual money by requesting withdrawals (it was up to the marketplace owners to make a bank transfer or forward the money in any other way).
Eventually, we offered multiparty payments, such as PayPal Commerce Platform and Stripe Connect. In that case, money was split between vendors and the marketplace automatically, and vendor's share was listed as "withdrawals" for consistency (because not all vendors connected their accounts for multiparty payments).
In all those scenarios, the payments that vendors owed the marketplace (such as monthly fees) were simply subtracted from vendor's balance. A vendor needed sales to be able to pay for the plan. Vendor-to-admin payments (the add-on that handles debtors and payments) solved that problem. It allowed the marketplace to take that monthly fee from vendors, regardless of whether or not those vendors had sales.
And then, there're "direct customer-to-vendor payments" in Multi-Vendor Plus and Ultimate. In that case, vendors receive the money, and it becomes their responsibility to pay the marketplace. That's another case where vendor-to-admin payments come in handy.