Definition
A distributor is a channel the enterprise gives a quota of SIMs and plans, and who then sells downstream. The shape of the role is allocation plus split: each level receives a quota, and when an order is paid, payment split sends each level its share. There is no manual payout run.
What the role includes
- A quota, not a purchase: The enterprise assigns SIM-pool and plan-pool quota. When the quota is used up, the distributor applies for more.
- Levels: First, second, and third levels are supported. Each level can cap how many children it has and can set a share rate.
- Split at payment: WeChat or Alipay split runs when the order is paid, and each level receives its part.
- No monthly close: The share is finished when the payment is finished. There is no settlement cycle to wait for.
How this differs from an agent
An agent buys. It purchases SIMs and plans at the agent price, sells them on, and is paid later on purchase quantity or sales amount. A distributor is given a quota and sells downstream, and the split happens when the order is paid. An agent fits enterprise, then agent, then end customer. A distributor fits enterprise, then several levels, then the end customer, when the money has to split automatically.
Where it is used
It fits multi-level distribution, B2B2C, and any path that needs the share at the moment of payment. Split has to be applied for on WeChat Pay and Alipay first. The split receiver has to be bound to the distributor’s account.
Quota and the split that follows a sale
Through resource allocation, the enterprise assigns SIM-pool and plan-pool quota to each level. The distributor sells to a consumer only inside that quota. On payment, the platform splits the money to each level’s split receiver by the revenue-share rate. Nobody raises a transfer. A distributor can turn on white label and face the user under its own brand. Unlike an agent, who waits for a settlement cycle, the distributor is paid when the user pays, so the cash moves sooner.
What has to be set before the first sale
Admission, level, and quota are the distributor record. Admission sets the resource allocation quota and the revenue-share rate, and adds the distributor as a split receiver on payment split. When a distributor recruits the next level, that link is created on the platform. A used-up quota can be increased by application. The model needs the split products on WeChat Pay and Alipay, and the receiver has to complete the merchant relationship. Against an agent, this fits a multi-level B2B2C channel that wants the share at payment time.
After quota is handed out, are the SIMs still in enterprise stock
What a distributor receives is a quota they can sell. It is not necessarily a buyout of the SIMs. The quota is reduced when stock-out or activation succeeds, not when the distributor file is created. “SIM count” and “plan count” inside the quota are separate. If only plans remain and there is no SIM number left to assign, new SIMs cannot keep being sold. Only SIMs already shipped can be renewed. Adding quota needs an approval record. The distributor’s own page cannot raise the ceiling. When quota is taken back, number ranges that have not been sold can return to the enterprise pool. A SIM already bound to a user cannot disappear just because the quota was withdrawn. SimtoLink distributor management should show quota remaining, quota used, and pending-payment orders that are freezing quota as three columns. A pending-payment order freezes quota first and releases it if payment times out, so two downstream parties cannot both sell the last SIM.
A split at payment time and a month-end calculation cannot both apply
The technical mark of distribution is that, when an order is paid, the money is split to each level’s receiver by rate. The rate is frozen at order time. If a first tier and a second tier both exist, each level’s receiver account has to be bound to the payment channel in advance. If one level is missing, that order should not be payable. It should not land in full in the enterprise account and be paid out later. A distributor and an agent should not both sit on the same SIM and each take a share: the SIM either follows quota plus split at payment, or purchase plus periodic settlement. On a user refund, amounts already split out return by the original rates. If the local books only reverse enterprise revenue and do not reverse each level’s share, the channel balance is inflated. A zero-amount trial order does not go through split payment, but it does consume quota and records the distributor, or the first paid order cannot find the parent. Money that failed to split stays in the enterprise merchant account. The order is marked “awaiting split.” It is not marked as already shared.
When a sub-distributor recruits another, which tier the rate comes from
Multi-level distribution has to say whether each level takes its rate from the transaction amount, or whether the child is paid out of the parent’s rate. Under either algorithm, the total cannot exceed the split cap the payment channel allows. If a child rate is filled in freely by the parent, the enterprise side needs an upper-bound check. When one level is disabled, new orders from its children either hang on the level above, or new SIMs are forbidden and only old SIMs may renew. That has to be configured in advance. A change in the organization does not reach back into historical orders that have already been split. The SIM list a distributor sees can only be SIMs already assigned, within quota, to themselves or to their own children. They cannot see enterprise number ranges that have not been allocated. If a region limit is required, check the place of use or the place of sale at stock-out. Do not wait for a user complaint to discover the SIM should not have been sold outside the region. A region mismatch fails the stock-out and releases the frozen quota. The failure reason is written for the distributor, not left as a system error only in the enterprise console.