> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.lid.pro/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.lid.pro/getting-started/how-it-works.md). # The core loop Every action on LID serves one loop. **Create → Share → Sell → Get paid.** ## Create A seller signs up at [app.lid.pro](https://app.lid.pro) and creates a digital product. Title, description, price, file or access link. The whole flow takes minutes, not an afternoon. The seller sets the affiliate commission at creation. Example: 20% of each sale goes to whoever drove it. That number is locked into the on-chain rules for that product. No inventory. No fulfillment pipelines. No shipping. The product page is the storefront. The smart contract is the cash register. ## Share Every product on LID has a public link. Anyone who wants to earn on the sale can generate an affiliate version of that link from the product page. The affiliate version carries an on-chain binding. When a buyer checks out through it, the attribution is recorded at the protocol level. No application. No approval. No contract to countersign. The moment a seller turns on affiliate commission, every visitor is a potential distributor. ## Sell A buyer lands on the product page. Checkout feels like software. No wallet jargon. No chain selection. No gas prompts. The buyer pays in digital dollars or fiat-to-digital-dollars through an abstracted payment surface. At the moment the transaction clears, two things happen atomically. 1. **The sale completes.** The buyer gets access to the product. 2. **The attribution binds.** If an affiliate link drove this sale, that affiliate is locked in as the beneficiary of the split. Attribution is not a best-effort guess from a click database. It's a rule executed by the smart contract at checkout. ## Get paid In the same transaction as the sale, the split executes. * **Seller** receives their share. * **Affiliate** receives their commission, if one was attached. * **LID** receives its 3% infrastructure fee. All three payments settle in digital dollars in seconds. No reconciliation. No payout schedule. Money does not sit with LID between the sale and the payout. It is never touched. The seller can off-ramp to fiat through Bridge, our live fiat rails partner. The production cutover is complete. Digital dollars are the native settlement asset. ## Why this matters Every other model for creator commerce routes money through the platform. The platform holds the balance. The platform decides when you get paid. The platform decides how much to charge on the way out. LID does none of that. The split is the transaction. The fee is transparent. The trust layer is the contract. That's how "your customers are your sales team" becomes a real mechanism. Not a slogan. Next: [Quickstart →](/getting-started/quickstart.md) --- # Agent Instructions This documentation is published with GitBook. GitBook is the documentation platform designed so that both humans and AI agents can read, navigate, and reason over technical content effectively. Learn more at gitbook.com. ## Querying This Documentation If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question. Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter: ``` GET https://docs.lid.pro/getting-started/how-it-works.md?ask= ``` The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language. The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation. Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.