It's ok, you just missed that detailed part that happen behind the scenes.

@DarthCoin mentioned below that the payment is proxied by SN. I don't know the technical details, but that's a good question. 

It's possible that I said it incorrectly in my description. 

nout

This is one of the best explanations of Cowboy Credits I have read. As a new user of SN, I am now finally at peace with the concept of Cowboy Credits after reading this explanation. Thank you for this.

Q: If it is indeed the case that users are zapping sats from their wallet to the recipient's wallet, then how will opening a Lightning channel with Stacker News help to reduce the fees on the receiving sats?

Cowboy Credits - Quick Summary (my attempt)

This is one of the best explanations of Cowboy Credits I have read. As a new user of SN, I am now finally at peace with the concept of Cowboy Credits after reading this explanation. Thank you for this. 
Q: If it is indeed the case that users are zapping sats from their wallet to the recipient's wallet, then how will opening a Lightning channel with Stacker News help to reduce the fees on the receiving sats? 