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Is my scenario supported?

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Igor Papirov

13 Jun, 2014 12:57 PM

I have a number of questions wih respect to my planned scenario that I'd like to understand. As great as your website is, it is not super easy to find this sort of information for some reason.

1) When users sign up, I want them to use my product for a free time period without having to choose a plan. Is this supported? How can this be setup?
1a) When users free trial is expired, I want them to be automatically (without me pressing buttons or caling API) be converted to free-plan. How can this be setup if this is supported?
2) I want users to automatically (without me pressing buttons or calling API) to get a Welcome email upon sign-up, and "your trial is about to expire", upgrade now
3) I want users to automatically (without me pressing buttons or calling API) to get credit-card expiration emails - a month or so ahead of expiration time
4) I want to allow for a grace period before customers are expired due to non-working credit cards
5) If I were to use an API to call your service to find out current subscription plan of the customer, how many calls can I make within a months time? How scalable is your service?

Thank you!

1. 1 Posted by Jess Pendley on 13 Jun, 2014 03:54 PM

   

   Hi Igor --

   I'll answer your questions one at a time here, and then if you need any further assistance you can get back to me.

   When users sign up, I want them to use my product for a free time period without having to choose a plan. Is this supported? How can this be setup?

   This is supported. You can read about configuring your free trial in the documentation.

   When users free trial is expired, I want them to be automatically (without me pressing buttons or caling API) be converted to free-plan. How can this be setup if this is supported?

   Unfortunately, CheddarGetter doesn't have a way to do this for you. Although you could use CG's transaction hook to trigger your app to move expiring trials to the free plan.

   I want users to automatically (without me pressing buttons or calling API) to get a Welcome email upon sign-up, and "your trial is about to expire", upgrade now

   You can use easily achieve this with our customizable email templates. You can read about our various notification types here.

   I want users to automatically (without me pressing buttons or calling API) to get credit-card expiration emails - a month or so ahead of expiration time

   There's an email template for that too. :)

   I want to allow for a grace period before customers are expired due to non-working credit cards

   You can customize your Dunning schedule to accomplish that.

   If I were to use an API to call your service to find out current subscription plan of the customer, how many calls can I make within a months time?

   We don't have a limit set in stone yet, but will most likely implement one down the road.

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2. 2 Posted by Igor Papirov on 13 Jun, 2014 03:59 PM

   

   Jess,

   Thanks a ton for quick reply. Regarding question #1, all of the documentation I've ready so far states that individual plans can have free trial period. I dont even want to bother the customer with making that choice (of selecitng a plan). Or do you recommend that I automatically sign up everyone to the highest plan with a trial and then let them downgrade to lower one during subscription time?

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3. 3 Posted by Jess Pendley on 13 Jun, 2014 06:53 PM

   

   Hi Igor --

   I'm hesitant to make a recommendation without know a little more about your particular structure. Would you mind describing your specific scenario a little more?

   Thanks!

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4. 4 Posted by Igor Papirov on 16 Jun, 2014 01:27 PM

   

   Sure, I'll be glad to:

   Users sign-up to my SaaS business by only providing their name, email and password. They are not asked to pick any plans during sign-up. This is primarely done because they don't really know what they need until they try the service. During the trial period, they have 14 days (or 30 days, if they have access to special promo code) to try any features of the service.
   Afterwards, I want them to sign-up for a plan and provide their CC information.

   Does this help explain the situation?

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5. 5 Posted by Jess Pendley on 16 Jun, 2014 07:10 PM

   

   Hi Igor --

   I would recommend that you allow your customers to choose from the plans that you're going to offer. If you do not want the customer to have to enter payment info, you can uncheck the box that reads "Require payment method on paid subscriptions". Then, your customers will only be putting in basic information, but also will be able to try out the features that may encourage them to convert later when payment is required - after the trial.

   If you need anything else, please let me know.

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6. Jess Pendley closed this discussion on 16 Jun, 2014 07:10 PM.

7. Marc Guyer re-opened this discussion on 16 Jun, 2014 07:39 PM

8. Support Staff 6 Posted by Marc Guyer on 16 Jun, 2014 07:39 PM

   

   Hi Igor -- Just chiming in here... You could also signup everyone automatically to a free plan that includes a full level of service and manage the end of the trial on your own. This might be a good way to go especially if you want to switch subscribers to a free plan with a limited level of service at the end of the trial in the event that they don't choose a paid plan.

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9. Jess Pendley closed this discussion on 07 Nov, 2014 06:49 PM.