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Paying in bulk for 3 months of subscription, with expiry after those months

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joshua

29 Aug, 2010 01:14 PM

Hello,

I'd like to have the option to sign up subscribers for 1 or 3 month subscription that expires at the end, as a sort of trial. Is this possible? The ideal setup would be to have the customer notified when the subscription expires and let them renew it without reentering credit card info.

1. Support Staff 1 Posted by Marc Guyer on 30 Aug, 2010 08:55 PM

   

   Hi Joshua! -- This is pretty straightforward. First, you'd likely have two different plans: one with a monthly frequency and one with a quarterly frequency. Each of the plans could have a different price (or free) and different tracked item configurations. Your application would then enforce the end of the "trial" term. At the end of the trial, simply cancel the current subscription and require a change to another plan (presumably a paid one!) to continue using your service.
   

   I hope that answers your question. Please let us know if you need anything else!

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2. Marc Guyer closed this discussion on 30 Aug, 2010 08:55 PM.

3. joshua re-opened this discussion on 14 Jun, 2011 11:48 AM

4. 2 Posted by joshua on 14 Jun, 2011 11:48 AM

   

   Hello,

   I'm now planning to implement this and wondered if the method is still the same? Just create a tracked item for the value of the months, and cancel the subscription at the end?

   Also, once canceled, would the credit card have to be entered again to incur another charge?

   Thanks

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5. Support Staff 3 Posted by Marc Guyer on 14 Jun, 2011 02:34 PM

   

   Also, once canceled, would the credit card have to be entered again to incur another charge?

   Yes.

   I'd like to understand a little better what you're trying to do...

   1. Do you require a credit card on signup?
   2. Do you charge during the trial period?
   3. What would a normal subscription look like? In other words, how often and for what does the customer pay.
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6. 4 Posted by joshua on 02 Jul, 2011 10:47 AM

   

   RIght now i require a credit card on signup but don't charge during the 3 day trial period.

   In the new setup, I'd like to allow people to pay for 1, 3 or 6 months up front, and required manual intervention to renew the subscription. If possible, I'd like renewal within the active subscription time to be possible using the existing credit card.

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7. Support Staff 5 Posted by Marc Guyer on 05 Jul, 2011 02:58 PM

   

   Hi Joshua -- That could get you into trouble with your merchant account. When a merchant account is underwritten for monthly billing with a set average ticket amount, significant changes can raise flags.

   That said, CG does not provide for any finite term or manual renewal functionality. All subscriptions are auto-renewed. However, you could get the desired result by using the "Bill Reminder" email template to notify customers that they will be charged again soon unless they cancel before the bill date.

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8. 6 Posted by joshua on 09 Jul, 2011 12:57 AM

   

   I see. So if i wanted to support this kind of setup I'd have to check with my merchant account provider? In this case I assume I could cancel a subscription myself should the time pass and no renewal is submitted. FWIW i see more and more sites supporting this form of payment.

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9. Dean closed this discussion on 16 Jan, 2013 09:08 PM.