Configuring a prepaid subscription

Prepaid subscriptions allow customers to pay for multiple orders upfront, while still ensuring that they receive their product on a regular cadence. You can also set up prepaid gift subscriptions, which include an expiration to ensure it expires after a certain number of charges. This guide explains how to configure prepaid subscriptions in Recharge. 

Before you start

• Review the managing prepaid subscriptions guide for further details and considerations for prepaid subscriptions.
• Prepaid subscriptions allow you to create basic gift subscriptions. If you're looking for a more robust solution, Gift Subscriptions are available to stores on the Recharge Pro or a custom pricing plan.

Step 1 - Create the product in your ecommerce platform

Begin by creating a new product on your ecommerce platform. These steps vary depending on the ecommerce platform you are using: 

• Add a product in BigCommerce
• Add a product in Shopify

Step 2 - Add a plan to the product

1. In the merchant portal, click the Products tab.
2. Search and select the product you wish to create a prepaid subscription plan for.
3. Select Create plans.
   
4. Select Add another plan.

Step 3 - Configure the prepaid subscription rules

Use the Plan type to define the subscription type, as well as any order schedules that should apply to the subscription.

1. Select Pre-paid/gift under Plan type.
   
2. Configure the order schedule to reflect when to charge customers upfront for their scheduled shipments, and how often those orders are shipped to your customers.
   
   • As an example, you can use the following settings if you wanted customers to receive a product monthly, and pay once every three months:
     • Ship product every: 1 month. This ensures that customers receive one order every month.
     • Charge customer every: 3 months. This ensures that customers are charged for their monthly shipment once every three months.
3. Optionally, set an expiration for the prepaid subscription by clicking the checkbox for Expire after a certain amount of charges. This setting can be used for setting up a basic prepaid gift subscription. For example, if this setting is set to 1, this indicates that the customer will be charged once for the entirety of the order and the prepaid cycle does not repeat.
   
4. Optionally, apply settings to charge customers on a specific day of the month under the Advanced settings dropdown. 
   
   • By default, the product is sent on the same day the initial checkout occurred. For example, if the customer checks out on the 14th for a monthly subscription product, all subsequent orders are processed on the 14th. Alternatively, you can select a specific day of the month from the charge on this day of the month drop-down to charge customers on a specific day for their recurring orders. See Charging on a specific day of the month for more information. 
5. Click Done, then Save plans to create the prepaid plan.