Subscriptions

Manage recurring payments and subscriptions for your gaming store.

Overview

Subscriptions allow you to charge customers on a recurring basis for:

• VIP ranks and memberships
• Monthly services and perks
• Access passes and premium content
• Ongoing game server benefits
• Supporter tiers with exclusive rewards

Creating Subscription Products

Basic Setup

1. Go to Products > Add Product
2. Enable the Subscription toggle
3. Configure billing options:
   • Interval - Monthly, Quarterly, or Yearly
   • Price - Amount charged each billing interval
   • Trial Period - Optional free trial days
4. Add product details (name, description, images)
5. Configure any digital assets or roles to deliver
6. Click Save Product

Billing Intervals

Interval	Billing Frequency	Best For
Monthly	Every 30 days	Standard memberships, VIP ranks
Quarterly	Every 90 days	Seasonal passes, quarterly rewards
Yearly	Every 365 days	Annual memberships, discounted long-term

Pricing Strategy

Consider offering discounts for longer billing intervals. For example, if your monthly plan is $10/month, offer quarterly at $27 (10% off) and yearly at $96 (20% off).

Trial Periods

Trial periods let customers try your subscription before being charged.

Setting Up Trials

1. When creating or editing a subscription product
2. Find the Trial Period field
3. Enter the number of free days (e.g., 7, 14, 30)
4. Save the product

How Trials Work

1. Customer Subscribes - Payment method is captured but not charged
2. Trial Begins - Customer gets full access immediately
3. Trial Active - Customer enjoys the subscription benefits
4. Trial Ending - Notification sent 3 days before trial ends
5. Trial Ends - First charge is processed automatically

Trial Best Practices

• 7-14 days is optimal for most gaming subscriptions
• Clearly communicate trial terms on the product page
• Send reminder emails before the trial ends
• Deliver full value during trial to encourage conversion

Payment Method Required

Customers must provide a valid payment method to start a trial. This ensures seamless conversion when the trial ends.

Proration

When customers change their subscription plan, proration ensures fair billing.

How Proration Works

Upgrading (Higher Tier)

• Customer is charged immediately for the price difference
• Amount is prorated based on remaining days in the billing period
• New plan benefits activate immediately

Downgrading (Lower Tier)

• Credit is applied to the customer's account
• Credit is used toward future invoices
• Change takes effect at the end of the current period

Proration Example

Scenario: Customer upgrades from $10/month to $25/month on day 15 of a 30-day cycle.

Calculation	Amount
Remaining days in period	15 days
Daily rate difference	$0.50/day ($25-$10 / 30)
Prorated charge	$7.50 (15 days x $0.50)

The customer pays $7.50 immediately and continues at $25/month on their next billing date.

Proration Settings

You can customize proration behavior:

• Create Prorations (default) - Charge/credit the difference
• None - Change plan without proration (for custom upgrade paths)

Subscription Upgrades

Allow customers to upgrade to higher tiers directly from their account.

Customer Upgrade Flow

1. Customer goes to My Account > Subscriptions
2. Views their current subscription
3. Clicks Upgrade or Change Plan
4. Selects the new plan from available options
5. Reviews the prorated charge amount
6. Confirms the upgrade
7. New benefits activate immediately

Configuring Upgrade Paths

Define which products customers can upgrade to:

1. Go to Products > [Your Subscription]
2. Find Upgrade Paths section
3. Add products that customers can upgrade to
4. Optionally set a custom upgrade fee (overrides proration)
5. Save changes

Custom Upgrade Pricing

For special promotions or simplified pricing, set fixed upgrade fees:

Example:
- Bronze ($10/mo) to Silver ($20/mo): $15 upgrade fee
- Silver ($20/mo) to Gold ($30/mo): $15 upgrade fee
- Bronze ($10/mo) to Gold ($30/mo): $25 upgrade fee (special bundle)

This overrides standard proration and charges the fixed amount.

Grace Periods

Grace periods give customers time to update their payment method when charges fail.

Default Behavior

Stage	Timing	Action
Payment Failed	Day 0	First retry, customer notified
First Retry	Day 3	Second charge attempt
Second Retry	Day 5	Third charge attempt
Grace Period Ends	Day 7	Subscription becomes "past_due"
Final Notice	Day 14	Last chance to update payment
Cancellation	Day 30	Subscription is cancelled

During the Grace Period

• Customer retains access to subscription benefits
• Multiple payment retry attempts are made
• Email notifications are sent at each stage
• Customer can update their payment method anytime

Configuring Grace Periods

Grace period settings are managed at the payment gateway level (Stripe, PayPal, etc.). To adjust:

1. Log into your payment gateway dashboard
2. Navigate to Billing or Subscription settings
3. Configure retry schedule and dunning emails
4. Save changes

Failed Payment Handling

When a subscription payment fails, the system takes automatic action.

Automatic Actions

1. Email Notification - Customer is notified immediately
2. Payment Retry - Automatic retries on the configured schedule
3. Status Update - Subscription moves to "past_due"
4. Store Notification - You're alerted to at-risk subscriptions
5. Final Action - Subscription is cancelled if unresolved

Viewing At-Risk Subscriptions

1. Go to Subscriptions dashboard
2. Look for subscriptions with "Past Due" status
3. Click to view details and payment history
4. Contact the customer if needed

Manual Payment Retry

If you've confirmed the customer has updated their payment method:

1. Open the subscription details
2. Click Retry Payment
3. The payment gateway attempts an immediate charge
4. Status updates based on the result

Payment Failure Reasons

Reason	Solution
Insufficient Funds	Customer adds funds and you retry
Card Expired	Customer updates payment method
Card Declined	Customer contacts their bank
Invalid Card	Customer adds a new payment method
Processing Error	Retry automatically handles this

Cancellation Flows

Customers can cancel their subscriptions through your storefront.

Cancellation Options

Cancel at Period End (Recommended)

• Subscription remains active until the billing period ends
• Customer retains access for time already paid
• No refund is issued
• Most common and fair approach

Cancel Immediately

• Subscription ends immediately
• Access is revoked right away
• Partial refund may be appropriate
• Use for special circumstances

Customer Self-Service Cancellation

Customers can cancel from their account:

1. Customer goes to My Account > Subscriptions
2. Clicks on the subscription
3. Clicks Cancel Subscription
4. Chooses cancellation timing
5. Confirms the cancellation
6. Receives confirmation email

Store Owner Cancellation

You can cancel subscriptions for customers:

1. Go to Subscriptions
2. Find and click the subscription
3. Click Cancel Subscription
4. Choose Immediate or End of Period
5. Optionally add an internal note
6. Confirm cancellation

Reactivating Cancelled Subscriptions

If a customer changes their mind before the period ends:

1. Open the subscription (must show "Cancelling")
2. Click Resume Subscription
3. Cancellation is reversed
4. Billing continues as normal

Can't Resume After Expiration

Once a subscription fully expires, it cannot be resumed. The customer must create a new subscription.

Subscription Statuses

Understanding subscription statuses helps you manage your recurring revenue.

Status	Description	Customer Access
Active	Currently billing normally	Full access
Trialing	In free trial period	Full access
Past Due	Payment failed, in grace period	Full access
Incomplete	Initial payment not completed	No access
Cancelled	Customer or store cancelled	Until period end
Expired	Subscription has ended	No access
Unpaid	Multiple payment failures	No access

Status Transitions

[New] → Trialing → Active → Cancelled → Expired
                      ↓
                  Past Due → Unpaid → Cancelled

Subscription Analytics

Track the health of your recurring revenue.

Key Metrics

Monthly Recurring Revenue (MRR)

• Total predictable monthly revenue from active subscriptions
• Excludes trials and one-time purchases
• Foundation of subscription business health

Churn Rate

• Percentage of subscriptions cancelled each month
• Lower is better (under 5% is good)
• Monitor trends over time

Average Revenue Per User (ARPU)

• MRR divided by active subscribers
• Indicates pricing effectiveness
• Track changes when adding tiers

Lifetime Value (LTV)

• Average total revenue from a subscriber
• ARPU multiplied by average subscription length
• Guide for acquisition spending

Viewing Analytics

1. Go to Analytics from the dashboard
2. Select Subscriptions tab
3. View key metrics and trends
4. Filter by date range, product, or status

Analytics Dashboard Metrics

Metric	Location	Update Frequency
Active Subscriptions	Subscriptions page	Real-time
MRR	Analytics dashboard	Daily
New Subscriptions	Analytics dashboard	Real-time
Churn Rate	Analytics dashboard	Weekly
Revenue by Plan	Analytics dashboard	Daily

Exporting Subscription Data

1. Go to Subscriptions
2. Apply any filters (status, date range, product)
3. Click Export
4. Choose format (CSV or Excel)
5. Download the file

Subscription Webhooks

Integrate subscription events with your systems using webhooks.

Available Events

Event	Triggered When
subscription.created	New subscription is created
subscription.updated	Subscription is modified
subscription.cancelled	Subscription is cancelled
subscription.renewed	Subscription is renewed
subscription.payment_failed	Payment attempt failed
subscription.trial_ending	Trial ends in 3 days

Setting Up Webhooks

1. Go to Settings > Webhooks
2. Click Add Webhook
3. Enter your endpoint URL
4. Select subscription events to receive
5. Save and copy the signing secret

See Webhooks for implementation details.

Best Practices

Pricing Strategy

• Offer multiple tiers to capture different segments
• Provide discounts for longer commitments
• Consider a free or low-cost entry tier
• Test pricing changes with new customers first

Reducing Churn

• Send engagement emails to active subscribers
• Offer exclusive content or perks regularly
• Implement win-back campaigns for cancelled subscribers
• Survey cancelled customers for feedback

Customer Communication

• Welcome email after subscription starts
• Regular value reminders during subscription
• Warning before trial ends
• Clear instructions for payment failures
• Thank you message on renewal

Monitoring Health

• Review MRR weekly at minimum
• Investigate sudden churn increases
• Track individual subscription performance
• Compare retention across different tiers

Game Server Delivery

For game servers, subscription products need special handling to grant and revoke player perks automatically.

Setting Up Subscription Delivery

1. Go to Products > [Your Subscription]
2. In Delivery Settings, configure:
   • Purchase Commands - Grant perks when subscription starts
   • Subscription Cancel Commands - Revoke perks when subscription ends

Example: VIP Rank Subscription

Purchase Commands:

setrank {player} vip
grantperm {player} vip.kit
grantperm {player} vip.priority
broadcast {player} is now a VIP member!

Subscription Cancel Commands:

setrank {player} default
revokeperm {player} vip.kit
revokeperm {player} vip.priority
notify {player} Your VIP subscription has ended.

Always Configure Cancel Commands

Without cancel commands, players keep their VIP perks even after their subscription ends. This is essential for any subscription that grants in-game benefits.

When Cancel Commands Run

Cancel commands execute automatically when:

Trigger	Description
Customer Cancels	When the subscription period ends
Payment Fails	After grace period exhausts and subscription is cancelled
Expiration	When a non-renewing subscription period ends
Store Owner Cancels	Immediately or at period end, based on your choice

Our system detects these through:

1. Webhooks from payment providers (instant)
2. Sync Jobs that poll provider APIs hourly (backup)

This ensures commands run reliably even if webhooks fail.

Command Placeholders

Use placeholders for dynamic values:

Placeholder	Description
{player}	Player's game username
{steam_id}	Player's Steam ID
{product_name}	Subscription product name
{customer_email}	Customer's email

See Command Reference for game-specific examples.

Related Documentation

• Products - Creating and managing products
• Orders - Order management
• Customers - Customer management
• Payment Setup - Configuring payment gateways
• Webhooks - Automating with webhooks
• Command Reference - Game-specific command examples