Prepaid Subscriptions

Prepaid subscriptions let a customer pay once for several upcoming deliveries, instead of being charged before each one. They're ideal for "pay for 3 months up front and save" style offers and for gift subscriptions. This guide explains how prepaid is set up, exactly how the price is calculated, and how prepaid behaves when you also renew on specific dates.

Table of contents

• What prepaid changes (and what it doesn't)
• Setting up a prepaid option
• How the prepaid price is calculated
• Discounts on prepaid
• The prepaid schedule on a contract
• Combining prepaid with specific renewal dates
• Notes and limitations
• Related guides

What prepaid changes (and what it doesn't)

Prepaid changes how often the customer is billed — not how often they receive a delivery.

• The delivery schedule stays the same (e.g., a delivery every month).
• The billing schedule is less frequent — the customer pays once for a set number of deliveries, then pays again when that batch runs out.

So a "monthly delivery, prepaid 3" subscription still ships every month, but the customer is charged once every three months.

Setting up a prepaid option

1. Open the subscription option and find the Renewals and billing card.
2. Switch the billing mode from Pay per order to Prepaid.
3. Set Repeat order every — this is the delivery cadence (e.g., every 1 month).
4. Set Orders covered with each payment — how many deliveries one payment covers (minimum 2).

That's it: the billing interval is calculated for you as the delivery cadence multiplied by the number of orders per payment.

How the prepaid price is calculated

The amount charged at each payment is simply the price of one delivery multiplied by the number of deliveries in the batch:

Prepaid payment = (price per delivery) × (orders covered with each payment)

Shipping works the same way — each delivery in the batch is shipped, and the shipping for all of those deliveries is collected in the single upfront payment.

Worked example

• Product price: $20
• Delivery cadence: every 1 month
• Orders covered with each payment: 3

The customer is charged $60 (3 × $20) and receives a delivery every month. After the third delivery, they're charged $60 again for the next three months — and so on.

Discounts on prepaid

A percentage discount is the cleanest choice for prepaid: it scales the whole payment. For example, 10% off on the example above makes each payment $54 (3 × $20 = $60, less 10%).

The prepaid schedule on a contract

Open any prepaid subscription in Contracts and you'll see a Prepaid schedule card listing the planned delivery dates in the paid batch — each one is a shipment the customer has already paid for. You can reschedule an individual prepaid delivery from there if a customer needs a date moved.

Combining prepaid with specific renewal dates

You can pin prepaid subscriptions to specific dates using Renew subscriptions on specific dates in the Subscription renewal dates card. When you do, the anchor date applies to both the delivery dates and the re-billing date:

• Deliveries land on your chosen day at the delivery cadence (e.g., the 1st of each month).
• Re-billing happens on that same anchor day once the prepaid batch is used up.

Example — monthly delivery, prepaid 3, anchored to the 1st of the month:

• The customer's deliveries are scheduled for the 1st of each month (e.g., 1 Jan, 1 Feb, 1 Mar).
• The next payment is taken on 1 April, covering 1 Apr, 1 May, and 1 Jun — and the cycle repeats.

How the very first batch lines up with the anchor is governed by Initial orders are fulfilled immediately and the cutoff window, exactly as for pay-per-order subscriptions. For the full set of worked first-order examples, see A Beginner's Guide to Subscription Options.

Notes and limitations

• Orders covered with each payment must be at least 2 (1 would just be a normal pay-per-order subscription).
• For multi-month plans you can choose the day of renewal but not specific calendar months — renewals are calculated from the purchase/anchor date. Yearly plans can set a specific day and month.
• Prepaid supports a one-off variant that expires after a single prepaid batch — perfect for gift subscriptions. See Can I offer gift subscriptions.

Related guides

• A Beginner's Guide to Subscription Options
• When customers are charged vs when orders are fulfilled
• Changing the next billing or charge date
• Can I offer gift subscriptions

AI Training Notes (Hidden)

[AI-TAG]
- Feature: Prepaid subscriptions (how prepaid is calculated + anchor-date combinations)
- Core concept: prepaid changes BILLING frequency only, not delivery cadence. Customer pays once for N deliveries, then re-billed when the batch runs out.
- Setup: Plans > option > Renewals and billing card > switch Pay per order -> Prepaid; "Repeat order every" = delivery cadence; "Orders covered with each payment" = N (min 2). Billing interval = delivery interval × N.
- Price formula: Prepaid payment = price per delivery × N. Shipping for all N deliveries is included in the single payment.
- Worked example: $20 product, monthly, prepaid 3 -> $60 charged, monthly deliveries, re-billed $60 every 3 months.
- Discounts: PERCENTAGE scales the whole payment cleanly (10% off $60 = $54). Amount off / Fixed price interact differently (fixed price = price of the whole prepaid payment) — verify in preview / test order.
- Contract view: "Prepaid schedule" card lists paid delivery dates; individual prepaid deliveries can be rescheduled.
- Anchors (Renew subscriptions on specific dates): anchor applies to BOTH delivery dates and re-billing date. Deliveries land on the chosen day at the delivery cadence; re-bill on the anchor day once the batch is used up. First-batch alignment governed by "Initial orders are fulfilled immediately" + cutoff (same as pay-per-order).
- Limitations: N >= 2; can pick day but not specific calendar months for multi-month (yearly can set day+month); one-off prepaid variant for gifts
- Common questions: "how is prepaid calculated", "prepaid price", "pay upfront for X months", "prepaid with specific delivery date", "prepaid anchor date", "does prepaid change delivery frequency"
- Related Guides: Subscription Options, Charge vs fulfillment, Changing the billing date, Gift subscriptions
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Updated on: 06/05/2026