What is the Prepaid Subscription Plan?
A Prepaid Subscription Plan lets customers pay upfront for multiple billing cycles while still receiving products on a recurring delivery schedule.
With prepaid subscriptions, your products gain new purchase options directly on the product page: customers can choose between a one-time purchase, a regular subscription, or a prepaid subscription with flexible cycle lengths and discounts.
Why are Prepaid Plans valuable?
Prepaid subscriptions benefit both your store and your customers:
Higher Upfront Revenue: Customers pay for several months in advance, improving cash flow.
Reduced Churn Risk: Prepaid commitments keep customers engaged for longer periods.
Stronger Customer Loyalty: Subscribers stay connected to your brand over multiple months without needing to renew every cycle.
Operational Predictability: Prepaid orders simplify forecasting and inventory planning.
Customer Flexibility: Shoppers enjoy recurring deliveries with the convenience of a single upfront payment, often paired with additional discounts.
If your store sells consumables or repeat-use products (beauty, supplements, pet care, household goods, etc.), prepaid subscriptions are a powerful way to lock in long-term relationships while offering customers flexibility and savings.
How to set up this plan for your store?
Access Subscription Plans from the Subscribfy dashboard
Log in to your Subscribfy dashboard and navigate to Subscription Plans.
Here you can view all your existing plans or start a new one.
Click “Create Subscription Plan” to begin, then select Prepaid Subscription (pay upfront, receive on a recurring schedule).
You can always edit or add more plan types later.
Product
Choose the product(s) you want to include.
Decide on purchase options:
One-time and Subscription → customers can choose between buying once or subscribing.
Subscription Only → the product is exclusively sold as a subscription.
Shipping price for All Recurring Orders
By default, recurring orders inherit your store’s standard shipping rules.
You can override this by setting a fixed shipping fee for all subscription renewals.
Example: Charge $5 for every recurring delivery regardless of product size.
Set order schedule
Configure when and how often prepaid subscriptions are paid and delivered:
Add Frequencies → e.g., pays for 3 months, gets the product each month.
Selling Plan Names → label each option clearly (e.g., “Subscribe Prepaid – Monthly delivery, payment every 3 months”).
Billing & Delivery → define how often customers are charged and how often they receive products.
Discounts → apply fixed or percentage discounts for subscribers (common incentive: 10% off).
You can create multiple frequency options so customers have flexibility to choose what works best.
Warning: For prepaid plans, the billing period must always be a multiple of the delivery period. Otherwise, the plan will not work correctly.
Example (valid): Prepaid for 3 months, delivery every 1 month → valid (3 is a multiple of 1).
Example (invalid): Prepaid for 2 months, delivery every 2 weeks → invalid (a month is not an exact multiple of weeks).
Example (invalid): Prepaid for 1 month, delivery every 10 days → invalid (a month is not an exact multiple of 10 days).
Tip: If you want to use days or weeks instead of months, make sure to also set the billing period in the same unit as the delivery period.
Instead of Prepaid for 1 month, delivery every 10 days, configure Prepaid for 30 days, delivery every 10 days.
Once configured, click Save to apply your changes. Once saved, your product pages will automatically update with prepaid subscription options.
What happens next?
After activation:
Customers will see a subscription selector on your product pages.
They choose their preferred option before checkout.
Orders generate automatically according to the schedule you’ve set.
You’ll be able to manage all prepaid subscription activity in your Subscribfy dashboard (pause, skip, cancel, or swap products).
Prepaid subscriptions don’t just add a feature – they create a new business model for your store. With upfront revenue, longer customer commitments, and recurring deliveries, your brand is better positioned for long-term success.
FAQs
Q: How do discounts work for prepaid subscriptions?
A: You can add a fixed discount (e.g., $5 off) or a percentage discount (e.g., 10% off). Discounts are applied automatically when customers select a prepaid subscription frequency.
Q: Will recurring orders include shipping charges?
A: By default, subscriptions follow your store’s shipping rules. You can also set a flat shipping fee that applies to all recurring deliveries.
Q: Can I edit a prepaid subscription plan after launch?
A: Yes. You can always go back to Subscription Plans in your dashboard and update products, schedules, pricing, or discounts.