Paid membership billing and cancellation

Once a paid membership is live, a few settings decide how it behaves over its lifetime: what members keep when they cancel, how long benefits last after a missed renewal, how membership orders are fulfilled, and when renewals are billed. This article walks through each one.

All of these settings live on the membership's page. Open Loyalty, scroll to the VIP Tiers section, and click the membership you want to edit.

Choose a cancellation policy

The Cancellation Policy decides what happens to a member's benefits when they cancel. Pick one of two options:

One important detail: changing the policy is not retroactive. Each member keeps the policy that was active when they cancelled. If someone cancelled under Cancel benefits end of billing cycle, they keep access until their cycle ends — even if you switch to Cancel benefits immediately afterward. The reverse is also true.

What members see when they cancel

Members go through a multi-step flow when they cancel, so the decision is informed rather than accidental:

1. A "Thinking of leaving?" screen lists the perks and rewards they'll lose.
2. If you've turned on Retention Offers for the membership, your offers — such as a discount — appear as a last chance to stay.
3. To confirm, the member picks a reason, can leave feedback, and sees exactly when their access ends — immediately or at the end of the billing cycle, matching your cancellation policy. A short delay before the final Cancel Membership button gives them a moment to reconsider.

Fulfillment of membership orders

Membership payments create orders in your store like any other purchase. Turn on the Fulfillment switch to have the order's fulfillment status set to "fulfilled" automatically after each payment is processed.

With the switch on, you can also set a Fulfillment Delay:

• Leave it empty, and orders are marked fulfilled immediately after payment.
• Set a delay, and orders are marked fulfilled after that delay.

When benefits expire without renewal

The Expiration Interval controls how long a member's benefits last if they don't renew. Set a number and pick an Interval Type of Days or Months. After that period passes without a renewal, the member's benefits expire.

Align billing to the first of the month

Turn on Align Billing to First of Month to bill every member on the 1st, no matter when they joined:

• Purchases on or before the 15th start billing on the 1st of the next month.
• Purchases after the 15th start billing on the 1st of the month after next.

For example, someone who joins on May 10 is next billed on June 1; someone who joins on May 20 is next billed on July 1.

If your membership uses the scheduled subscription box billing, the schedule already controls billing dates, so this switch stays off.

Delete a paid membership

Deleting a membership can't be undone, so the flow asks you to confirm:

1. Open Loyalty and click the membership in the VIP Tiers list.
2. Click Delete.
3. In the Delete [membership name]? dialog, type DELETE in the confirmation field.
4. Click Delete.

If the membership still has active subscriptions, the dialog shows how many. Cancel all of those subscriptions first — then you can delete the membership.

Related

• Paid memberships
• Membership rewards