How automatic renewals work - reminders, auto-renew and unpaid subscriptions

Renewals run by themselves. Before a subscription ends, your store emails the customer a reminder with a link to renew; they don't even have to sign in. When they pay, the line is extended on your panel. Customers can also switch on auto-renew, so they are charged without doing anything.

1Step 1 of 5Choose when reminders go out

Go to Settings → Notifications → Notification preferences and find the Renewal reminders card. Pick up to three days before the end date, for example 7, 3 and 1 day (the default). Click Save All Changes.

Reminders are sent for subscriptions that are active and have an end date. Lifetime products get none.

2Step 2 of 5Check the reminder text

Go to Settings → Email → Email templates, find Renewal Reminder and click Edit Template to change the wording. Keep the renew link in the message.

3Step 3 of 5Let customers renew on their own

In their account, customers can switch on Auto-Renewal on an active subscription. About a day before the end date, the renewal is paid from their store credit, or from their saved card if they chose one. If the card is declined, their store credit is tried instead.

• If the payment fails, the customer gets an email. They can still renew with the link in their reminder.
• A renewal that failed is tried again each day, also during your grace period, but only from store credit: a saved card is charged once per term. A customer who tops up their credit is renewed on the next try.
• After three failed tries, auto-renew switches itself off and the customer is told to renew by hand.

Store credit settings, such as top-up bonuses, are under Customers → Wallet & auto-renew. With Enable Customer Wallet on, you can also set how auto-renew works in your store, then click Save Configuration:

• Enable Auto-Renewal: switch it off and nothing in your store is charged automatically, by card or from store credit.
• Auto-Renewal Balance Threshold: a renewal is paid from store credit only when the customer's balance is at least this amount.
• Renewal Buffer Days: how many days before the end date the first try is made.

The threshold and buffer start applying once you change one of them and save. Until then, renewals are tried on the last day, from any store credit that covers the price.

Prefer to renew every line yourself? Go to Subscriptions → Self-service settings and switch on Renew by hand only. Customers then can't pay to renew on their own, auto-renew stops, and reminders ask them to contact you instead of carrying a pay link. New orders and trials are not affected. The guide on manual renewals has the details.

4Step 4 of 5Know what happens when nobody pays

After the end date, the subscription waits for payment for your store's grace period, normally 7 days, and the customer gets an email. They can still renew at any time.

• IPTV lines are never switched off early. A line runs out on your panel on its own end date. The subscription stays marked unpaid until the customer pays or cancels.
• Plex, Emby, Jellyfin and VPN accounts don't run out by themselves, so they are removed after the grace period: a Plex share is removed, an Emby or Jellyfin account is disabled.
• Free trials get no grace period. When a trial ends, the customer gets an email inviting them to pick a paid plan.

5Step 5 of 5Follow up yourself

Go to Subscriptions → Renewals to see who is ending soon, with Overdue at the top. For customers who pay you another way, extend them by hand; the guide on manual renewals shows how.