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Creating and Editing a Subscription

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In order to apply custom configurations to your subscription, you must create a subscription definition. This includes the following information:

  • Name
  • Product path
  • Rebill frequency
  • Payment amount
  • Duration of payment

After you click Create, FastSpring uses these contents to internally identify the subscription. You cannot edit the product path after creation. Edit the subscription to apply additional settings, including: fulfillment, trials, notifications, and advanced scheduling. 

Create a New Subscription

Add a new subscription record to your store. After you click Create, you can customize the configuration of the product and fulfillment. 

  1. Navigate to Products > Subscriptions. Click Create subscription in the top, right corner. A popup appears.

  2. Enter a Subscription Name. Click the drop-down to enter it in additional languages.

  3. In the Product Path field, edit the path of the subscription. This identifies the product within the app and the product page URL. 

    • This field does not accept spaces, punctuation, or special characters. After you click Create, you cannot change the path.

  4. In the Summary field, optionally enter descriptive text to appear on your web storefront.

  5. In the Billing Cycle drop-down, select the frequency of rebills. Ignore this field if you are creating a managed subscriptions.

  6. In the Price field, enter the amount that FastSpring will charge customers each rebill period. Click All Currencies to enter prices in additional currencies.

  7. Click Create.

After you create the subscription, navigate to its details page to customize additional settings.

Customize Your Subscription

Navigate to the details page of the subscription you would like to customize. The details page is divided into sections of related subscription attributes. Click the Edit button on each section to configure or adjust the settings. 

Overview

Customize the general settings of your subscription. 

  • Public / Private: Control whether this subscription appears in the product catalog. If you select Private, customers can only purchase the subscription when it is a product option for a public product.
  • Product Path: After you create the subscription, this field is not editable.
  • Display: Edit the customer-facing subscription name. Click the language drop-down to customize it in additional languages.
  • Summary: Enter a brief description of the subscription. This appears on the homepage and product page of your web storefront. This field accepts markdown.
  • Icon: Upload an image for your product. FastSpring will display this on your storefront and at checkout. 
    • Supported image file formats: .png, .jpg, .gif. Web storefronts can display an image file with a size of up to 256 x 256 pixels. The popup storefront cart can display an image as large as 46 x 46 pixels. If the image you upload is too large or too small, the storefront page automatically resizes it to fit.

Pricing and Discounts

Adjust the subscription’s pricing and rebilling settings. After you configure your pricing, you can optionally apply a product-level discount to the subscription. This discount will apply to each purchase, and can be paired with coupons.

  • Standard or Managed: For automatic renewal subscriptions, click Standard. Managed subscriptions rebillsrequire you to manually bill the customer.
  • Charge Interval: For automatic renewal subscriptions, select the rebill frequency. FastSpring will automatically charge the customer in the interval you select.
  • Free Trial Days: Optionally, add a free trial period to your subscription.
  • Length: Input the number of rebills for the subscription. This will include the initial transaction at checkout, unless the subscription has a free trial.
  • Unit Price: Enter the price of each rebill in your store’s default currency. Optionally enter the price in additional supported currencies. 
    • Price updates only apply to future subscriptions. FastSpring will rebill existing customers the price they originally paid.
  • One-Time Setup Fee: Add a one-time charge for setting up the subscription. This fee will appear as a separate, required item when a customer adds this subscription to the order. Future rebills will not include this fee. Optionally, enter text to display on your storefront.
  • Default Quantity: Enter the default number of subscriptions that FastSpring adds to the customer’s cart. Use the radio button below to control whether customers can edit the quantity.
  • Discount: Apply a product discounts.​​​​​ Customers can pair this with a coupon code.

Fulfillments

Configure a license key, product download, or other digital tool to send customers your subscription. For more information, see Fulfillments

  1. Click Add New Fulfillment. The Add Fulfillment Action page opens.
  2. Select the radio button of the fulfillment action you want to add, then click Next.
    • Send Email: (Uncommon) FastSpring sends an additional email message to the customer containing applicable fulfillment details. This legacy option is maintained for backward compatibility, and is no longer necessary since the receipt email message automatically includes fulfillment details.
    • Generate a License: Click Choose a generator and select an available generation method to generate a license key for the customer.
    • Provide a File Download: Upload a product file. FastSpring will present the file to customers on their completion page to download.
    • Create a Signed PDF: Upload a PDF file that FastSpring will stamp with each customer’s name and order information. Fastspring will display the stamped file to customers on their completion page to download.
  3. Follow the prompts to complete the configuration of the selected fulfillment action.

Notifications & Cancellation

Configure email notifications that FastSpring sends to your customer. For subscriptions, we recommend enabling payment reminders, as these reduce the occurrence of disputes and chargebacks. 

If you are editing an active subscription, editing the payment reminder, payment overdue, and subscription cancellation notifications only affects future subscription instances. Select Apply to active subscriptions to apply these changes to existing subscription instances. 

  1. In the Notifications & Cancellation section, click Edit. A popup appears.
  2. Select the Send payment reminder checkbox to send pre-billing reminders to your customers. Enter the amount of time in advance that you would like to send the reminder. Click +Add Reminder to configure an additional payment reminder.
  3. Select the Send payment overdue notification checkbox to send an email to the customer when their rebill fails, or they did not enter payment information on time. Enter the amount of time following the failed rebill that you would like to send the notification. Enter the number of times you would like to send the reminder before canceling the subscription.
  4. In the Cancellation section, enter the amount of time that the subscription will remain active from the date of the failed payment. If you select Send payment overdue notification, enter the amount of time following the date of the last payment overdue notification.

Related Offers & Add-Ons

Set up promotional offers that appear when a customer adds the subscription to their cart. Promotional offers include the following options:

  • Subscription Add-Ons: Combine non-subscription items to your subscription. This will affect the total of each rebill.
  • Product Options: Present additional options for customers to select at checkout. These options will affect the total of the initial purchase, however they do not affect rebills.
  • Product Offers: Offer cross-sells and upsells to customers at checkout to advertise related products.

Advanced Configuration

Customize advanced checkout options for the subscription. This includes the following fields:

  • SKU: Optionally enter an internal SKU ID or part number to identify the subscription using your own system.
  • Long Description: Enter descriptive text about the subscription. When the customer clicks the product name, FastSpring displays the text in a lightbox that overlays the product page.This field accepts markdown.
  • EDS: If Extended Download Service is enabled for your store, it is enabled by default for all subscriptions that have at least one file download fulfillment action.
  • Call to Action: Edit the text on the “Add to Cart” button. This button displays on the product page and catalog of your web storefront.
  • Post Order Instructions: Enter instructions that will display on the completion page. This field accepts markdown.

Delete a Subscription

When you delete a subscription, active subscription instances are not affected. However, you cannot copy a deleted subscription to create a new one. After you delete the subscription, it no longer appears in the FastSpring App or API responses. 

  1. Navigate to Products > Subscriptions. Select the subscription you want to delete.
  2. On the subscription details page, click Options > Delete.
  3. Click OK to confirm.

Updated about 1 year ago