Differences

This shows you the differences between two versions of the page.

--- merchant_guide:plans [2009/07/08 13:08] – earlyimpact
+++ merchant_guide:plans [2012/05/13 12:33] (current) – removed matt
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-====== Adding and Editing Plans ======
-===== What a Plan is =====
-For a definition of what a Plan is in the SubscriptionBridge system, please see the [[:glossary|Glossary]].
-Note that - unlike Products - Plans are shared across all of the Stores that you set up in your SubscriptionBridge Merchant Center. In other words, Plans are not store-specific. That's because the same Plan (e.g. monthly payment, no trial, using PayPal) could well be shared across different subscription-based products and services, in different Stores.
-===== Adding a New Plan =====
-To add a new Plan, do the following:
-  * Click on //Stores// in the Merchant Center navigation
-  * Select any of your //Stores//
-  * Under //Packages//, select //Plans//
-  * The page will display a list of available Plans. Click on //Add New Plan// to add a new one.
-{{:merchant_guide:screenshot149.jpg|A list of available Plans in a SubscriptionBridge Merchant Center}}
-On the //Add New Plan// form you will find the following fields:
-  * **Reference Name** \\ This is an internal name for the //Plan//. It is not shown to customers.
-  * **Billing Period** \\ Select the billing interval from the following selections: __day__, __week__, __month__, __year__. You can use the //Billing Frequency// field to "adjust" the //Billing Period//. __For example__, to create a //Quarterly Billing Period//, choose //Month// here and then enter 3 under //Billing Frequency//.
-  * **Billing Frequency** \\ Select how often the subscription will be billed, based on the interval selected under //Billing Period//. __For example__, if you are selling a bi-weekly subscription, you will select "Week" under the Billing Period and enter 2 under "Billing Frequency" (the subscription will be charged every 2 weeks).
-  * **Total Billing Cycles** \\ Enter the total number of billing cycles. For an ongoing subscription (a subscription that never ends), enter 0. If the subscription does end after a certain number of billing occurrences, then enter that number here. __For example__, if you wanted to sell a 2-year subscription that is billed quarterly, you would enter:
-    * Month under Billing Period
-    * 3 under Billing Frequency
-    * 8 under Total Billing Cycles (4 quarters a year, times 2 years).
-  * **Currency Code** \\ Select the currency used by your store.
-  * **Is there a Trial period?** \\ Indicate whether there is a //Trial// period or not. Note that a //Trial// does not have to be a "Free Trial". In fact, the trial amount could be higher than the regular subscription amount (e.g. it may include an initial setup fee). You will specify the trial amount at the //Package// level.
-  * **Trial Billing Period** \\ Select the billing interval (e.g. "Month") for the Trial period.
-  * **Trial Billing Frequency** \\ Select how often the subscription will be billed during the trial, based on the interval selected under //Trial Billing Period//. __For example__, if you want to offer a 3-month trial at a discounted price, you will select "Month" under the //Trial Billing Period//, enter 1 under "Trial Billing Frequency", and enter 3 under //Trial Total Billing Cycles//.
-  * **Trial Total Billing Cycles** \\ Enter the total number of billing cycles for the //Trial Period//. For a free 1-month trial, you would enter 1 here, 1 under //Trial Billing Frequency//, and "Month" under //Trial Billing Period//.
-  * **Subscription Starts Immediately?** \\ In most cases, you will answer "Yes" as the subscription will start at the time it is ordered. If there is a //Trial Period//, the subscription will start with the trial. Otherwise, if the subscription is set to start in the future (e.g. the first of January of the following year) select a //Start Date// in the corresponding field.
-  * **Start Date** \\ Enter a //Start Date// if the subscription is not set to start immediately (i.e. at the time it is ordered). If there is a //Trial Period//, the //Trial// will start on the //Start Date//.
-{{:merchant_guide:screenshot150.jpg|The Add New Plan page}}
-===== Viewing and Editing Existing Plan =====
-To view all the Plans in your SubscriptionBridge Merchant Center, do the following:
-  * Click on //Stores// in the Merchant Center navigation
-  * Under any of the stores, locate the //Packages// section and mouse over //Plans//. The system will display a preview of the plans you added. Click on the link to load the list of Plans.
-On the page that lists all //Plans// under the selected //Store// you can:
-  * Click on any column heading to sort the table by that column
-  * Click on the //Edit// icon ({{:merchant_guide:edit.gif|Edit Icon}}) to edit the //Plan//'s properties
-  * Click on //Packages// to view and edit existing //Packages// that use that //Plan//
-<note important>If you edit a //Plan//'s properties (e.g. you decide to edit the billing cycle), this will affect new subscriptions that are created in the SubscriptionBridge system for any of the Packages that use that Plan, but it will __not__ affect existing subscriptions.</note>
-===== Related Articles =====
-  * [[products|Adding and Editing Products]]
-  * [[packages|Adding and Editing Packages]]
-  * [[packages|Adding and Editing Features]]