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Choosing what a plan or product unlocks

Choose which paid groups, courses and blog collections a plan or product unlocks, from Pricing or from the group or course itself. A plan or product can unlock three kinds of content: Courses, Groups and Blog collections. Events can't be included. Only paid content can be sold. Free groups and courses are open to every member already. See How access and selling work. Only Community Admins can choose what a plan or product unlocks. From Pricing 1. In Studio, go to Pricing. Open a plan or product and click Edit, or create a new one. 2. Open the Content step. 3. Turn on Courses, Groups or Blog collections. 4. Under What should members get?, choose one: - Give them every course (or group, or premium post): "Everything you have now, and anything you add later." - Let me choose certain courses (or groups, or collections): "Search and add only the ones you want." Then click the search box and tick the items. Editing a plan, Content tab, Groups on 5. Repeat for the other types you want. You can mix them, for example every course and 2 groups. 6. Click Save changes (or continue to Next: Publish on a new plan or product). Each type shows its state: Not included, All included, N selected, or Pick items below while you still need to choose. The search lists only paid groups and courses. If you have none, you see "No paid groups yet. Only paid groups can be sold." For blog collections with none yet: "No blog collections yet. Create one under Blogs." Add members automatically When you pick certain groups or courses, a box Add subscribers automatically (on a product: Add buyers automatically) appears. Members are added as soon as they pay. Turn an item off if members should join it themselves. If it is the only group (or course) in the plan, it is always added: "Always added: it's the only group in this plan." With Give them every group (or course), members join each one themselves with one click. Blog posts don't need joining: members can read them right away. From a group or course You can also choose how a group or course is sold on the item itself. 1. Open the group (or course) and click Edit. 2. Open the Access step (on a course: Who can join). 3. Choose Paid. 4. Pick plans under Subscription plans ("Members get this group while they stay subscribed.") and products under One-time products ("Members who buy are added to this group automatically, for the access time the product gives."). Drafts show as "Draft, not on sale yet". 5. Click Save changes. The box How members get into this group lists every plan and product that gives access, and how members get in, for example "Joins with 1 click". To create a new plan or product there, click Create a plan or product (or Create a subscription / Create a one-time product). You see "How should members pay for {name}?" Pick Subscription or One-time payment and fill in the short form. It creates the plan or product already on sale, so Stripe must be ready. It sets no image, description or sale price: add those later in Pricing. In this form, product access is set in days only. To see what sells a group or course, open it and click the Access tab. Sold through lists each plan and product, with its price and status. Blog collections Premium posts are sold in collections. Open Blogs → Collections and open a collection. Under Sold in, click Add it to a plan or product. Members who buy one of these can read every post in the collection. Rules - A paid group or course can't be published until a plan or product on sale sells it. Drafts and closed plans don't count. You see "Add a plan or product so members can join. You can create one right there, on the Access step." - Free groups and courses can't be added to a plan or product: "Free groups and courses can't be sold (…). Remove them, or make them paid first." - If Courses or Blogs is turned off in Settings → Features, a plan or product can't include them. - A higher-priced plan gives everything in every cheaper plan that is on sale. In How members get into this group, this shows as "Via higher plan". - Content changes on a plan apply to current subscribers too. Content you remove is taken away from them. - Course Managers can't choose plans or products. They see "Community admins decide how a course is sold: its plans, products and prices. Save the course, then ask them here." Related - How access and selling work - Create a subscription plan - Create a one-time product - Create a group

Create a one-time product

Create a product that members pay for once, set how long access lasts, and choose what it unlocks. A product is a single payment. Members keep access for life, or for a time you set. For a monthly or yearly payment, create a subscription plan instead. New to selling? Read How access and selling work first. Before you start - Who: only Community Admins can open Pricing. - Stripe: you can save a draft without Stripe. To put the product on sale, Stripe must be ready in Settings → Payments. See Connect Stripe to get paid. - Currency: prices are in your community's currency, set in Settings → General. It locks once any plan or product leaves draft, or once an order exists. Create the product 1. In Studio, go to Pricing. Open the Products · one-time tab and click Create product. 2. Basics: fill in Product name (3 to 50 characters). 3. Optional: fill in Description (plain text, up to 750 characters), Web address (left blank, it is made from the name) and Product image (16:9, 1600 × 900 px recommended). 4. Click Next: Pricing. 5. Fill in Price. Members pay this once. 6. Optional: fill in Sale price. It must be lower than the price. Members pay the sale price, shown next to the original. 7. Optional: turn on Allow repurchase so members who already own the product can buy it again. It is off by default. 8. Under Access duration, leave Lifetime access on, or turn it off and set how long access lasts: a whole number and Days, Weeks, Months or Years. Editing a product, Pricing tab 9. Click Next: Content. Turn on Courses, Groups or Blog collections, then choose everything of that type or pick items. See Choosing what a plan or product unlocks. 10. Click Next: Publish. Under Where members find it, turn on Recommended to highlight the product, and Show in Google search if you want people to find it on Google. 11. Check the Before you publish summary. 12. Click Publish product. You see "{product name} is on sale." Not ready yet? Click Save as draft. You see "Draft saved. Members can't see it yet." Access time counts from the purchase. A month counts as 30 days and a year as 365 days. Change a product later Open the product and click Edit. Changes apply to future buyers. People who already bought it keep what they bought. You can change the price and the sale price at any time. Product statuses To change the status, open the product, click Edit, then click the status button next to Save changes and pick a status. Confirm in the box that opens. | Status | What it means | |---|---| | Draft | Only admins can see it. | | Published | On sale. Members can buy it. | | Archived | Off sale. Buyers keep access for the time they bought. | When a product goes off sale, it is also removed from members' wishlists and from search. Rules and limits | Rule | What you see | |---|---| | Product name: 3 to 50 characters | "Product name must be at least 3 characters." | | Price at least 1 | "Enter a price of at least 1. To give a group or course away, don't sell it: edit the group or course and choose Free." | | Sale price lower than the price | "Sale price must be lower than the price." | | Access duration in whole numbers | "Say how long buyers keep access, in whole numbers." | | At least one content type | "Select at least one content item or choose All Content for a content type." | - There is no limit on how many products are on sale. - You can delete only a draft that has no orders and gives nobody access. Otherwise, archive it. On the product, click ⋯ → Delete or Archive. A greyed-out Delete shows the reason. If something goes wrong | Message | What to do | |---|---| | "Connect Stripe before you publish: members can't pay until it is set up. Save this as a draft now, and publish after you connect Stripe in Settings → Payments." | Click Save as draft. Connect Stripe, then publish the product. | | "Free groups and courses can't be sold…" | Remove the free item from the product, or make it paid first. | | "Courses is turned off in this community. Turn it on to add courses to a plan or product." | Turn Courses on in Settings → Features, or remove courses from the product. | Related - How access and selling work - Choosing what a plan or product unlocks - Create a subscription plan - Orders, subscriptions and refunds

Create a subscription plan

Create a plan that members pay for every month or every year, and choose what it unlocks. A plan is a subscription. Members keep access while they stay subscribed. For a single payment, create a one-time product instead. New to selling? Read How access and selling work first. Before you start - Who: only Community Admins can open Pricing. - Stripe: you can save a draft without Stripe. To put the plan on sale, Stripe must be ready in Settings → Payments. See Connect Stripe to get paid. - Currency: prices are in your community's currency, set in Settings → General. It locks once any plan or product leaves draft, or once an order exists. - Paid content: a plan can include only paid groups, paid courses and blog collections. Make a group or course paid first. Create the plan 1. In Studio, go to Pricing. On the Plans · subscriptions tab, click Create plan. 2. Basics: fill in Plan name (3 to 40 characters). 3. Under Benefits, add 2 to 4 selling points, one per line (up to 100 characters each). Click Add benefit for each new line. Members see them on your pricing page. 4. Optional: fill in Web address (left blank, it is made from the name) and upload a Plan image (1:1 square, 1000 × 1000 px recommended). 5. Click Next: Pricing. 6. Fill in Monthly price and Yearly price. Both are needed. Studio shows how much members save by paying yearly, for example "That's 17% off vs paying monthly ($120/yr)." New plan, Pricing step 7. Click Next: Content. Turn on Courses, Groups or Blog collections, then choose everything of that type or pick items. See Choosing what a plan or product unlocks. 8. Click Next: Publish. Under Where members find it, turn on Recommended if you want this plan highlighted, and Show in Google search if you want people to find it on Google. 9. Check the Before you publish summary. 10. Click Publish plan. You see "Plan published. Members can subscribe now." Not ready yet? Click Save as draft. You see "Draft saved. Members can't see it yet." The Preview on the right shows the plan as members will see it. The Recommended plan shows a Most popular badge there. Prices can't change Prices lock when you create the plan. On a saved plan, the price boxes are read-only. To charge a different price later, create a new plan. Then set the old plan to Closed to new members. Its subscribers keep their price. Plan statuses To change the status, open the plan, click Edit, then click the status button next to Save changes and pick a status. Confirm in the box that opens. Editing a plan | Status | New members | Current subscribers | |---|---|---| | Draft | Can't see it. Only admins see it. | None yet | | On sale | Can subscribe | Keep renewing | | Closed to new members | Can't subscribe. The plan leaves your pricing page. | Keep renewing at their price | | Archived | Can't subscribe. The plan leaves your pricing page. | Keep access until their next renewal date, then the plan ends. They are not charged again. | When you archive a plan, each subscriber gets an email before their plan ends: 7 days before for a monthly plan, 30 days before for a yearly plan. They can then pick another plan. If you put an archived plan back On sale or Closed to new members, subscribers whose plan has not ended yet keep renewing. They get an email that their plan continues. Rules and limits | Rule | What you see | |---|---| | Plan name: 3 to 40 characters | "Plan name must be at least 3 characters." | | 2 to 4 benefits | "Add 2 to 4 benefits. Members see them on the pricing page." | | Both prices, each at least 1 | "Enter both prices. Each must be at least 1. To give content away, make it free instead of creating a plan." | | Yearly price not lower than monthly | "The yearly price can't be lower than the monthly price." | | At most 2 decimals | "Use at most 2 decimals." | | At least one content type | "Select at least one content item or choose All for a content type." | | Up to 4 plans on sale at a time. Closed and archived plans don't count. | "N of 4 plans are on sale. You can sell up to 4 at a time." | | Only one Recommended plan, even among drafts and archived plans | "Only one plan can be recommended. Turn it off on the other plan first." | | Two plans on sale can't have the same monthly and yearly prices | "Another plan on sale has the same monthly and yearly prices. Plans need different prices." | - There is no free trial. - Studio also warns about prices that look wrong, for example "Yearly is less than 2 months of monthly. Is this a typo?" You can still save. - Changes to the name, benefits, image and content apply to new and current subscribers. Content you remove is taken away from current subscribers. - Once anyone has subscribed, the plan can never go back to Draft. Studio shows "Not possible: N subscribers. Close it to new members or archive it." - You can delete only a draft that nobody has subscribed to and that has no orders. Otherwise, archive it. On the plan, click ⋯ → Delete or Archive. A greyed-out Delete shows the reason, for example "Only draft plans can be deleted. Archive it instead." If something goes wrong | Message | What to do | |---|---| | "Connect Stripe before you publish: members can't pay until it is set up. Save this as a draft now, and publish after you connect Stripe in Settings → Payments." | Click Save as draft. Connect Stripe, then publish the plan. | | "You can sell up to 4 plans at a time, so your pricing page stays easy to choose from…" | Close another plan to new members or archive it. Or save this one as a draft. | | "Free groups and courses can't be sold…" | Remove the free item from the plan, or make it paid first. | | "Courses is turned off in this community. Turn it on to add courses to a plan or product." | Turn Courses on in Settings → Features, or remove courses from the plan. | Related - How access and selling work - Choosing what a plan or product unlocks - Create a one-time product - Orders, subscriptions and refunds

How access and selling work

Learn the one rule behind selling: you make content free or paid, and plans and products sell the paid content. Read this before you create a plan or product. The other Earn money articles build on it. The rule: content is free or paid You never put a price on a group, a course or a blog post. Each one is free or paid: - Free content is open to members (or, for a public blog post, to everyone). No payment. - Paid content is locked. Members get in only through a plan or a product that includes it. There are no free plans or free products. Every plan and product costs at least 1 in your community's currency. To give something away, make the content free. Make content free | Content | Where | Choose | |---|---|---| | Group | Groups → the group → Edit → Access | Who can join → Free: "Any member can join with one click. No payment." | | Course | Courses → the course → Edit → Who can join | Free: "Any member can enroll with one click. No payment." | | Blog post | Blogs → the post → Edit → Who can read | Public: "Anyone can read it, even visitors who haven't joined." | A free group can also have Add new members automatically turned on. Then every new member joins it when they finish onboarding. Make content paid 1. On the group or course, choose Paid: "Members get in when they subscribe to a plan or buy a product." 2. Pick at least one plan under Subscription plans, or one product under One-time products, or both. To publish the group or course, at least one of them must be on sale. Group edit, Access step If nothing sells it yet, you see "Nobody can join this group yet." On a course, you see "Nobody can enroll in this course yet." Members see the group or course locked. Click Create a subscription or Create a one-time product to make one there. These buttons put the new plan or product on sale at once, so Stripe must be ready first. You can also add the group or course to a plan or product from Pricing. See Choosing what a plan or product unlocks. Blog posts are sold in collections, not one by one. Choose Premium under Who can read it, add the post to a collection, then include the collection in a plan or product. Readers without access see the summary and a "Get access" button. Events can't be sold, and plans and products can't include them. Plans and products | | Plan | Product | |---|---|---| | How members pay | Every month or every year. Every plan has both prices. | Once | | How long access lasts | While the member stays subscribed | For life, or for a time you set (days, weeks, months or years) | | Can you change the price later? | No. Prices lock when you create the plan. | Yes. Past buyers are not affected. | | How many on sale | Up to 4 at a time | No limit | | Where | Pricing → Plans · subscriptions | Pricing → Products · one-time | A higher-priced plan always gives everything in the cheaper plans that are on sale. Members see "Everything in {cheaper plan}, plus:" on the plan. Selling needs Stripe You can make and save drafts at any time. To put a plan or product on sale, Stripe must be ready in Settings → Payments. See Connect Stripe to get paid. You don't need Stripe to go live. Give one member paid content for free Only Community Admins can give access. To unlock paid content for one member without payment, open Members, open the member and click Give access. No plan or product is needed. See Managing your members. Related - Create a subscription plan - Create a one-time product - Choosing what a plan or product unlocks - Connect Stripe to get paid

Orders, subscriptions and refunds

See every payment, check a member's subscription, and know what a refund in Stripe does to access. Only Community Admins can open Orders. The Stripe buttons work only for the person who connected Stripe. The Orders page In Studio, go to Orders. Every payment shows here: each one-time product, and each month or year of a plan. The money goes to your Stripe account. Orders page, list with status pills | Column | What it shows | |---|---| | Order | The order number. Members see it in their order history. | | Member | Who paid. "Deleted" if the account is gone. | | For | The plan or product, for example "Gold plan" with "Yearly · renewal". | | Amount | What was paid. Grey if nothing was paid. | | Status | See below. | | Date | When the order was made. | Search by member name, email, or the start of the order number. Filter by Types, Statuses and Time. Each plan renewal is its own row. Order statuses | Status | Meaning | |---|---| | Paid | The payment went through. | | Pending | Waiting for Stripe to confirm. It updates by itself. | | Failed | The payment did not go through. No access. | | Checkout not finished | The member left before paying. No money was taken. | | Refunded | Refunded in full. The access from this order was removed. | | Partly refunded | Part of the payment was refunded. The member keeps access. | Order details Click an order to open it. You see the member, the plan or products with their access, the total paid, and the payment details. For a plan payment you also see the subscription: Active with its renewal date, Won't renew with its end date, or Ended. If Stripe made an invoice, use View invoice or Download PDF. Nothing on this page changes an order. Refunds happen in Stripe. Refunds Studio has no refund button. You refund in your Stripe dashboard. 1. Open the order and click Refund in Stripe. Your Stripe dashboard opens in a new tab. 2. In Stripe, find the payment under Payments and refund it. 3. Studio updates the order by itself. Order details, "Need to refund?" panel What a refund does in your community: | You refund in Stripe | Order status | Access | |---|---|---| | The full amount of a product order | Refunded | Removed at once. | | The full amount of a plan payment | Refunded | Removed at once. The subscription is cancelled, so the member is not charged again. | | Part of a product order or a plan payment | Partly refunded | The member keeps access. | To give a member a goodwill refund and keep them in, refund part of the payment. Subscriptions - Members cancel or change their plan themselves, from their billing page. You can't cancel a member's plan in Studio. - After a member cancels, the plan shows Won't renew. They keep access until the end date. - When the plan ends, its access is removed and the member gets an email. If they have another active plan, they keep what that plan gives. - You can't delete a member whose plan still renews. Related - Connect Stripe to get paid - Create a subscription plan - Create a one-time product - Managing your members