Prepaid Subscriptions

Prepaid subscriptions let a customer pay once for several upcoming deliveries, instead of being charged before each one. They're ideal for "pay for 3 months up front and save" style offers, a yearly payment with monthly deliveries, and gift subscriptions. This guide explains how prepaid is set up, exactly how the price is calculated, and how prepaid behaves when you also renew on specific dates.


To configure this, go to Supr Bundles & Subscriptions > Offers > [Your Offer] > [Your Subscription Option] and click Prepaid subscription on the option.


Table of contents



What prepaid changes (and what it doesn't)


Prepaid changes how often the customer is billed, not how often they receive a delivery.


  • The delivery schedule stays the same (e.g., a delivery every month).
  • The billing schedule is less frequent: the customer pays once for a set number of deliveries, then pays again when that batch runs out.


So a "monthly delivery, prepaid 3" subscription still ships every month, but the customer is charged once every three months.


Setting up a prepaid option


  1. Open the subscription option and set Repeat order every and Order intervals to the delivery cadence (e.g., every 1 Month).
  2. Under the option's main fields, each of its other settings is a small chip that names it and, once it is on, shows On or its value. Click Prepaid subscription: the option's Additional settings open with it expanded. Turn it on.
  3. Set Orders covered with each payment, how many deliveries one payment covers (minimum 2).


That's it: the billing interval is calculated for you as the delivery cadence multiplied by the number of orders per payment.


Common setups


Goal

Repeat order every

Orders covered with each payment

Pay yearly, deliver monthly

1 Month

12

Pay yearly, deliver every 3 months

3 Months

4

Pay yearly, deliver every 6 months

6 Months

2

Pay every 3 months, deliver monthly

1 Month

3


Always set Repeat order every to how often you ship, never to how often you bill. For a yearly payment with monthly deliveries, do not set the option to repeat every 1 Year: set every 1 Month with 12 orders covered.


One-off prepaid, with no auto-renew


By default a prepaid subscription renews: when the paid batch of deliveries runs out, the customer is charged again for the next batch. A one-off prepaid does not. The customer pays once, receives every delivery in the batch, and the subscription then ends on its own with nothing further to cancel. This is what you want for gift subscriptions, seasonal boxes, and fixed-length courses or programmes.


To set one up, open the subscription option, click Prepaid subscription and turn it on, set Orders covered with each payment, and tick One-off (single prepaid, no auto-renew).


When the last delivery is done, the subscription shows as Completed and is never charged again.


How the prepaid price is calculated


The amount charged at each payment is simply the price of one delivery multiplied by the number of deliveries in the batch:


Prepaid payment = (price per delivery) × (orders covered with each payment)


Shipping works the same way: each delivery in the batch is shipped, and the shipping for all of those deliveries is collected in the single upfront payment.


Worked example


  • Product price: $20
  • Delivery cadence: every 1 month
  • Orders covered with each payment: 3


The customer is charged $60 (3 × $20) and receives a delivery every month. After the third delivery, they're charged $60 again for the next three months, and so on. If the option is set to one-off, the subscription simply finishes after the third delivery and no second payment is taken.


Everything in the price of one delivery is multiplied, including anything built into the variant's price (for example a gift wrap variant that costs $5 more). On a prepaid option covering 12 deliveries that $5 is charged 12 times. There is no setting to charge an extra once per payment. One workaround is to give the product a variant for each term (for example 6 months and 12 months), price each variant for the whole term in Shopify, and give each variant an offer with its own subscription option. Contact support if you would like help with it.


Discounts on prepaid


Every discount type is worked out per delivery, then multiplied by the number of deliveries in the payment:


  • Percentage scales the whole payment. 10% off in the example above makes each payment $54 (3 × $18).
  • Amount off comes off each product for each delivery. $2 off makes each payment $54 (3 × $18).
  • Fixed price sets the price of each product for one delivery, not the whole payment. A fixed price of $15 makes each payment $45 (3 × $15).


Check the final amount in the offer's widget preview before launching, or place a test order.


Several items in each delivery


For a prepaid option that ships several units each time (for example 3 bottles every quarter, paid yearly):


  • Click Sell in fixed quantities on the same option, turn it on and set the Quantity, or
  • Use a Bundle + Subscription offer with Quantity break bundle options, or
  • Sell a multi-pack as its own variant.


The payment is then (price of the items in one delivery) × (orders covered).


How prepaid prices are shown


  • In the widget: a renewing prepaid option shows the payment with its billing cadence, for example $60.00 / 3 months. A one-off shows the price on its own ($60.00), and the prepaid subtitle reads billed as $60.00 rather than billed as $60.00 / 3 months.
  • Per delivery or per unit: turn on Subscription price details under Design > Add-on settings to show the price per delivery (Per delivery price text (prepaid)) and per unit under the product price. You can also add a line in the option's Benefits.
  • In the cart and at checkout: Shopify shows the full amount of the prepaid payment, because that is what the customer pays today. This cannot be changed to a per delivery price.


The prepaid schedule on a contract


Open any prepaid subscription in Subscriptions and you'll see a Prepaid schedule card listing the planned delivery dates in the paid batch. Each one is a shipment the customer has already paid for. Press Reschedule on any delivery that is still scheduled and pick a new date.


Reschedule the deliveries after this one too is ticked by default. The rest of the batch is then rebuilt from the date you picked, at the subscription's delivery frequency. On a monthly subscription, moving a delivery to 10 April puts the ones after it on 10 May, 10 June, and so on, so the whole remaining schedule lands on dates you can predict.


Untick it to move that one delivery on its own. The calendar then greys out any date that would put two deliveries on the same day, because Shopify combines two deliveries that fall at the same time into a single shipment and marks the other one completed. The customer would receive one double shipment and one delivery fewer, so those dates are kept out of reach.


Each paid delivery is released for fulfilment on its date. See When customers are charged vs when orders are fulfilled.


Combining prepaid with specific renewal dates


A prepaid option can also renew on a date you choose: open the subscription option, click Renew on specific dates and turn it on, and pick the date. The date applies to both the delivery dates and the re-billing date:


  • Deliveries land on your chosen day at the delivery cadence (e.g., the 1st of each month).
  • Re-billing happens on that same day once the prepaid batch is used up.


Example: monthly delivery, prepaid 3, Day of month set to the 1st:


  • The customer's deliveries are scheduled for the 1st of each month (e.g., 1 Jan, 1 Feb, 1 Mar).
  • The next payment is taken on 1 April, covering 1 Apr, 1 May, and 1 Jun, and the cycle repeats.


How the very first batch lines up with your date is governed by the First order setting (Fulfil immediately or Wait for the next date) and the cutoff window, exactly as for pay-per-order subscriptions. For the full set of worked first-order examples, see A Beginner's Guide to Subscription Offers.


Renewing on specific dates never delays the first payment. The customer pays for the first prepaid batch in full at checkout, even when First order is set to Wait for the next date. That setting only holds back the first delivery.


Notes and limitations


  • Orders covered with each payment must be at least 2 (1 would just be a normal pay-per-order subscription).
  • On an option that repeats every few months you can choose the Day of month, but not specific calendar months: the months follow when each customer joined. Options whose Order intervals is Year can set a specific Month and Day.
  • Prepaid supports a one-off variant that expires after a single prepaid batch, perfect for gift subscriptions. See One-off prepaid, with no auto-renew and Can I offer gift subscriptions.
  • You cannot add an extra free delivery to a prepaid batch. To send a free replacement or an extra month, create a draft order in Shopify admin > Orders > Drafts with a 100% discount.


Common questions


How do I set up one yearly payment with monthly deliveries?
Set Repeat order every to 1 Month, turn on Prepaid subscription and set Orders covered with each payment to 12. The customer is billed once a year and receives a delivery every month.


Why is the prepaid price 12 times the product price?
A prepaid payment covers several deliveries, so it is the price of one delivery times the number of deliveries. Add a discount to the option to reward paying up front.


Does a Fixed price discount set the price of the whole prepaid payment?
No. A fixed price is the price of each product for one delivery. The payment is that price times the number of deliveries.


Can I make a weekly prepaid with one delivery per payment?
No, a prepaid option covers at least 2 deliveries. For one charge per delivery, use a normal pay-per-order option: the customer is charged automatically before each delivery.


Why does the cart show the full prepaid amount instead of the per delivery price?
The cart and checkout show what the customer pays today, which for prepaid is the whole batch. Show the per delivery price on the product page with Subscription price details under Design > Add-on settings.


My one-off prepaid subscription shows Completed. Will the customer be charged again?
No. A completed one-off prepaid never renews.


Can I give a prepaid customer a free extra month?
Not inside the subscription. Create a draft order in Shopify with a 100% discount and send the extra delivery that way.



Updated on: 09/25/2026

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