Create a product: Magazine Subscription

Owned by Igor Krasnykh (Unlicensed)
Last updated: Sept 20, 2021 by Yurii Perevuznyk (Deactivated)
3 min read

This tutorial is geared for a merchant who is selling publications (example: magazines, newspapers and so on).

In this example let's imagine a scenario where Game Informer (http://www.gameinformer.com/p/subscribe.aspx). There is one product - the magazine. There are two types of subscription offers: 12 Issues and 24 Issues. Both are available for an annual term. We will dig deeper and show how to also allow monthly subscription option and one time purchase for a flat fee.

Step-by-step guide

One simple way to get this setup would be to create a simple product "Game Informer Magazine" and setup annual and 2 year subscription plans with preset quantity.

  1. Creating "Game Informer Magazine" product
    1. Product Name: Game Informer Magazine
    2. SKU: gameinformer
    3. Price: $24.99 (original price)
    4. Click on Advanced Inventory link
      1. Change Manage Stock to "No"
      2. Click Done
    5. At this point our basic product setup is complete

    6. Scroll down to Subscription Options section and open it
      1. Available For: set to "One-Time and Recurring", since we want this magazine to be purchased as a one-off as well as allow customers to subscribe to it.
      2. Is Trial Offered: Off (we are going to keep this out from our basic demonstration)
      3. Start Date: Last Day of the Current Month (since we want to bill people at the end of the month)
      4. Lock Product Price: Off (will allow us to set a custom price for each billing frequency)
      5. Unlock Preset Qty: On (this option will help us specify a preset qty to be purchased by the customer. Example: 12 for 1 year, 24 for 2 years).
    7. At this point basic configuration of a subscription is done

    8. Now, let's connect this product to a Monthly billing frequency (how to set up a billing frequency)
    9. Click on Add Recurring Option button
      1. Select "Monthly" in the Billing Frequency drop down
      2. Set the Price to "24.99"
      3. Leave the Initial Fee to "0.00"
      4. Set Preset Qty to "1" (since this is only for a single issue of the magazine)
    10. Click on Add Recurring Option button
      1. Select "Annual" in the Billing Frequency drop down
      2. Set the Price to "19.98"
      3. Leave the Initial Fee to "0.00"
      4. Set Preset Qty to "12" (since this option will contain 12 issues of the magazine)
    11. Click on Add Recurring Option button
      1. Select "2 Year" in the Billing Frequency drop down
      2. Set the Price to "24.98"
      3. Leave the Initial Fee to "0.00"
      4. Set Preset Qty to "24" (since this option will contain 24 issues of the magazine)
    12. Click Save to save the product
    13. At this point your configuration should look like this

Result

One-Time Purchase

Monthly Subscription

Annual Subscription

2-Year Subscription