This article contains the following sub-articles. Click the hyperlinked titles to navigate to the section that best suits your needs.
- What are recurring products?
- Frequency Options for Recurring Products
- Recurring Product Commission
- Notifications, Refunds, and Cancellations
- Billing Failures
What are recurring products?
Recurring products are products with an initial price and a recurring price. At the time of purchase, the customer pays the initial price and then pays the recurring price at a specified frequency. The vendor can specify a number of rebill payments, or the subscription can go on in perpetuity until canceled by the customer.
The vendor sets both the initial and recurring price, as well as the commission rate for the intial and recurring charge, as well as the frequency at which the recurring charge occurs. Vendors are also able to create trial periods, which allow customers to try out a product for free or for a reduced price until the recurring charge begins.
Rebilling frequency options allows vendors to select the frequency of payments for recurring products. CLICK HERE for more information on adding a recurring product to your account.
ClickTip: Once you add a recurring product to your account, you will not be able to edit it. If you wish to make changes to a recurring product, you must add a new product to your account. All terms of a subscription to a recurring product are captured at the time of purchase and are preserved for the life of the subscription.
Frequency Options for Recurring Products
Vendors can set the payment frequency for recurring products to one of the followings options:
- Specific Number of Days
The customer is billed after a number of days that is specified by the vendor. - Weekly
The customer is billed every week on the same day of the week. - Specific Number of Weeks
The customer is billed after a number of weeks that is specific by the vendor. - Every Other Week
The customer is billed every two weeks on the same day of the week. - Monthly
The customer is billed every month on the same date. If the date does not exist, the rebill date is adjusted to the latest possible day in the month. For example, if a customer signs up for a monthly product on March 31, their next two payments will be on April 30 and May 30. - Specific Number of Months
The customer is billed after a number of months that is specified by the vendor. If the date does not exist, the rebill date is adjusted to the latest possible day in the month. For example, if a customer signs up for a product that bills every two months on July 31, their next two payments will be on September 30 and November 30. - Quarterly
The customer is billed every three months on the same date. If the date does not exist, the rebill date is adjusted to the latest possible day in the month. For example, if a customer signs up for a quarterly product on January 31, their next payment will be on April 30. - Semi-Annually
The customer is billed every six months on the same date. If the date does not exist, the rebill date is adjusted to the latest possible day in the month. For example, if a customer signs up for a semi-annual product on August 31, their next two payments will be on February 28 and August 28.
ClickTip: Semi-Annual billing is an admin-controlled feature. Contact ClickBank if you want access to this feature. - Annually – The customer is billed every year on the same date. If the date does not exist, the rebill date is adjusted to the latest possible day in the month. For example, if a customer signs up for an annual product on February 29 of a leap year, their next payment will be on February 28.
ClickTip: Annual billing is an admin-controlled feature. Contact ClickBank if you want access to this feature.
Recurring Product Commission
For most recurring products, ClickBank purchases the product from the vendor at a wholesale price equal to 92.5% of retail, less a $1 stocking charge. However, for rebills associated with a recurring product where the rebill is less than $40, ClickBank purchases the rebill product from the vendor at a wholesale price equal to 90.1% of retail.
For affiliate directed sales, the commission percentage is subtracted from the net sale price. You can specify separate commission rates for the initial sale and the rebills.
Example
Here is an example of how commissions would be calculated if you offered a 55% commission for a 12-month subscription with an initial payment of $29.95, and monthly rebill payments are $9.95:
Initial Purchase
Initial Payment: $29.95
55% Commission on Net Sale: [($29.95 x 92.5%) - $1.00)] x 55% = $14.69
Recurring Payments
Rebill Payments: $9.95/month for 11 months
Net Sale Amount for each rebill payment: $9.95 x 90.1% = $8.96
55% Commission on Net Rebill Payments: $8.96 x 55% = $4.93
Total
Total Earned by Affiliate for this Subscription: $14.69 + ($4.93 x 11) = $68.92
Notifications, Refunds, and Cancellations
Before each rebill, ClickBank sends a pre-rebill email notification to the customer, reminding them of the upcoming payment. You can configure the timeframe for this reminder, or decide not to send it if the product's frequency is less than quarterly. ClickBank also sends an email notification when the rebill is made.
The customer can request a refund on a recurring product. If they request a refund within 60 days of the initial purchase, ClickBank may refund one or more payments based on our discretion. If a customer requests a refund, all future payments are also canceled. After 60 days, all sales are final.
If a customer cancels their subscription to the recurring product, the vendor will be notified via an email sent by ClickBank.
Billing Failures
Authorization Failures
In the event that the customer's credit card cannot support the payment request, we will attempt authorization again three days after the first failure date. After a second failure, we will reattempt four days after the second failure date. After a third failure, we will try once more seven days after the third failure date. A fourth failure will lead to an automatic cancelation of the subscription purchase. We send notifications to the customer on the final two attempts. The following is an example of payment failure timing due to an authorization failure:
- June 1 = 1st attempt, failed due to insufficient funds.
- June 4 = 2nd attempt, failed due to insufficient funds.
- June 8 = 3rd attempt, failed due to insufficient funds. Notification sent to the customer.
- June 15 = 4th attempt. If failed, the rebill is automatically canceled, and a notification is sent to the customer and to you.
Email Notification
When the third authorization failure occurs, we send an email notification to the customer. The email contains the order details and the following text:
Dear <Customer>,
Our records show that the credit card we have on file for the order detailed below is no longer processing correctly. This could be for a variety of reasons.
In order to continue receiving your title subscription your credit card information needs to be updated. Please click the following URL to update your payment information: www.clickbank.com.
We will attempt to rebill you in 7 days. If this billing fails, your order will be canceled.
Card Validation Failure
In the event that customer's credit card becomes invalid, we will deliver the customer up to four notifications requesting new credit card data. The notifications are delivered once a week. If there is no response after the fourth notice, the subscription purchase is automatically canceled. In order to keep the vendor informed, we also send them each notification. If updated credit card data is received from the customer, the rebills from that point forward are executed from the date of the successful authorization.
The following is an example of payment failure timing due to a card validation failure.
The subscription terms are:
- $30.00 per payment for 4 months
The Customer signs up on May 1, and is billed as follows:
- May 1 = $30.00
- June 1 = $30.00
- July 1 = Failed attempt to receive payment due to invalid card information, email notification sent to customer
- July 4 = Customer provides updated billing information, and the second 2nd attempt is executed, which is successful for $30.00
- Subscription complete on Aug. 4 with receipt of $30.00 payment
Email Notification
When a card validation failure occurs, we send an email notification to the customer. The email contains the order details and the following text:
Dear <Customer>,
This email is to inform you that your credit card information needs to be updated to continue receiving your subscription. Please click the following URL to update your payment information: www.clickbank.com
If you have purchased with PayPal please update your billing information within your PayPal account to ensure further service.
ClickTip: When you create a recurring product, you should verify that all information about your product is correct before submitting it for approval. Recurring products cannot be changed once they are approved. If you make a mistake in the pricing or frequency for a recurring product, you must create a new product to correct the error.
ClickTip: CLICK HERE for more information on how to view subscription reporting.
Additional Resources & Related Articles
- OFFICIAL GUIDE: ClickBank Seller Launch List
- BLOG POST: 4 Effective Customer Retention Strategies for Sellers
- KNOWLEDGE BASE ARTICLE: How do I offer a free trial of my product?
- KNOWLEDGE BASE ARTICLE: Subscription Reporting