A membership turns one-off buyers into regulars: customers pay a set amount every week, month or year, and get perks that make them come back. For an auction, raffle or prize site, it's also predictable income. This guide covers the Membership add-on for BidKing, RaffKing and PrizeX: how tiers and billing work, which perks you can offer, what happens when a renewal fails, and the auto-renewal rules to follow.
What the Membership add-on is
- An add-on: Membership isn't part of any edition. It adds a Membership section to the admin, with screens for tiers, members and members-only categories.
- Billed from the wallet: customers pay for membership from their wallet balance, the same balance they top up for bids, tickets and purchases. No separate subscription gateway is needed.
- A membership page on your storefront shows the tiers and lets signed-in customers join, change tier, cancel or turn renewal back on.
Setting up tiers
A new store starts with three sample tiers you can rename or replace. For each tier you set:
- A name and price.
- A billing period in days. A week, month, quarter or year shows as such; any other length shows as a number of days.
- The perks it includes (below), and whether members get a badge and in what colour.
- Whether it's featured on the membership page, its order, and whether it's shown on the membership page. Hiding a tier doesn't take anything away from its existing members.
The perks you can offer
- Cashback. A percentage of what a member spends goes back to their wallet. It applies to purchases and wallet top-ups paid through a payment gateway. It doesn't apply to lottery tickets or auction bids.
- A voucher. On joining and on each renewal, a member gets a single-use voucher for a fixed amount off, valid for the days you set. This perk needs the Coupons add-on.
- A birthday bonus. Once a year, on their birthday, active members get a set amount in their wallet.
- Members-only shop categories. Open chosen shop categories only to the tiers you pick. Members keep that access through a grace period, and other visitors are told the category is for members.
- A member badge around the member's picture, shown in the site menu, on bid histories, draws and the winners page.
Those are the perks the add-on enforces. Promise only these in your membership copy.
Billing, renewals and changes
- Joining charges the full price from the wallet straight away.
- Renewal is automatic. An hourly scheduled job renews memberships when their period ends, so cron must be running.
- Upgrading charges only the difference for the days left in the current period, worked out from each tier's daily rate. The renewal date stays the same.
- Downgrading costs nothing and refunds nothing, and the renewal date stays the same.
- Cancelling stops the next renewal. Perks continue until the end of the paid period, and the member can turn renewal back on before then. There's no refund for the rest of the period.
- Price changes reach existing members at their first renewal at least 7 days later, and they're emailed about the change.
When a renewal fails
- Usually the wallet is short. The membership goes into a 3-day grace period, and the perks keep working.
- The charge is retried every hour, and the member is emailed the first time it fails. If they use your mobile app, they can get a push notification too.
- Members can pay straight away with Pay now once they've topped up. You can retry the charge from the member's admin panel.
- If the grace period runs out, the membership ends and the member is emailed.
Managing members
- The Tiers screen shows paying members, renewals due in the next 7 days, failed payments, and who joined and left in the last 30 days. It also warns if a tier's voucher is worth more than its price.
- The Members screen has tabs for active, stopping, payment failed and ended, with search and a tier filter. Each member's panel shows what they've paid, their cashback and recent membership charges, and lets you stop, resume or retry.
Auto-renewal rules
Many places have laws on automatic renewals, such as California's auto-renewal law. The add-on helps:
- Consent. Joining requires ticking a box agreeing to automatic renewal, and this is checked on the server, not just in the browser.
- A confirmation email is sent on joining and on changing tier, with the renewal terms and how to cancel.
- Easy cancellation from the membership page.
The rules differ by country and state, and a membership on a raffle or prize site can raise other questions too. The operator is responsible for compliance, so check with a local lawyer before launch. Raffle and prize sites limit sign-up to 18 and over.
Common questions
How do customers pay for membership?
From their wallet balance. Joining charges the full price straight away, and renewals are charged automatically at the end of each period.
What happens if a member can't pay a renewal?
The membership goes into a 3-day grace period with perks still working. The charge is retried every hour and the member is emailed. If the grace period runs out, the membership ends.
Can members upgrade or downgrade?
Yes. Upgrading charges the difference for the days left in the period. Downgrading costs nothing and refunds nothing. The renewal date stays the same either way.
Which perks can a membership include?
Cashback on gateway purchases and top-ups, a voucher on joining and each renewal (with the Coupons add-on), a birthday wallet bonus, members-only shop categories, and a member badge.