removing lower tier member area subscriptions automatically

Site URL: https://www.jabberdesigns.com

Hi there,

I was just wondering if it's possible to automatically cancel lower-tier subscriptions to member areas automatically once a higher payment tier is selected.

For example, I have a free basic account, then 3 monthly subscription member areas at different price points that give more advantages, discounts, content etc.

However, currently, it seems that whenever a member upgrades their account to one of the higher tier options, they maintain their subscription to the lower tier member area unless they cancel it themselves.

Ideally, the way members areas works on squarespace, i'd like to have everyone retain their free basic account priveleges, whilst having the bonus content from the tiered subscriptions, so for example, someone would upgrade from a basic account to a tier 2 account and retain both, however if they had both a basic account & a tier 1 account already, upgrading to a tier 2 account would cancel their tier 1 subscription automatically.

Hopefully this makes sense? If you'd like me to elaborate further I can, or try to show you an example?

Thanks for any help or discussion you can provide!

Anyone have any ideas for this? I've googled and googled and can't find anything to help me remedy this problem, even though it seems quite an obvious request for something like subscription tiered member areas?

4 hours ago, paul2009 said:

It is not currently possible for subscribers to "switch" to a different Member Area plan and so automatically cancel their previous subscription. Subscribers must manually cancel their previous subscription by logging on to their account, or you can manually cancel it on their behalf.

It is not possible to automate this because code isn't supported in this part of Squarespace.

Thanks for the response!

Do you know of any possible workarounds for this? Maybe a Zapier/integrately integration?

Otherwise it appears I may have to switch to memberspace to remedy this for the time being until it's a feature added by squarespace?

9 hours ago, JabberDesigns said:

Do you know of any possible workarounds for this? Maybe a Zapier/integrately integration?

Otherwise it appears I may have to switch to memberspace to remedy this

As I mentioned, it isn’t possible to workaround this. The API doesn’t offer a way to cancel subscriptions and so no code or integration can help.

Note that third-party products don’t actually protect Squarespace content. Whereas adding Member Areas is like adding a lock to a door to prevent visitors opening it, adding a third party membership product to Squarespace is like putting a plant in front of the unlocked door and hoping no-one will notice it. 

On 8/22/2022 at 9:32 AM, paul2009 said:

As I mentioned, it isn’t possible to workaround this. The API doesn’t offer a way to cancel subscriptions and so no code or integration can help.

Note that third-party products don’t actually protect Squarespace content. Whereas adding Member Areas is like adding a lock to a door to prevent visitors opening it, adding a third party membership product to Squarespace is like putting a plant in front of the unlocked door and hoping no-one will notice it. 

Hi @paul2009 thanks again for your response. So I'm a little bit stuck on how to achieve what I want to create with the current system. Do you think there will be any support for tiered subscriptions/memberships and/or a way to display relevant account information on personal pages anytime soon?

Or do you think it's worth switching the e-commerce/member section of my site to another platform for the time being to achieve my desired result? I absolutely love everything about Squarespace and would like to have my whole website within the ecosystem but in order to achieve the result I want, I'd probably have to wait for these features to be implemented.

Many thanks for giving me great responses, you've been very helpful :)

James

51 minutes ago, JabberDesigns said:

Do you think there will be any support for tiered subscriptions/memberships and/or a way to display relevant account information on personal pages anytime soon?

I wish I had better news but you're pushing the limits of what is possible on Squarespace. Neither feature is likely to be added in the next six months as they aren't likely to be as important to most typical Squarespace customers when compared to other missing features.

The problem with membership systems is that customers get "locked into" whichever system you choose, and there is rarely an easy way to switch to another system without requiring members to take action.

If you need these features then I recommend you choose a different platform from the start.

If these features are optional at the moment then Member Areas may be a good solution, that will definitely see other improvements in the next quarter.

On 8/21/2022 at 5:34 PM, JabberDesigns said:

Thanks for the response!

Do you know of any possible workarounds for this? Maybe a Zapier/integrately integration?

Otherwise it appears I may have to switch to memberspace to remedy this for the time being until it's a feature added by squarespace?

Hi @JabberDesigns!  Paige with MemberSpace here.

I noticed you mentioned the possibility of trying out MemberSpace, so I wanted to jump in and see if I could help in any way.

It seems your biggest challenge here is that you are wanting an existing subscription to automatically cancel when a member joins a new subscription.  With MemberSpace, because members can only be on one recurring payment plan (aka subscription) at a time, the initial subscription would automatically cancel upon joining a new subscription plan.  

In addition to the one subscription plan, members can join unlimited free, one-time payment, and/or multiple payment plans.

Regarding the security of your content, we do have a few different security options which would allow you to add extra protection to your website content.  Our Content Links and Extra Security Code features are great options for adding an extra layer of protection to your members-only content.  You can learn more about our security options here.

Finally, if you were to decide that MemberSpace is a good fit, we don't lock you into using our platform forever.  All of your membership content will still be hosted on your Squarespace site, and if you ever were to cancel MemberSpace, we wouldn't cancel your members' subscriptions.  Those subscriptions would seamlessly continue in the payment processor, Stripe.

I know that was quite a bit of information, but I wanted to be sure to provide as much clarity as I could in relation to your points above in this thread!  Please let me know if you have questions about any of that. 🙂