Gift Subscription

overview a gift prepaid subscription is a prepaid subscription that one person buys for someone else the purchaser pays upfront for a fixed number of deliveries, and the recipient receives and redeems the gift once redeemed, it behaves like any other prepaid subscription — deliveries are fulfilled on a set schedule until the prepaid term is used up it shares all the core prepaid traits paid in advance — there's no per cycle charge; the deliveries are already paid for by the purchaser fixed length — it runs for a set number of deliveries and then ends on its own can't be paused, skipped, or resumed — the same self service restrictions as any prepaid subscription what makes a gift different is the redemption step between purchase and activation a gift doesn't necessarily start delivering the moment it's bought — in most cases it waits for the recipient to redeem it first as with non gift prepaid, status is shown using two status fields ( state active / canceled / inactive, and prepaid state pending / active / completed / canceled), plus a processing state for the latest delivery gift subscriptions add two more fields that are specific to the gift flow redemption method — how the gift is redeemed ( ship , email , or print ) redemption code — the code the recipient uses to redeem (shown for gifts that require manual redemption) how a gift is redeemed there are two ways a gift can be set up, which determines whether the recipient has to do anything auto redeem gifts the gift activates automatically — no action is needed from the recipient it behaves like a normal prepaid subscription from the moment of purchase, shipping to the recipient's address auto redeem gifts are always set to ship manual redeem gifts the recipient must redeem the gift before it starts the gift sits and waits until they do the recipient redeems using one of three redemption methods email — the recipient is emailed a redemption code and a redemption link on a scheduled notification date they click the link, confirm their details (and provide a shipping address), and the subscription activates print — the gift is delivered as a printed gift card (no email is sent) the recipient redeems the code printed on the card ship — redeemed by shipping the product to a provided address when the recipient redeems (by entering their code and email, plus a shipping address where required), the system activates the subscription it creates an account for the recipient, sets their address, switches the subscription to draw from the prepaid funds (so the recipient is never charged), and begins fulfilling deliveries prepaid state a gift prepaid subscription moves through the same prepaid stages as a non gift one, but the pending stage carries the extra redemption layer pending the gift has been purchased but hasn't started delivering yet for gifts, this stage is where the redemption happens what puts it here the gift is created in pending at the time of purchase how it leaves pending auto redeem gifts leave pending almost immediately and become active on their own manual redeem gifts stay in pending until the recipient redeems their code until then, no deliveries are made and the subscription isn't yet tied to the recipient recipient notification (email method) for email redemption gifts, the recipient is sent their redemption code and link on the gift's scheduled notification date (print gifts are not emailed; the code is on the printed card ) note an unredeemed gift stays pending until it's redeemed — it does not expire on its own there is no automatic time limit that moves an unredeemed gift to a finished state a manual redeem gift will remain in pending indefinitely until the recipient redeems it, or until an admin cancels it if you need an unredeemed gift to end, it has to be canceled — it won't lapse by itself active the gift has been redeemed (or auto redeemed) and the prepaid term is underway deliveries are fulfilled on the set schedule, drawing down the prepaid balance one delivery at a time at this point the recipient is the subscriber, and deliveries are paid for from the prepaid funds — the recipient is never charged what puts it here the gift is redeemed (manual) or activated automatically (auto redeem) overall state active completed all of the purchased deliveries have been fulfilled and the prepaid term is finished the subscription has run its full course and won't place any more orders this is a natural, successful end what puts it here the final delivery in the prepaid term is fulfilled where you'll see it completed on the prepaid subscriptions page; the linked subscription's own details page shows inactive (with a prepaid state of completed ) note "completed" and "inactive" are the same outcome, shown from two different views on the prepaid subscriptions page, the state describes the gift's prepaid term — when every delivery has shipped, it reads completed on the subscription → details page, the state describes the subscription itself — once the term is done, it reads inactive , with a prepaid state of completed alongside it both are true at once the term completed , so the subscription is now inactive this is expected, not a discrepancy canceled the gift subscription was ended early , before all of its purchased deliveries were fulfilled because it was paid upfront, canceling triggers a prorated refund for the deliveries that were paid for but not yet received what puts it here the subscription is canceled (cancellation availability depends on a store setting — see available actions ) refund the unused (unfulfilled) portion of the term is refunded — as store credit to the recipient, or back to the original payment method overall state canceled available actions gift prepaid subscriptions carry the same action restrictions as all prepaid subscriptions pause, resume, and skip are not available — the term is purchased in advance, so the schedule can't be changed this way cancel is available only if the store enables prepaid subscription management — by default it's turned off; when enabled, canceling triggers the prorated refund above when these actions are unavailable, the admin shows the banner note "some actions not available — because this is a pre paid subscription, certain fields are not editable and some actions (like cancel, skip and pause) are not available " what happens at the end of the term when a gift prepaid subscription fulfills its last purchased delivery, it completes and goes inactive gift subscriptions are typically one time — they do not automatically renew, and the recipient is never billed to continue (if a gift were configured to renew or roll over into a standard subscription, it would follow the same end of term paths described in the prepaid (non gift) section ) gift specific admin fields on a gift subscription you'll also see gift? → yes — identifies it as a gift redemption method — ship, email, or print redemption code — the code the recipient redeems with (shown for manual redeem gifts; the recipient also receives this by email for the email method) recipient / purchaser — the gift is tied to a recipient (who becomes the subscriber once it's redeemed) and a purchaser (who paid for it) on cancellation, the refund goes to the recipient as store credit by default, or back to the purchaser's original payment method if processed that way