How to manage a group subscription you purchased

This article is for newsletter subscribers who have purchased a group subscription to a beehiiv publication. If you are a beehiiv publisher who wants to offer group subscriptions on your own publication, see How to set up and use group subscriptions as a publisher.

What is a group subscription?

A group subscription lets you buy multiple paid subscriptions to a newsletter in a single purchase. You manage a pool of seats and invite people to claim them, one seat per person. Each person who claims a seat gets a fully paid subscription to the publication.

You are the admin for the group. You handle invitations, seat count, and billing. The people you invite do not see pricing or payment details.

How to purchase a group subscription

1. Go to the publication's upgrade page.
2. Select the Group option.
3. Enter the number of seats you want. The minimum number of seats available for the group is set by the publication. 
4. Review the live price preview, which updates as you adjust the seat count and reflects any per-seat discount the publisher has set.
5. Complete checkout. Once your payment has been fully processed, you can start inviting people to your group subscription.

Group subscriptions are only available on annual plans. If you do not see a Group option on the upgrade page, the publisher has not enabled group purchasing for that publication or tier.

How to access your group subscription

1. Navigate to the publication you purchased the group subscription for and log in. 
2. From your subscriber management profile, click on the Group subscription tab. 
   
   

Inviting members to claim a seat

1. From your group subscription management page, click on the + Invite members button to get started. 
   
   
   
   For your first invite, you’ll be asked to enter one or more email addresses, separated by a comma. Each person receives an invitation email with a link to save their seat. Click on the Send invite button to send your invitations. 
   
   

   You must type a comma after each email address to add it to your invitation list, even if you are only adding one email.

2. Once you’ve sent emails, you’ll be brought back to your group subscription management page. Click on + Invite to continue inviting by email, or, if you prefer, uploading a list via CSV. To do so, click on Bulk update with CSV. 
   
   
3. Your seat management page shows a roster of every seat, including the recipient's email address, status (Invited, Active, Expired, or Revoked), and the date your invite was sent. 
   
   If a member you invited needs the invitation to be resent, you can easily do that from here. Simply navigate to the member’s subscription record and click on Resend invite. 
   
   
   Or, if you wish to cancel an invitation, click on Cancel. 
   
   
4. Once your members have clicked the link in their email, they’ll be brought to a page to accept the invitation. 
   
5. Once the invitation has been accepted, you will no longer be able to cancel the invitation. Instead, if you wish to revoke access, click on the Remove button. 
   
   
   You’ll be prompted to confirm your choice to remove the member. If you are sure, click on Remove access. 
   
   
   The member will immediately lose access to group paid subscription benefits, and the seat will be freed up to invite a different member. 

Managing your group subscription plan

Use the Manage your plan drop down to access your options. 

Manage seats

From the manage seats modal, you can adjust the number of seats you have available on your plan. 

If you remove seats, you’ll be presented with the updated cost of renewal for your next billing cycle. Reductions will take place at your next renewal date. Click on Confirm changes to accept your new renewal price. 

Because you paid in full for an annual plan, you will continue to have your seat until your renewal date, at which point the seats will be removed from your plan. There is no refund or partial credit for the current billing period.

If you buy new seats, you will be asked to pay a pro-rated portion of the bill to cover the remainder of your billing period, due immediately. You’ll also be presented with your new cost of renewal at the end of your billing cycle. If you accept, click on Confirm changes. 


Upon paying, your new seat(s) will be available immediately. 

Change plan

Clicking Change plan will take you to your billing portal in Stripe, where you can make updates to your payment plan. 

Billing details

Clicking on Billing details will take you to the billing tab of your subscriber management profile. From here, you can view your current plan or access Stripe to update your payment details. 

Cancel subscription

Clicking on Cancel subscription will cancel your subscription for the upcoming renewal. Because you already paid in full for a year, you and your members will continue to have access until your renewal date. 

You will be prompted to confirm your cancellation. If you wish to proceed, click on Cancel subscription or click on Keep subscription to continue with your annual subscription cadence. 

How members claim their seat

When someone receives an invite:

• If they already have a free account with the publication, it is upgraded to paid. No payment information is required from them.
• If they are new to the publication, an account is created, and their subscription is activated automatically.
• A member's subscription management page shows that their access is managed by the admin who invited them.

Billing

You are billed for the group as a whole. Your billing view shows the tier and cadence, total seats purchased, renewal date, and total renewal cost. Individual members are not billed and do not see any pricing or payment details related to the group.

To access your billing: 

1. Navigate to the publication you purchased the group subscription for and log in. 
2. From your subscriber management profile, click on the Billing tab. 
   
   

Frequently asked questions about managing a group subscription you purchased