How to enable a gift option for your paid subscriptions

Offering gift subscriptions for your paid content is a powerful way to attract new audiences and provide additional value to your existing subscribers. This article covers how to enable gift subscriptions on a tier, how subscribers purchase and redeem them, how to view and manage the gifts you've sold, and answers to frequently asked questions about the process.

Enabling this option adds a Gift option to your Upgrade Page, giving readers the ability to gift a subscription to someone else.

1. From the left panel, go to Subscriptions, then open the Tiers tab.
2. Find the tier you want to enable gifting for and click its 3 dots menu, then select Edit. You can also enable gifting while creating a new tier with + New Tier.
   
   
   

3. Continue through the tier flow to the advanced settings step. In the Additional purchase options section, toggle on Gift subscription to allow readers to purchase this tier as a gift for someone else. 

   Note: span The same advanced settings step also includes a Group subscription toggle (Max and Enterprise plans only, annual billing cadence required). Gift and group purchasing are separate options you can enable independently on the same tier. See How to set up and use group subscriptions as a publisher.
   
   
   Click Save (or Create, if you're setting up a new tier) to save your selection.

4. Once toggled on in your tier settings, you must also enable gifting in your pricing block settings in the Website Builder. With your Pricing block selected, navigate to the Gift section in the design panel and click YES next to Enabled. Read Featuring subscription upgrades and pricing on your site for full details.
   
   

   
   Pro Tip: We recommend enabling gift purchases for all of your paid tiers to help increase your subscription sales.

1. From the left panel, go to Subscriptions, then open the Tiers tab.
2. Click the Gifts tab (alongside Tiers, Group subscriptions, and Settings).
   
   
   

The table lists Purchased by, Recipient, Tier, Length, and Gift start date for every gift purchase. Search by email (purchaser or recipient), filter by Tier or Length, and click Gift start date to sort.

After you’ve enabled gift purchases for your paid tiers, a user who navigates to your Upgrade Page will see a Gift button option. Selecting this will take them to a module where they can purchase a gift subscription for any tier that you have enabled gift subscription purchases.

1. Someone wishing to make a gift purchase will click Gift on your Upgrade Page to see their options.
   
   
   
2. Once the user has selected their gift option, they will be presented with a form to fill out with the following information:

• Their name.
• Their email address. 
• The recipient’s email address.
• A message to the recipient (optional). 

• Set a date for it to be sent. This allows them to schedule a gift for now or a later date. If the scheduling option is not updated, the gift email will be sent immediately upon purchase.
  
  

  
  Tech Note: If the user schedules a gift publication subscription for a later date, the gift email will be sent at 12 PM UTC on the chosen date.

3. Once the purchase is complete, the purchaser will receive a receipt from Stripe and an email confirmation of their purchase.

The recipient will receive an email with their gifted subscription immediately following purchase, or on the scheduled gift receipt date. 

1. The recipient can claim their gift by clicking the Claim your gift button in the email.
   
   

   
   Tech Note: If your publication has double opt in enabled, the recipient will not receive an additional email, as the Claim your gift button will count as the recipient opting in to your newsletter
2. Next, they will be taken to the publication website home page. If you have a welcome email enabled, they will receive your welcome email at this time, but they will not go through any other steps you may have set up as a part of your Signup Flow.
    
3. The recipient can manage their subscription by logging in to your publication and navigating to their Profile image > Manage Subscription to enter their subscription management dashboard. From there, they can review their subscription, downgrade, or unsubscribe at any time.
   
   
   
4. Once the gift period ends, the recipient will no longer have access to the paid content, and will automatically be downgraded to a free tier subscription.
   
   If the gift recipient wishes, they may upgrade before the end of the gift period to maintain uninterrupted access to your paid content. To do this, they would navigate to your Upgrade Page, then upgrade their subscription as normal. 

What does a subscriber see in the Preference center when a gift has been purchased?

On the General Information page, the subscriber can see the gift under Subscription Status.