Upgrading Membership and PayPal

I have a site with different membership levels (e.g., free, silver and gold). Levels silver and gold have monthly subscriptions (e.g., $5 and $10, resp.) and yearly subscriptions (e.g., $50 and $100, resp.). From what I’ve read on the forums, upgrading these memberships requires s2Membership Pro and actually occurs by canceling the old subscription and creating a new subscription to circumvent the PayPal 20% rule.

If a member has a monthly silver membership and upgrades, is it correct that the old subscription ends, the new subscription starts and the user get billed at the time of the upgrade?

Are there any upgrade or downgrade restrictions (e.g., can a member with a yearly silver membership upgrade to a monthly gold membership)?

Is there any prorated refund for the unused portion of an old membership? This may be more important if a member with a yearly silver membership upgrades.

What happens if a member downgrades their membership?

Thank you.

Hi Steve.

Are there any upgrade or downgrade restrictions (e.g., can a member with a yearly silver membership upgrade to a monthly gold membership)?

No, the user can upgrade to any level.

Is there any prorated refund for the unused portion of an old membership? This may be more important if a member with a yearly silver membership upgrades.

You can use some PHP to calculate the unused time and adjust in the shortcode the amount to pay based on that. http://www.primothemes.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=36&t=1604

What happens if a member downgrades their membership?

Same as upgrade: the s2Member Level role is changed, the previous subscription is terminated and a new one started.

I hope it helps. :)

When s2Member cancels an old subscription and creates a new subscription to circumvent the PayPal 20% rule, is this done in one or two transactions?

Does the member see one or two PayPal buttons?

Please describe the user interaction. What does the member see and do?

Thank you.

Hi Steve.

The user just pays for the new one, he doesn’t have to do anything extra to have the previous one cancelled. If there was a subscription tied to his account and he pays for the new one, then s2Member will silently take care of the change.