Can't the app offer both one-time payment and subscription options?
I've been developing an app recently, and for the payment model, I've used the following approach:
- Users can use it for free - they are awarded free credits each month.
- Users can choose to subscribe - they will receive more credits each month based on their subscription plan.
- Users don't need to subscribe - they can make one-time purchases to buy a certain amount of credits as needed.(I don't want users to have to subscribe in order to pay, so usage-based subscription models are not something I'm considering.)
In other words, for more credits, users can choose to either subscribe or make one-time payments.
according to the document
https://shopify.dev/docs/apps/billing
and the definition of the one-time charge:
Create one-time app purchases
A single one-time app charge uses a pricing model similar to purchasing a product, where you make a one-time payment at the time of purchase. Multiple app charges follow a pay-as-you-go pricing model, meaning that when use of a service or product has reached a certain limit, another payment is made to continue using it. In this case, the one time charge represents multiple charges that your app creates.
Merchants must approve the pricing plan. After accepting the charges, the merchant is redirected to a URL that you provide.
I think my approach should comply with the relevant documentation.
However, when I was about to release the app for review, I was informed that an app cannot have both one-time payment and subscription payment models at the same time. Additionally, one-time payment can only be charged once during the app installation and cannot be charged again:
.... However,this does not apply to your app since it has recuring charges. lf you choosethe “One-time charge" option, you can no longer have the 2 pricing plans that currently exist in your app.
In addition to this,the one-time charge wil be applied immediately upon installation. While in your app's case, the merchants are not being chargedimmediately when they install your app, and they have the option to choose if they want to use your app for free, subscribe to the 'Premium' subscriotionplan, or buy an add-on token. ...
It seems the reviewer considers the one-time payment to be for purchasing the app itself.
After multiple rounds of communication and explanation, the reviewer still believes that I do not comply with Shopify's billing policy, so I will remove the one-time payment feature.
I don't know if I failed to properly understand the documentation or if the documentation is wrong. If the documentation is wrong, please correct it promptly to prevent others from making the same mistake as me. Secondly, I have noticed that some apps also offer a one-time purchase option for credits/tokens, allowing users to make multiple purchases as needed. Are they also violating the relevant regulations?
