Delayed Subscription – Free Trial With Conditions

Shopify Apps
1

This post is regarding my store: https://my-best-tea-2.myshopify.com/

Hi there. I’m helping a client with a very specific issue. He wants to offer a “free” trial product. The catch: the customer has to select a subscription plan to get the trial for free.

Scenario: I am a customer and I want the free trial pack, so I add the trial pack to my cart. I select the option “I will subscribe to the 30-pack.” Because I have chosen this subscription, I will get the trial for free. At checkout, I only pay for shipping. 5 days later, I get an email saying that my cancellation window is now open, and I am reminded that I have 5 days to cancel my order before the subscription takes effect. I decided I liked the trial, so I will keep the subscription. On day 10, I get an email that my order for the subscription is fulfilled and my payment has been accepted.

I have thought of a few ways to do this:

  • I am currently using the Joy Subscription App, and have asked the support to help me with this, to no avail. I am now trying the Bold Subscriptions App, which has a “try before you buy” option, and I’m waiting to hear back from support. Ideally, the subscription app would have the customer check a box or make an agreement, and the payment would be delayed by 10 days. I would also like the subscription to lock cancellation for 5 days after the order is placed. Most apps only allow you to restrict the minimum number of subscription months (i.e. only cancel after month 1).
  • I have tried building an algorithm in Shopify Flows, where when the order is placed, check if at least one line item includes [trial pack]. If it does, check if the custom attribute contains “full price”. If it does, capture payment. If it includes “30”, wait 5 days, add line item [30-pack] to order, send email reminder. Wait 10 days. If the cancellation date does not exist, capture payment and fulfill the line item, beginning the subscription. I don’t think this works, partially because I can’t add the purchase option “subscription” to the new line item via Shopify Flows.

Does anybody know of a way I can do this? Is there an app or some code I can use? I am very determined to make this work. Please give me any ideas or leads that can help. I have attached a screenshot of the Flows algorithm I am working on:

Screenshot 2025-04-30 at 3.55.16 PM.png
Screenshot 2025-04-30 at 3.55.16 PM.png2880×1158 212 KB

Please tell me where I’m going wrong here!

2

UPDATE: I figured it out!! Posting the solution in case it helps someone in the future. I used the Joy Subscription App & Shopify Flow. To set it up, I added the following variant options to the trial product:

  • Monthly 30-Pack Subscription
  • Monthly 60-Pack
  • Monthly 90-Pack
  • I will pay full price for the trial

Adding those variants made it easier to separate the different options in Flow and restrict the discounts accordingly. For free shipping, I created a separate shipping profile for the free product when “90-pack” is selected (part of the deal). Since Shopify Flow can add a line item to an order after the fact, but not select a purchase option (one-time vs. subscription), I separated them into separate products. Now, someone will select their desired subscription, agree to the terms & services, and place their order. If they agree to pay full price, we capture the payment. Otherwise, wait 5 days. Then, add the subscription product to the order as a line item & notify the customer that their subscription is now active (but unpaid). 5 days later, if there is no “order cancelled” date, capture payment and fulfill the order. Honestly, I didn’t think I could do it, so I was hugely relieved at this breakthrough. Posting the flow below.

flow.png
flow.png3740×882 354 KB

3

Hi!

When you offer free trials, or trials with a partial payment for your item, you risk sending out the item without getting paid for it if the customer has insufficient funds or has canceled their card before the funds charging day (the order’s due date).

We created a solution just for that at Tryon (you can take a look at our app here). With Tryon you can create a “Try Before You Buy” (TBYB) plan and manage your TBYB orders. We put an authorization hold right upon order creation to secure your funds on your order’s due date. You can also report any returns (or have it reported automatically) for items that were returned and shouldn’t be charged.

In your case you could use Tryon with a subscription app to add two items to cart. One with a Tryon selling plan and the other with your chosen Subscription app’s selling plan. This solution would guarantee your funds for the trial item and will create the desired subscription right after the trial ends.