thread Re: Changes to Subscriptions in Payments Troubleshooting

Changes to Subscriptions

TeamBSTS — Sun, 21 Sep 2025 10:52:24 GMT

So late last year, I set up a few Subscriptions in Square Online. The subscriptions are for club memberships - allowing people to pay monthly for events we run (and get certain benefits in return) rather than paying in store when they arrive. A few folks took Subscriptions out and it all worked smoothly. Late last week, the subscription items went "Unavailable." I made them all available again, but now apparently we can only offer a subscription service if it's "shipped", rather than "in store collection". So anyone taking out a subscription would pay a shipping fee, which of course isn't what we want. The following message has appeared on the items: "This item can be purchased as a subscription. Currently, only shipping is available as a fulfillment method for subscriptions." So the question. Is this a permanent change? If it is, then is there any other feature of Square I'm missing that would provide a better solution for what I'm trying to do? Thanks in advance for any help!

Re: Changes to Subscriptions

Breffni — Wed, 07 Feb 2024 11:16:50 GMT

Hi @TeamBSTS 👋

I'd be happy to help, just looking to gauge your current set-up.

Did you set these subscriptions up as Checkout Links? Or as Items set as memberships?

Do you have Shipping fees for other items that do require it?

Re: Changes to Subscriptions

TeamBSTS — Wed, 07 Feb 2024 12:13:20 GMT

Hi Breffni,

Many thanks for replying!

So I think I've inadvertently managed to fix my problem, while having a look for the answers to your question.

I'll write up some notes to help anyone in the same position as me with a problem with subscriptions.

So here's what I'd done previously...

We run a hobby gaming store. As part of that we run a number of weekly instore events which all have entry fees.

My idea, to cut down on admin and encourage attendance, was to offer monthly subscriptions to play at these events. So along the lines of - pay monthly to play on Tuesday nights and get some benefits in return.

I set up some Items in Square Online and linked them to Subscription plans as required.

For Item Type, I'd selected "Physical" even though there's not actually any physical product involved.

("Event" didn't work as an Item Type for what we were doing here because that would mean tying the product to a specific date and time, rather than an ongoing weekly event. So I figured "Physical" was the best solution and it worked.)

I created these "Items" last year and the process worked really smoothly until last week.

Something changed in the Square back end and "Physical" items attached to a subscription can now only be offered with Shipping. Pickup and Local Delivery are no longer options. I've got no idea why that change would be made (and it potentially causes me a problem with another idea I have). Meanwhile of course I don't want our event subscribers to have to pay a shipping fee every month.

But I think I've now solved my problem by selecting "Other" as the item type. Seems to be working. I'll update further if I run into any problems.

Re: Changes to Subscriptions

Breffni — Thu, 08 Feb 2024 09:01:39 GMT

That makes sense - thanks for letting us know @TeamBSTS! If anything else comes up just let me know.