Patrons earn merch after they complete a required number of consecutive payments to any tier that contains that merch item. The number of payments patrons are required to make varies based on the type of Merch program the item is offered in. The total length of time it takes a patron to complete the required number of payments can vary based on whether the patron is new or existing, whether you charge your patrons up front each month, and whether the patron has any declined payments that are later resolved.
If a patron cancels their membership or switches to a tier that does not include the item, any progress that patron has made towards earning that merch item is lost. The patron can rejoin a tier that contains that item again later, which would restart their earnings progress from the beginning.
Let’s look at some examples to understand when patrons typically earn merch! For this example, we’ll use a merch program that delivers an item once after 3 months.
Charge up front example:
If a creator who charges patrons up front adds a merch item to a tier on May 15th, existing patrons with a valid membership in that tier will immediately earn their first payment towards that merch item, since they have already been charged for the month of May. On June 1st, those patrons would process their second payment towards earning that merch item. On July 1st, patrons would earn the merch item. If a new patron joins on July 15th, they would be charged immediately upon signup and earn their first payment towards their merch item. The new patron would earn their second payment towards their merch item on August 1st, and then earn the merch item on September 1st.
Non-charge up front example:
If a creator who does not charge patrons up front adds a merch item to a tier on May 15th, existing patrons with a valid membership in that tier will earn their first payment towards that merch item on June 1st, eventually earning the item on August 1st. A new patron who joins on July 15th would earn their merch item on October 1st.
As a reminder, you can always find what benefits your patrons have earned, including Merch for Membership benefits, in your Benefits page.
Editing an item’s design
Editing the item design or description does not affect when patrons earn merch. Any new orders sent to patrons after you edit the design will use the new design.
If you’ve removed an item or loyalty program from any tiers, all earnings progress for those tiers will be stopped.
If you’ve added an item or loyalty program to any new tiers, patrons of those new tiers will begin earning the items when you click the “Publish merch” button. You can find when each item or loyalty program was added to each tier on your merch tab.
