Read this article to understand how SMS pricing and credits work.
Recart offers a straightforward monthly billing structure designed to cater to the diverse needs of our valued merchants. Upon subscribing, merchants are billed a fixed monthly fee, which directly translates into the amount of credits available to send SMS. This system ensures transparency and predictability in your billing experience.
Details of the Billing Page
Once you are on a paid plan, you will be able to see all the details of your plan on the Billing Page.
Current plan
This is the monthly amount that is paid for the SMS feature, it is also the monthly credit that can be used for sending messages.
SMS Price
The price per one SMS message.
MMS Price
The price per one MMS message.
Current attributed revenue
The revenue is attributed from SMS messages in the active billing cycle.
Available Credit/Balance Due
One billing cycle's Credit equals the monthly plan minus the cost of the sent SMS and MMS messages. Rollover credit from the previous billing cycle is also included.
If you go over the number of credits you have in a month, this will show as "Balance due".
Date
The displayed date is the date when the active billing cycle ends and the new one starts.
How does the SMS credit work?
Rollover
Rollover occurs when you send fewer messages than your monthly credit.
- In case you do not send as many messages as your monthly plan allows, 50% of the leftover credit will be rolled over the next month’s billing cycle.
Example:
Your monthly plan is $1000 and you sent messages in the value of $800 in one billing cycle. When your new billing cycle starts you will be automatically charged $1000 (your monthly credit) and in your available credit for the new month, you will see $1100 (the monthly credit + 50% of the $200 not used the previous month).
Over-usage and SMS Threshold
Over-usage occurs when you send more messages than your monthly credit.
- In case you send more messages than your monthly plan allows, you will see the available credits turn negative and reflect as “Balance due”.
- Messages will be sent continuously and all features can be used.
- You will have a pre-determined SMS threshold which will be discussed with your customer success manager when setting up SMS. You can view your SMS threshold in the tooltip of “Balance due”.
- Once you have reached the SMS threshold, we will automatically charge you the full balance due within 24 hours and your balance will be zeroed out.
- If you do not reach your limit, you will be charged the full balance due at the end of your billing cycle.
- If the payment fails, you will be notified via email and the automatic charge will be retried one day later. If it still does not go through, another retry will be attempted a day later. A last attempt for payment will be made three days after the second retry.
- If no payment can be made, your account will be suspended and you will be notified via email. For more information on the suspended status and failed payment policy see this article.
Example:
Your monthly plan is $1000 and you sent messages in the value of $1200 in one billing cycle. Your available credit will show -$200 at the end of the billing cycle. This will automatically be charged to your account.
If your monthly plan is $1000 and you send messages in the value of $1500+ halfway through the billing cycle while your SMS Threshold is $500, you will automatically be charged the overage amount as soon as you reach it and your balance will be zeroed out.
Please note that is it possible that the end of the month does not overlap with the end of your billing cycle, hence the over-usage might not be charged at the same billing cycle it occurred. Continuing with the above example, if the $200 was not charged at the end of your cycle, it will roll over to the next billing cycle, and after the automatic monthly charge, the available credits will show $800. Negative credit rolls over indefinitely and will be changed manually once the monthly credit does not cover it at the end of the month.
If you have any remaining questions, do not hesitate to contact the Customer Support team.