Change subscription quantity

Quantity-based, also known as user or seat-based, subscriptions allow consumers to subscribe to a plan and specify the number of units at the time of subscription. This gives subscribers the flexibility to change from one quantity to another depending on their need. For example, a remote tech support agency might have these different plans:

• Basic Plan - $4 per tech support agent, monthly plan.
• Premium Plan - $6 per tech support agent, monthly plan.

A subscribing company might start with the basic plan and 4 agents and then decide to increase to 10 agents to accommodate growth in the company.

Change quantity

To change the quantity of seats or units for a subscription, copy the following code and modify it.

Sample request

API endpoint used: Revise plan or quantity of subscription

curl -v -X POST https://api-m.sandbox.paypal.com/v1/subscriptions/I-BW452GLLEP1G/revise  
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-H "Authorization: Bearer ACCESS-TOKEN" \
-d '{
  "plan_id": "P-5ML4271244454362WXNWU5NQ",
  "quantity": "10"
}'

Modify the code

After you copy the code in the sample request, modify the following:

• ACCESS-TOKEN - Your access token.
• Subscription ID - In the URI for the API call, replace the sample ID with the ID for the subscription you want to update. In this example the subscription ID is I-BW452GLLEP1G.
• Plan ID - Replace the sample ID with the plan ID you want to use in the subscription. In this example the plan ID is P-5ML4271244454362WXNWU5NQ.
• Quantity - Replace the sample quantity with the number of units you want.

While this sample code increases the number of units, you can also decrease the number of units in a similar manner.

Subscriptions using PayPal require the user to login and re-consent to the change using the approve HATEOAS URL returned in the response. If re-consent is not done or if it fails, the subscription continues to be billed on the existing quantity. Subscriptions using direct card payment do not need re-consent.

Billing changes

The new price is effective starting on the next billing cycle. Proration and one-time fees aren't automatically supported. If you want to prorate the difference at the time the plan changes or charge one-time fees, you need to do these manually.

In the following example, a subscriber's billing cycle is at the beginning of the month, and they change the quantity of their plan mid-cycle.

• Subscriber starts the Basic $4 per unit quantity plan with 5 tech support agents, which amounts to $20 on 1 January.
• Subscriber increases to 10 tech support agents on 15 March.
• Subscriber is charged the new price of $40 ($4 per unit * 10) from 1 April billing cycle onwards.

See also

• Pricing plans
• Subscriptions REST API - Use the Subscriptions REST API to manage subscriptions, including updating, suspending, and canceling a subscription.