What to do After a Migration, Common Migration Questions
Why are past subscribers Whitelisted / on a Trial plan?
In order to avoid double charging paying subscribers during a migration, Pico will create a trial plan for the migrated subscriber that lasts until their next renewal period. After this, they'll renew at their standard rate through Pico. As an example, if a subscriber paid using a previous platform on the 15th of a month, and the migration ran on the 20th, the subscriber would be on a trial plan until the 15th of the following month (for 25 days).
Due to restrictions with PayPal, Pico can only migrate subscribers who have a credit card on file. Those who subscribed on a previous platform using PayPal will be given subscriber benefits via a whitelist through the end of their current billing cycle, if their billing cycle did not already end during the migration.
To resume collecting subscription dues from your PayPal subscribers, we strongly recommend sending them an email asking them to re-subscribe using a credit card as soon as possible. For an email template click here.
How do my current subscribers access my site after I disable my current paywall and install Pico?
You can do this one of two ways. You could completely disable the paywall on Pico's end allowing the site to open to anyone. Or, if you prefer to have the paywall still active, you could whitelist any existing subs. The reader will first need to login to your site through Pico. Any whitelisted user will continue to have their access until the migration completes at which point the account will be associated with the proper monetization plan and their subscription will continue as normal.
Why weren't certain people migrated?
After a migration is complete, all subscribers or whitelisted users will be available in the CRM. There are occasions where past subscribers will either not be imported at all, or instead imported to a whitelist.
Pico does not import inactive subscriber data.
Here are the scenarios:
Users paying by non-credit card (Amazon, PayPal, etc.)
If the next billing date is after the date the migration is run - These users will be imported to a whitelist, set to expire on their next billing date. We cannot import Amazon or PayPal information, so after the period the subscriber has already paid for ends, they'll be prompted to resubscribe.
If the next billing date is before the date the migration is run - These users will not be imported at all, and should instead resubscribe on Pico. In the following scenario as an example (previous subscription management platform turned off paywalls and renewals on Jan 15. Next Billing date is set for Jan 17. Migration run on Jan 20. The subscriber would not have been charged on Jan 17, so should not have access as their previous payment ends on Jan 17).
Non-credit card, next period end before migration.
Does the history of payment and subscriptions data get migrated and continue seamlessly as it was in?
Following a migration, previous payment history information will be lost. The history of payment will start the date the migration completes. Any subscriptions will maintain the renewal date. Any subscriptions that were set to renew during the brief period of the migration will have their renewal date on midnight as soon as the migration is completed.
My subscribers can't see their previous payment methods?
When migrating from platforms that were using Stripe previously, Pico will maintain the existing subscriptions, including renewals, but new payments (including an additional donation or switching payment plans) will require subscribers to enter their payment information once directly through Pico.
Is it free to start?
Yes. There is no monthly Pico fee until you register more than 500 records. Transaction fees apply to all purchases processed by Pico. Currently, Pico does not offer any discounts for non-profits organizations. For more information, explore our pricing page.
What are records?
A record is a unique email address registered by Pico. Records include migrated subscribers, as well as any new subscriber or email signup facilitated by Pico. If you have existing newsletter subscribers who are not among your migrated paying subscribers, they will not be counted by Pico until they log in to your site using Pico.
Can we migrate multiple sites into one instance of Pico? If you are interested in merging multiple site subscriber bases, you may request us to do so during this migration. However, your merged subscriber base in Pico can only be associated with one domain. If you intend to maintain different subscription offerings across multiple domains, you will need to keep your subscriber bases separate and create a new Pico account for each.
Do you accept clients outside the United States?
Pico can only process payments for businesses in countries supported by Stripe. At this time, Pico can only present and process payments in USD. Pico’s menu language (outside of customized elements) is only available in American English at this time. It is possible for subscribers to use credit cards that are not based in the US, but they will be charged in USD and any associated conversion fees.
Do you support non-renewing subscriptions?
Not at this time. Publishers as well as end users can cancel their subscription immediately after purchase to prevent a renewal (while maintaining access through the end of the payment period).