> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://help.memberply.com/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://help.memberply.com/members-area/change-a-members-membership.md).

# Change a member's membership

Use **Members > open a member > Change membership** to move one person to another enabled membership tier. This is useful when staff move to a standard membership or a gift recipient wants to continue with a paid membership.

The member keeps their existing customer record and membership number. Previous membership records remain available, and a member can return to a tier they have held before.

If the member wants to choose and purchase the change themselves, see [Let members change their plan](/members-area/member-self-service-plan-changes.md). That account-based flow has different unused-time credit behavior from the merchant invitation described here.

## Move to a free membership

1. Select the new free membership.
2. Read the confirmation, then select **Confirm change**.

The change applies immediately. Existing active, paused or failed subscriptions are cancelled in Shopify before Memberply applies the free membership, regardless of their normal cancellation policy. No refund is issued. Previous benefits end and the new tier's benefits begin as Shopify finishes synchronizing.

If a subscription cannot be cancelled, the new free membership is not applied. Refresh and check the subscription status before trying again, particularly if the member has more than one subscription.

## Invite a member to a paid membership

1. Select the new paid membership.
2. Choose **Send payment invitation**, then select **Send payment invitation**.

The invitation goes to the member's saved email address. It does not charge the member, grant the destination tier's benefits, cancel their current subscription or extend their existing membership. Their current expiry and billing dates continue to apply.

The member signs in using their membership email address, selects an available payment option and completes Shopify checkout. The link works with both Shopify customer account types. Any application approval and rejoin restrictions for the destination tier still apply. A previously completed application may need review before another purchase.

After the purchase is processed, Memberply activates the new membership and handles the previous subscription according to its cancellation policy. No automatic refund or unused-time credit is issued by this invitation flow.

Invitations are available for 30 days. Sending another invitation replaces the previous invitation. Wait at least five minutes between invitations to the same member. If the member already has a subscription on the destination tier, or a paused or failed subscription on any tier, review that subscription before sending an invitation.

## Change membership now, without taking payment

1. Select the new paid membership.
2. Choose **Change membership now**.
3. Review or edit the **Payment deadline (UTC)**.
4. If the member has existing Shopify subscriptions, confirm that they will be cancelled immediately without a refund.
5. Select **Confirm change**.

The previous membership ends and the destination membership becomes active immediately. The new benefits are synchronized to Shopify in the background. No payment invitation is sent, no payment is taken, and no new Shopify subscription is created. For example, move an activated but unpaid member from an individual artwork membership to a two-artwork membership before asking them to pay.

Active, paused or failed Shopify subscriptions in your store are cancelled before the change is applied, regardless of their normal cancellation policy. Recurring billing stops immediately. There is no automatic refund or unused-time credit. A new paid subscription starts only after the member later completes checkout. Cancelled and expired subscriptions do not block the change. Other unfinished subscription statuses, or an unfinished subscription already on the destination tier, require review before changing.

If cancellation fails, Memberply does not apply the new membership. Refresh and check the subscription status before retrying, especially when there is more than one subscription: a cancellation already confirmed by Shopify cannot be undone by a later failure.

### Payment deadline and reminders

The suggested deadline is the earliest existing payment deadline, membership expiry or unfinished subscription billing date. If none exists, monthly tiers suggest one month and yearly tiers one year. A tier offering both uses one month when a monthly price is available, otherwise one year. This is shown for review, not silently applied. If no date can be suggested, enter one. A past deadline must be replaced with a future date.

You can change this date before confirming. An edited date uses the end of that day in UTC; an unchanged suggestion retains its existing time. The selected deadline becomes both the new payment deadline and access expiry. The old tier ends immediately even when the payment deadline is in the future. If the member does not complete payment setup, their access expires under the usual expiry processing.

If payment has not been set up, reminder emails are scheduled **7 days and 1 day before the payment deadline**. Reminder dates that have already passed are not backfilled. Choosing **Change membership now** skips only the immediate invitation, not these later reminders.

You can send a payment setup email later for an eligible recurring membership. The member is recorded as imported/awaiting payment. This changes membership access, not a submitted application: it does not move an application to another form or approve an application record. Because the merchant has assigned the member directly to the destination tier, a later payment setup link lets them pay for that imported tier without reapplying. A payment invitation that leaves the member in their current tier still follows the destination tier's application rules.

## Timing

This action does not schedule a future membership change or collect payment details now for a first charge on a future date. Send the payment invitation when you want the member to complete checkout. The member sees prices and payment terms before confirming their purchase.

## Move imported members in bulk

Use **Members** to move up to 100 active imported members or members on free tiers to an enabled recurring paid tier. You can keep existing dates or set a new payment deadline during the transfer. A temporary paid tier is not needed.

1. Select a tier total to filter its active members, or search for the members you need.
2. Select the members using the checkboxes. Choose **Move imported members** in the bulk action selector.
3. Choose the destination tier. **Keep existing dates** is selected by default. For free-tier members or members without a payment deadline, choose **Set a new deadline for selected members** and enter a future date within five years.
4. Select **Preview changes**. Review the payment deadline and access expiry shown separately for each person. When setting a deadline, the preview also shows the previous dates. Ineligible members are skipped with a reason.
5. Select **Confirm transfers** (the button includes the number of eligible members).
6. Keep the page open until processing finishes, then review each result. **Stop remaining changes** lets the current transfer finish and leaves the rest unprocessed.

When keeping existing dates, only active imported members with a future payment-setup deadline are eligible. When setting a new deadline, active free-tier members are also eligible, even if they were not imported and have no existing payment deadline. Members must have no unfinished Shopify subscription. Active, paused, failed and other unfinished subscriptions are skipped, including subscriptions on another tier. Members with expired access or a benefit-access pause are also skipped. Use the individual membership controls to review those cases.

The destination becomes active immediately. This does not schedule a January activation or a future first charge. **Keep existing dates** preserves the payment deadline and any separate access expiry independently, including an existing access extension. **Set a new deadline for selected members** sets both payment setup and access expiry to the end of the chosen day in UTC, replacing any previous access extension. This is a payment-setup deadline, not an automatic charge date. Process groups separately if they need different deadlines. Membership numbers and historical membership records are retained. Benefits synchronize to Shopify in the background.

The transfer does not cancel subscriptions, collect payment, create a subscription or send an immediate email. Existing payment-reminder rules still apply: reminders are scheduled 7 days and 1 day before the payment deadline, with no backfill for passed reminder dates. The member must complete payment setup before recurring billing begins.

If membership details or the destination tier change after preview, preview again. If a result is uncertain after a connection failure, refresh and check that member before retrying. The tool stops processing the remaining members in that case.

To edit deadlines separately, see [Change payment and expiry dates](/members-area/change-payment-dates-in-bulk.md). That tool can set both the imported payment deadline and access expiry to the chosen date; it does not preserve a separate extension when changing an imported deadline.

## Change several members with a CSV

Use [Import Members](/members-area/import-members.md#move-members-between-membership-tiers) to move several members to a selected tier, including members who previously held it. Supply `Active` as `yes`. Importing activates the destination immediately and can send a payment setup email for recurring tiers. Unlike a single paid-tier invitation, it grants access before checkout.