Bulk price update

Subscriptions store the price at purchase time, so changing a product’s price does not automatically update existing subscriptions. This is a deliberate design choice: customers who bought at a given price expect to keep that price unless you explicitly raise it. The Bulk price update tool lets you do exactly that in a controlled, transparent way when a price change is needed.

When to use bulk price update

Use it when:

• You are raising prices for existing subscribers, not only new signups.
• You want to apply an inflation adjustment or pass on a cost increase.
• You are restructuring a plan and need to move existing customers to a new price.

Do not use it to fix individual subscription errors (edit those directly on the subscription) or to discount existing customers temporarily (use coupons or manual credits instead).

How it works

The Bulk price update tool lets you:

1. Select which subscriptions to target (by product, status, or variation).
2. Choose a new price (fixed amount or percentage change).
3. Preview the change before applying it.
4. Schedule when the new price takes effect.
5. Optionally send a notification email to affected customers before the change.

Each subscription’s stored price is updated, and the next renewal will use the new amount. No immediate charge is made.

Running a bulk price update

1. Go to Milo Subscriptions → Subscriptions and click Bulk price update in the page actions.
2. Filter the subscriptions you want to update:

• Product: one or more subscription products.
• Variation (if applicable): specific variations.
• Status: which statuses to include (typically Active and Pending cancellation).
• Current price range: optional range to only target customers paying within specific bounds.

1. Choose the new price:

• Set to a fixed amount (example: $29).
• Change by a percentage (example: +5%).
• Change by a fixed amount (example: +$2).

1. Choose when the change takes effect:

• On next renewal: recommended. Each customer sees the new price the next time their subscription renews.
• Immediately: the price is updated now, but no renewal is charged until the scheduled date.

1. (Optional) Enable Send notification email to notify affected customers X days before the change.
2. Click Preview changes. You see a summary of how many subscriptions will be updated and examples of current vs new prices.
3. Click Confirm and apply to run the update.

Notification emails

Many jurisdictions require advance notice before raising recurring prices. Milo Subscriptions includes a built-in notification email:

• Subject and body are editable under Milo Subscriptions → Settings → Emails → Price change notification.
• The email includes the old price, new price, the renewal date on which the change takes effect, and a link to manage the subscription.
• The email can be sent immediately on update, or scheduled X days in advance of the new renewal.

Check your local rules (examples: EU consumer protection directives, UK Consumer Rights Act, California AB-390) for minimum notice periods.

Previewing before applying

The preview step is non-destructive and shows:

• The total number of subscriptions that match your filters.
• A breakdown by product and variation.
• A sample of ten subscriptions showing current vs new price.
• The projected MRR change.

Review the preview carefully before confirming, especially when using percentage changes, which can produce unexpected amounts for customers on legacy prices.

Rollback

Applied price updates can be reversed using the same tool:

1. Go to Milo Subscriptions → Subscriptions → Bulk price update history.
2. Find the update you want to reverse.
3. Click Rollback.

Rollback restores each affected subscription to its previous price. It does not reverse any renewal payments already processed at the new price. To refund overcharges, process refunds individually.

Granular changes

For changes that do not fit the bulk filter UI, you can:

• Edit individual subscriptions directly from the admin.
• Use the REST API to apply precise programmatic updates.
• Use WP-CLI:

wp milosubscriptions subscription update 12345 --price=39

Effects on analytics

Bulk price updates show up in Analytics as:

• MRR change: the net change to monthly recurring revenue.
• ARPU change: change in average revenue per user.
• Retention impact: tracked for the 90 days following the change to see if churn increased.

Best practices

• Give notice: send the notification email 30+ days before the first impacted renewal.
• Explain why: the default email template leaves room for a personal message. Use it to explain the reason for the increase.
• Grandfather selectively: use filters to exclude long-term or high-LTV customers from the update.
• Run a small cohort first: apply the update to a small segment, watch churn for 30 days, then roll out wider.
• Track reactions: bulk updates often produce a temporary spike in cancellations. Monitor cancellation reasons in the weeks after.

Troubleshooting

Some subscriptions were not updated

Check the subscription’s status. By default, Bulk price update only touches Active subscriptions. On-hold, Cancelled, Expired, and Switched subscriptions are skipped unless you explicitly include them in the filter.

The email did not send

Make sure:

• Send notification email was checked.
• Your site can send transactional email (test with Milo Subscriptions → Settings → Emails → Send test).
• The customer has a valid billing email on the subscription.

A customer says their new price is wrong

Verify the rule that was applied:

1. Go to Milo Subscriptions → Subscriptions → Bulk price update history.
2. Click the specific update.
3. Find the subscription in the affected list.
4. Compare the recorded old price, rule applied, and new price.

Edge cases with rounding, currency conversion, or mixed discounts are sometimes the culprit.

Next steps

• Renewals: how the new price takes effect on the next renewal.
• Analytics: measure the impact of a price change.
• REST API: apply price updates programmatically.