Charge on Signup charges new members a fee when they join a Fixed Release or Editable Release club. Most wineries use it as a prepayment: the member pays, for example, $100 to join, and the $100 goes into their account as credit to spend with you.
Why use a joining fee
Fixed Release and Editable Release clubs only charge members when you run a club run. A joining fee protects you from people who join to get a benefit and cancel before the first club run. For example:
You offer a special release only to club members, and don't want people joining just to buy it and then cancelling.
A visitor joins at the cellar door to get the member discount on the day, then cancels when they get home.
Charge on Signup isn't available for Subscription clubs, because a Subscription club already charges members automatically on their schedule.
Steps
Go to Settings > Clubs.
Select the club's name to open it.
Under Charge on Signup, tick Enable charge on signup.
In Charge amount, enter the fee the customer is charged when they join, for example 100.
Optional: in Credit granted, enter the credit the customer gets when they join, for example 100. Leave Credit granted blank to charge a plain joining fee without giving credit back.
If you give credit, set Credit expiry (months) and choose a Credit class, which decides what the credit can be spent on.
In Linked product name, enter a name such as "Club Prepayment". WithWine creates an Other Product with this name, which appears on the customer's receipt and in your reporting.
In Checkout Messaging, enter the text shown in the Terms and Conditions section of the Join Club page.
Select Save.
Merge fields for Checkout Messaging
You can use these merge fields in Checkout Messaging, and WithWine fills them in from your settings:
{ChargeAmount}: the joining fee.
{CreditAmount}: the credit granted.
{CreditExpiryMonths}: how many months the credit lasts.
{CreditClassDescription}: what the credit can be spent on.
For example: "You pay {ChargeAmount} today to join. {CreditAmount} goes into your account as credit to spend within {CreditExpiryMonths} months."
Why a product is created
The linked product lets you see joining fees in your orders reporting, for example "we sold $1,000 of Club Prepayment in March".