> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.aftersell.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Subscription upsells on orders that already have a subscription

Shopify does not let a post-purchase upsell add a subscription to an order that already contains one. Historically that meant a [Subscription Upsell](/aftersell/subscriptions_in_post_purchase_offers) offer was skipped, or downgraded to a one-time purchase, whenever the customer's order already had a subscription in it — exactly the customers most likely to subscribe again.

When you connect a supported subscription provider, Aftersell works around that restriction. Instead of asking Shopify to add the second subscription, Aftersell creates it directly in **Recharge**, **Skio**, or **Loop** when the customer accepts. Your subscription offers now reach subscribers as well as one-time buyers.

## What changes

|                                                                          | Without a connected provider                                    | With Recharge, Skio, or Loop connected     |
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------ | --------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------ |
| Order has no subscription                                                | Subscription option shows.                                      | Subscription option shows.                 |
| Order already has a subscription, offer is **subscription-only**         | Offer is dropped for that customer.                             | Offer shows, with its subscription option. |
| Order already has a subscription, offer is **one-time and subscription** | Subscription option is removed; only the one-time option shows. | Both options show.                         |

Nothing changes for one-time offers, and nothing changes for [Subscription Upgrade](/aftersell/subscription-upgrades) offers, which modify the existing subscription rather than adding a new one.

<Note>
  This is a second, independent subscription — not a change to the one the customer already has. If you want to modify the subscription they already own (change its frequency, swap its product, or add an item to it), use [Subscription Upgrade](/aftersell/subscription-upgrades) instead.
</Note>

## Requirements

For a subscription offer to show on an order that already contains a subscription, all of the following must be true:

* A supported subscription provider (**Recharge**, **Skio**, or **Loop**) is connected with a valid API token.
* The customer's order contains at least one subscription line item.
* The offer's purchase option is **Subscription only** or **One-time and subscription**.
* The offer is a regular product upsell, not a Subscription Upgrade offer.

If no provider is connected, the previous behaviour applies: the subscription option is dropped or downgraded to one-time.

## Setting it up

There is no separate offer type to create. Connect a provider and your existing subscription offers gain the extra reach automatically.

1. In your Aftersell dashboard, go to **Settings → Subscription Upgrades**.
2. Select your provider and paste your API token. For provider-specific token steps and required scopes, see [Integrations](/aftersell/subscription-upgrades-integrations).
3. Click **Test API key** and save once the check passes.

The post-purchase funnel editor also surfaces this directly. When an offer in your funnel contains a subscription product and no provider is connected, an **Unlock more reach** banner appears with a **Connect a provider** action. Once a provider is connected, the banner and the previous subscription-limitation warning both disappear for that offer.

<Tip>
  If you previously added a **Subscription trigger** set to *exclude* orders containing a subscription — the workaround recommended before this was possible — remove it. That trigger now prevents the offer from reaching the subscribers it can finally serve.
</Tip>

## What the customer sees

### On the Shopify order

The customer's order contains:

* The **original subscription line item** they bought at checkout.
* The **new item** they accepted post-purchase, charged as a one-time line at the first-cycle price of the plan they chose.

The first cycle is charged on the Shopify order the customer just completed. The recurring subscription itself is created in your subscription provider and bills from the **next** cycle onward.

### In the subscription provider portal

The customer ends up with **two separate subscriptions**: the one from their checkout, and the new one Aftersell created. Each has its own cadence, pricing, and management, so the customer can pause or cancel either independently.

The new subscription reuses the customer, shipping address, and payment context from the subscription already on the order, which is why no additional payment or shipping details are needed at accept time.

### Discounts

The price the customer sees reflects the selling plan they picked:

* **First cycle.** The plan's introductory pricing, plus your offer discount if you set it to apply to subscriptions. This is the amount charged on the Shopify order.
* **Recurring cycles.** The plan's ongoing subscription discount, applied by your provider on every renewal.

## Provider notes

| Provider | Notes                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           |
| -------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Recharge | All configured plan cadences can be offered, including prepaid.                                                                                                                                                                                 |
| Skio     | All configured plan cadences can be offered, including prepaid.                                                                                                                                                                                 |
| Loop     | Loop cannot create prepaid subscriptions through this integration. Prepaid plans are automatically hidden from the offer on Loop stores, so a customer is never charged for a plan that could not be created. Non-prepaid plans are unaffected. |

## Limitations

* **A provider connection is required.** Without Recharge, Skio, or Loop connected, this does not apply and subscription offers continue to be dropped or downgraded on subscription orders.
* **Prepaid plans are unavailable on Loop.** They are hidden from the offer rather than failing at accept.
* **One subscription offer per post-purchase flow.** Only the first accepted subscription offer in a funnel goes through. Subsequent subscription offers in the same funnel are still skipped.
* **The order must already contain a subscription for this path to be used.** On orders with no subscription, subscription offers work through Shopify's native Subscription API as documented in [Subscription Upsell](/aftersell/subscriptions_in_post_purchase_offers).
* **Provider failures are retried.** If the subscription cannot be created at the provider after the customer was charged, Aftersell retries in a background workflow. If retries do not succeed, the charge for that line is the refund target and support can resolve it. See [Troubleshooting](/aftersell/subscription-upgrades-troubleshooting).

## Related

* [Subscription Upsell (full guide)](/aftersell/subscriptions_in_post_purchase_offers)
* [Subscription Upgrades overview](/aftersell/subscription-upgrades)
* [Integrations: Recharge, Skio, and Loop](/aftersell/subscription-upgrades-integrations)
* [Troubleshooting](/aftersell/subscription-upgrades-troubleshooting)