About BPN subscriptions
BPN subscriptions are free for parents and also for nonprofits that do not charge fees or tuition, such as public schools, libraries, and churches. All other subscribers who want to publicize their programs or services on BPN must purchase a subscription. For more information see About BPN Community Subscription.
How do I pay for my subscription?
You will be paying for your subscription using your PayPal account. That is the only way to pay for a BPN subscription.
What is Paypal?
Paypal is an online service that lets buyers use a credit card or bank account to pay online without sharing their payment information with the seller. Paypal was founded in 1998 and has millions of users. It is free to set up a Paypal account, and there is no charge when you use Paypal to pay for something. BPN pays a small fee to Paypal for each purchase. When you create a Paypal account, you will give Paypal a "payment method." Most people set up Paypal with their credit or debit card, but you can also use your checking account.
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If you don't already have a Paypal account, you'll have the opportunity to create one when you subscribe to BPN using your credit card, debit card, or checking account. PayPal will notify BPN of your payment and manage your subscription. Most BPN subscriptions renew automatically each year, using the payment method you specify when you subscribe.
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If you are subscribing for a school, camp, class, business or organization, we recommend that you use the school or business credit card rather than the personal credit card of one of your staff members. Otherwise, next year's automatic renewal could deduct funds from the account of someone who has left the organization.
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Keep your Paypal account up to date. Make sure the credit card you're using on Paypal has up-to-date information so that next year's automatic renewal payment can be processed. You'll receive an email when your subscription renews. If you don't want automatic renewal, you can cancel auto payments to BPN on your Paypal account (see How do I cancel automatic payments?)
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BPN does not know your credit card or bank information. All payment information is stored in your own Paypal account, which only you can access, using the login and password you create on Paypal. Therefore if you want to change the credit card you use to pay for your BPN subscription, or update a credit card expiration date, you must do that on your Paypal account. Login to Paypal (usually your email address is your login.)
Do you accept other forms of payment besides Paypal?
No. BPN only accepts payments using Paypal.
Why not?
BPN has only one full-time employee to manage more than 38,000 subscribers, including 2,000+ paid subscriptions. We keep our costs low by using Paypal's subscription services to collect payments, manage yearly renewals, and create monthly accounting reports. Paypal is widely used, is a secure online payments method, and it offers a discount to nonprofits like BPN.
- BPN doesn't need to pay someone to send bills to subscribers or collect payments.
- BPN doesn't need to handle cash, store credit card numbers, or follow up on failed checks and credit cards.
- Paypal provides flexible real-time reporting that BPN can access easily online.
- Paypal manages all paid subscriptions, automatically renewing after one year, handling cancelations, and sending notifications.
- BPN subscribers can manage their payments themselves on their own Paypal account, which is protected by their own login and password. You can change the credit card you use to pay BPN, or cancel automatic renewal, without corresponding with BPN.
Filling out the subscribe form using Paypal
After you click 'Subscribe' on the BPN website and choose which type of subscription you want, you'll be taken to a page that says "Checkout" at the top. You'll fill out your name and other information, and at the bottom, there is a "Payment" section with the Paypal logo and various credit cards. Clicking "Continue to next step" takes you to Paypal.
Do you already have a Paypal account?
yes:
- If you are subscribing to BPN with the same email address you use for your Paypal account, you'll be taken automatically to your Paypal account to pay for the subscription.
- If you are subscribing to BPN with a different email address, you'll be able to login to your Paypal account as explained in the next section.
no, or you want to use a Paypal account under a different email:
You'll see two choices on this page:
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"Subscribe using a debit or credit card" -- click this to create a new Paypal account. You'll need to have your credit or debit card ready to provide to Paypal. You can also use a checking account.
- "Login to subscribe" - click this to login to an existing Paypal account under a different email.
Problems paying with Paypal
If you are unable to complete the payment part of your subscription, we recommend canceling the subscription, logging out of BPN, and logging in to your account at Paypal.com. Make sure there is a current payment method. For example, if Paypal uses your credit card, make sure the expiration date on your card is up to date. If you don't already have a Paypal account, we recommend creating an account at Paypal.com first, and then returning to the BPN website to subscribe.
Automatic renewal of your subscription
Nanny subscriptions do not automatically renew. They expire after one year.
All other paid subscriptions renew yearly automatically. When you subscribe to BPN, Paypal will set up your account to automatically renew every year on the date you subscribed. Paypal will use the payment method specified on your Paypal account - a credit or debit card or a bank account - and charge your account for the amount of your subscription. You can cancel automatic renewal if you don't want it.
Why do subscriptions automatically renew each year?
BPN uses automatic renewal because it saves us the work of corresponding with thousands of subscribers every year to find out whether they want to renew, and then collect a new payment. Most schools, camps, and businesses do want to renew their subscription each year, so it makes sense for us to set up all subscriptions to automatically renew. Those who don't want automatic renewal can cancel the automatic payment ahead of time. The instructions we send to every new subscriber contain this information.
How do I cancel automatic renewal?
Login to the PayPal account you used when you subscribed to BPN and cancel the automatic payment to Berkeley Parents Network. See detailed instructions below. When you cancel, PayPal will send you a confirmation email and notify BPN that you have canceled your subscription. You'll continue to have an active account on BPN until your year is up. You'll then get an automated email from us saying that your subscription has ended. You can renew it manually at that point if you want to.
Paypal has a number of different interfaces depending on the platform you're on (laptop, phone, etc.). Here is general information for personal Paypal accounts. Do you have a Paypal business account? See below.
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Login at https://www.PayPal.com/ and click "My Paypal" in the upper right corner.
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Go to your Account page (also called your "Profile" page). There are several ways to get to your Account page on Paypal: You might see a gear icon at the top. Click that. If you're on a phone you might need to open a menu to see the gear icon. Or, you might see a "My Account" button or a "Profile" link.
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Find your Payment information. Scroll down on your Account page to see if there are payment methods listed, such as your credit card or bank account. If you don't see this, look for a "Payments" tab in the menu on your Account page.
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Look for a link called Automatic Payments or Pre-approved payments. Click it. You might see a button that says "Set Automatic Payments" or "Manage pre-approved payments." Click that and look for "Berkeley Parents Network." If you don't see it, look for a Paypal link that says "Can't find what you need?"
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Cancel payments to Berkeley Parents Network by clicking on the BPN name and clicking "Cancel"
Do you have a Paypal business account? Instructions should be similar, but here is information provided by a BPN subscriber: Login to Paypal and click on "Activity" at the top. Adjust the "all transactions" dropdown to "Subscription payments" and the "last 30 days" dropdown to whenever the appropriate time window is to find the initial transaction. Click "Berkeley Parents Network" in the Merchant column to view your yearly automatic payment. Click "Cancel" under Subscription Details and then "Cancel profile."
When does my subscription expire?
Your BPN subscription is for one year, starting on the date Paypal processes your payment. Most BPN subscriptions renew automatically each year without expiring, but your BPN subscription will expire in these situations:
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Nanny subscriptions expire after one year. You will receive an email with a link to renew your subscription if you want to.
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Other subscriptions:
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If you cancel automatic payments on your Paypal account before your year is up, your BPN subscription will continue until the end of your year, and then expire on the date you subscribed. At that point you will no longer have access to your BPN account. To reactivate your account, see How do I renew my subscription if it has expired?
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If Paypal is unable to collect the automatic renewal payment. This can happen if your credit card has expired since last year. Paypal will send you a notice and try again 5 days later to obtain the payment. This gives you the chance to update your credit card info on Paypal. If, after the second attempt, Paypal is still unable to obtain payment, it cancels automatic payments on Paypal, and notifies BPN. Your BPN subscription will then expire and you will no longer have access to your BPN account. To reactivate your account, see How do I renew my subscription if it has expired?
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How do I renew my subscription if it has expired?
You can renew your subscription manually by visiting the subscribe page.
Note that as long as your subscription is renewing automatically every year, your yearly subscription fee will continue at the same amount, even if BPN raises subscription fees. However if your subscription expires for any reason, you will need to subscribe again at current rates.
Can I subscribe for a shorter time period than one year?
No, we offer full-year subscriptions only. We have tried to set subscription fees so they are not a burden for any of the small businesses in our community. A yearly BPN subscription is well below what you would pay for advertising in the local venues that reach far fewer parents than BPN. We depend on the revenue from these subscriptions to keep our website maintained and pay for technical and administrative support. So, we need everyone to pitch in and subscribe, even those who rarely need to announce openings, so that BPN can continue as an important non-profit resource for both parents and local businesses.
Can I get a refund for the months I didn't use?
No, sorry. We cannot refund unused months for Community Subscriptions.
I didn't know my subscription would automatically renew - can I get a refund?
Beginning in April 2016, all new subscriptions required you to check a box saying that you understand that subscriptions renew automatically every year. We also include this information in the instructions we mail to all new community subscribers, so that you have a chance to cancel auto renewal before your year is up.
But we understand that people forget sometimes. Therefore if you notify us within 2 weeks after automatic renewal, we will refund your payment on Paypal. Please contact us to request this.
Please contact us instead of filing a dispute on Paypal or disputing the charge with your bank. We'll refund your payment within 24 hours. If you instead file a dispute, your renewal payment will be held while the dispute is pending, which can take up to 30 days. Paypal will also charge BPN a $20 processing fee to refund your payment, which can be more than half of the payment in question.
How can I change the credit card you are using to pay for my subscription?
You must do that on Paypal - BPN doesn't keep any credit card or bank information. View Paypal's instructions here or login to your Paypal account and look for "payment method" and change it. When your yearly renewal is processed, Paypal will use the credit card you specified for your account.
Want to change payment to a different Paypal account?
Login to your Paypal account and cancel automatic renewal. When your subscription expires, you'll get a notification, and you can then renew under a different Paypal account.