Billing Basics for Creators

Understanding how PayBru handles billing helps you support your members and forecast your revenue.

Recurring Billing

• Members are billed monthly via Paystack on the anniversary of their sign-up date.
• All amounts are in ZAR and collected through Paystack (card payments, bank transfer/EFT, or mobile money).
• Billing is automatic - the auto-renewal system checks for due memberships every hour.
• Members can subscribe for 1, 3, 6, or 12 months, with optional multi-month discounts you configure per tier.
• Free tiers auto-renew indefinitely with no payment.

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Each member has their own billing date based on when they subscribed. You won't see all charges on the same day.

Payment Collection

When a payment is due, PayBru:

1. Charges the member's saved payment method via Paystack.
2. Generates an invoice and emails it to the member.
3. Updates the member's status to Active for the next billing period.
4. Credits the revenue to your creator balance (minus fees).

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Pending transactions that are not completed expire after 30 minutes. Members will need to start a new checkout if their session times out.

Fees

The following fees are deducted before revenue is credited to your balance:

Fee	Amount
PayBru platform fee	5% of the transaction amount
Paystack gateway fee	2.9% + R1.00 per transaction
VAT	0% (not currently applied)

For a R100 membership payment, you receive approximately R91.10 after fees.

What Members See

Your members receive:

• Payment confirmation: emailed immediately after a successful charge.
• Invoice: a proper tax invoice with your details, the tier, and the amount in ZAR.
• Billing history: accessible from their PayBru account, showing all past payments and invoices.
• Upcoming renewal date: visible on their membership page.

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Members appreciate transparency. If they ask about charges, point them to their billing history in their PayBru account.

Failed Payments and Grace Period

Payments can fail for several reasons:

• Insufficient funds
• Expired or cancelled card
• Bank-side declines
• Payment method removed

When a payment fails:

1. Member is notified via email with instructions to update their payment method.
2. Membership status changes to PastDue - the member retains access during the 3-day grace period.
3. No automatic retry - the member must update their payment method and retry manually.
4. If not recovered within 3 days - the membership status changes to Ended, access is revoked, and Discord roles are removed.

You can see failed payments on your dashboard under Members > Past Due.

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There are no automatic payment retries on PayBru. Encourage members who receive failed payment notifications to act quickly within the 3-day window.

Gift Memberships

Members can purchase gift memberships for others:

• Gift durations range from 1 to 12 months.
• The gifter can choose to remain anonymous (shown as "Anonymous Bru").
• Recipients have a 30-day acceptance window to claim the gift.
• If the gift is declined or not accepted within 30 days, the purchase is automatically refunded.

Gift memberships appear in your member list alongside regular subscriptions, so you can track them on your dashboard.

Creator Revenue and Payouts

• Revenue from successful payments appears in your Creator Balance.
• PayBru deducts the platform fee (5%) and Paystack gateway fee (2.9% + R1.00) before crediting your balance.
• Payouts are made to your linked South African bank account on the scheduled payout cycle.
• You can view a breakdown of earnings, fees, and payouts on your Statements page.

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Statements give you a clear record of all transactions for a given period - useful for bookkeeping and tax purposes.

Refunds

• Refund requests go through a structured workflow: PendingInvestigation > UnderInvestigation > InvestigationComplete > PendingApproval > Approved > Processing > Completed (or Rejected).
• Refunds can be full or partial.
• Refund methods include the original payment method, bank transfer, or wallet credit.
• If a refund is issued, the amount is deducted from your creator balance.
• The member's access is revoked when a refund is processed.

Key Things to Know

• You don't handle payments directly: PayBru manages all billing and invoicing via Paystack.
• Pricing is locked per member: if you change a tier's price, existing members keep their current rate until they cancel and resubscribe.
• Invoices are automatic: every successful payment generates an invoice for the member.
• No automatic retries: members must manually recover failed payments within the 3-day grace period.