Setting up products and prices
This guide explains how products and prices work in Arca, how to create them, and the rules to know before you change a price that's already in use.
Products and prices
A product is a catalog item (its name, description, and so on). Each product has one or more prices — the price is where the money lives. A price is either:
- One-time — charged once.
- Recurring — charged on a billing period (daily, weekly, monthly, every 3 or 6 months, yearly, or custom).
This matters elsewhere:
- Subscriptions need recurring prices, and every price on one subscription must share the same billing period.
- Payment links can use a product price or a simple flat amount.
Creating a product and prices
- Create the product with a name, and add at least one price.
- For each price, choose one-time or recurring, set the amount and currency, and (for recurring) the billing period.
- You can add more prices to a product later.
Changing a price after it's in use
Prices are designed to be stable once customers are paying against them, so a few rules apply:
- A price that has been used on a subscription or invoice can't be deleted — deactivate it instead.
- To change an amount, the recommended pattern is to create a new price and deactivate the old one, rather than editing a price in use.
- Deactivating a price stops new sign-ups (it can't be used on a new payment link), but existing subscriptions keep billing on it — cancel or migrate those separately if you need them to stop.
- Editing a price does not change amounts on subscriptions or invoices that already exist — it only affects future use.
- A product always keeps at least one price; you can't delete its only price.
Common problems
"Only price of this product" when deleting a price
-
Cause
You're trying to delete a product's last remaining price.
SolutionAdd another price first, or archive/delete the whole product.
A deactivated price — new sales blocked, but subscribers still billed
-
Symptoms
A payment link shows "Deactivated prices cannot be paid," yet existing subscribers on that price keep renewing.
CauseDeactivating blocks new purchases but doesn't stop running subscriptions.
SolutionTo stop existing subscribers, cancel or migrate their subscriptions to a new price.
"Must have same billing period" on a subscription
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Cause
The prices on the subscription don't all share one billing period (e.g. mixing monthly and yearly).
SolutionUse prices that all bill on the same period, or split them into separate subscriptions.
A one-time price won't work on a subscription
-
Cause
Subscriptions only accept recurring prices.
SolutionUse a recurring price on the subscription; put one-time charges on a payment link or invoice instead.
I edited a price but existing subscriptions didn't change
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Cause
Price edits apply only to future use; existing subscriptions and invoices keep the amount they were created with.
SolutionCreate a new price, deactivate the old one, and migrate subscribers as needed.
Error message reference
| What you see | What it means | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Only price of this product | Can't delete a product's last price | Add another price first, or delete the product |
| It's being used or was used on a subscription / invoice | The price has transacted and can't be deleted | Deactivate it instead |
| Deactivated prices cannot be paid | A buyer tried to pay a deactivated price | Reactivate it or point them to a current price |
| Must have same billing period | Mixed billing periods on one subscription | Use prices with the same period |
| Please add at least one recurring price… | A one-time price was used on a subscription | Use a recurring price |
Still having trouble?
Contact Arca support and include:
- The product and price involved
- The exact message (a screenshot helps)
- What you were trying to do (create, edit, deactivate, delete)