The Allow membership per customer setting controls how many memberships one customer can have. When a customer's cart breaks the rule, checkout shows your message and the customer can't place the order. Use it to sell one membership per customer, or one per plan.
Turn it on
The setting works through a Shopify checkout rule, so you set it up in two places: Shopify and the Memberships app.
Add the checkout rule in Shopify
In your Shopify admin, go to Settings → Checkout and scroll to Checkout rules.
Click Add rule. Under Appstle℠ Memberships, click Membership Validations.
Enter a Title, for example Membership Validations. Set the status to Active, then click Save. Leave Block checkout if app experiences a problem unticked: if it's ticked and the rule can't run, customers can't check out.
Turn on the setting in the app
Open Apps → Appstle℠ Memberships, then go to More → General Settings → Shop Settings.
Under Member Settings, tick Allow membership per customer. If you haven't added the checkout rule yet, the link Click here to turn on the extension under it opens Shopify's checkout settings.
Under Allow Membership per Customer, choose an option. One Overall applies until you choose another. The next section explains each option.
Optional: change the Duplicate membership checkout validation message. Customers see this message at checkout. The default is Duplicate membership purchases are not allowed.
Click Save.
Choose an option
This table shows when checkout blocks a membership purchase for each option.
Option | Checkout blocks the purchase when the customer |
One Overall | already has any membership, whatever its status. Active, paused and cancelled memberships all count. |
One Active Overall | already has an active membership. Paused and cancelled memberships don't count, so a customer with only cancelled memberships can buy again. |
One Per Frequency | already has a membership on the same plan, whatever its status. A cancelled membership still blocks the same plan. |
One Active Per Frequency | already has an active membership on the same plan. Paused and cancelled memberships don't count. |
Each membership plan has its own renewal frequency, so the two Per Frequency options compare plans, not frequencies. A customer can hold a Monthly plan and an Annual plan at the same time, or two different monthly plans, but not the same plan twice.
What customers see
When the rule blocks an order, checkout shows your validation message at the top of the page and the customer can't place the order until they change their cart. The message is the same for every option.
The message can also appear earlier, when the customer adds a membership to their cart. It then shows on the product page, usually next to Add to cart, and the membership isn't added to the cart.
Whichever option you choose, one order can hold only one membership, whether or not the customer is signed in. A cart with two membership items, or one membership with a quantity above one, shows the same message.
Things to know
Checkout can compare the cart with a customer's existing memberships only when the customer is signed in to their account. A guest is checked only for more than one membership in the same order.
The rule affects membership plans only. Other products in the cart are not checked.
Upgrades and downgrades aren't blocked. They change the member's existing membership and don't go through checkout.
Customers see the message exactly as you type it. It isn't translated into your store's other languages.
FAQs
I turned the setting on, but checkout doesn't block anything. Why?
Check that the Membership Validations rule is added under Settings → Checkout → Checkout rules and its status is Active. Then check that the customer signed in before checking out. For a guest, checkout can't see their existing memberships and only blocks more than one membership in the same order.
Why can't a customer with a cancelled membership buy again?
With One Overall or One Per Frequency, a cancelled membership still counts. Choose One Active Overall or One Active Per Frequency if cancelled memberships shouldn't block a new purchase.
Why is a customer who isn't a member blocked at checkout?
Check their cart first. One order can hold only one membership, so two membership items, or a quantity above one, are blocked. If the cart holds a single membership, check their past memberships: with One Overall or One Per Frequency, a cancelled membership still counts.
Why can't a customer remove a membership from their cart?
This can happen when a customer who already has a membership adds another one while signed out, then signs in. The rule then blocks every change to that cart, including removing the membership. Ask the customer to sign out, remove the membership from their cart, then sign in again.
Can a customer buy two different plans in one order?
No. One order can hold only one membership. After the first purchase, a customer can buy a second plan in a separate order, if the option you chose allows it.
Can I change the message customers see?
Yes. In Shop Settings, change the Duplicate membership checkout validation message and click Save.