A merchant can start a subscription trial, open SMS Marketing Hub and still have no SMS credit. That is not a contradiction. The subscription unlocks app access; sending SMS consumes separately purchased prepaid credit in EUR. Both approval steps happen through Shopify, while the app shows the balance and campaign estimate. Keeping these records separate prevents a trial from being mistaken for a free messaging allowance.
Subscription, trial and message credit are different things
New Obsedia SMS subscriptions are USD 29 per 30-day Shopify billing cycle, with a 14-day trial where eligible. The trial applies to the subscription; it does not include free SMS during those days. SMS usage is funded from a separate prepaid EUR wallet. A merchant should therefore expect to review both the plan approval and any credit purchase before planning a paid send.
The Shopify approval screen should show the plan amount and currency before the merchant accepts. Existing subscriptions can retain an earlier EUR billing currency, so compare the terms of your own plan. The current new-plan amount must match the app contract and the public product page. The country price and number of message parts are separate usage inputs shown when a campaign is prepared.
Approve the plan in Shopify
The merchant approves an app plan through Shopify. A staff member may need permission to approve app charges even when the plan begins with a free trial. After Shopify confirms the approval, the app can reflect the resulting subscription state; merely viewing a pricing page is not plan approval.
Shopify bills app subscriptions on their own cycle, which may not line up with the store’s core Shopify plan invoice date. To investigate a plan charge, inspect the Shopify app billing record and the approved plan terms first. The SMS wallet is a different ledger.
Add prepaid EUR credit as a separate purchase
Obsedia asks the merchant to approve prepaid credit purchases in Shopify. Credit becomes available after that approval is confirmed; opening a top-up screen or receiving a low-balance suggestion is not the same as buying credit. The product documentation says these suggestions do not charge automatically.
The wallet helps bound SMS usage. Choose the amount deliberately, confirm the Shopify purchase and then review the credited balance inside the app. Do not assume that a subscription trial, an unapproved top-up or a payment pending confirmation can cover a campaign.
The campaign estimate belongs to the final message
Obsedia’s campaign review includes destination pricing and message parts. Personalization and an unsubscribe link can change the final part count, so the plain draft length is not a reliable budget. The app provides the estimated spend before confirmation; review that number and the eligible audience together.
A country rate shown elsewhere is not a substitute for the campaign quote. If the final message contains additional parts or the audience spans different destinations, the estimate must reflect those inputs. The companion guide on the SMS preview explains why one typed message can become two parts.
Which record answers which billing question?
When the numbers seem inconsistent, begin with the question. Shopify subscription approval answers which plan and trial the merchant accepted. A Shopify credit purchase and the app wallet answer how much prepaid EUR credit has become available. The campaign estimate and subsequent Results answer what was reserved or spent for messages.
Avoid merging these into one “SMS balance.” A plan can be active while the wallet is empty. A wallet can have credit even when a particular campaign is not eligible to send. A queued message is not proof of carrier delivery. Check the corresponding record rather than treating all three as a single transaction.
- Check the plan and trial terms on the Shopify approval screen.
- Confirm any prepaid EUR purchase was approved and credited.
- Review the wallet balance before preparing a campaign.
- Read the final message, destination rates, parts and estimate before confirmation.
- After sending, use Results and the relevant Shopify billing records for reconciliation.
Set a budget before the first live message
Begin with one eligible audience and one message you can inspect end to end. Review its cost and sending window, then confirm deliberately. This gives the team a concrete baseline for future campaigns without assuming the trial includes message usage or that a top-up suggestion will act on its own.
If the amount or currency on a public page differs from Shopify’s approval screen, do not approve until the discrepancy is resolved. The approved Shopify terms and the actual app contract need to agree with the information used to market the product.
A subscription trial covers the plan, not SMS traffic. Approve prepaid EUR credit separately and use the in-app campaign estimate before sending.
