> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://crushsuite.gitbook.io/docs/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://crushsuite.gitbook.io/docs/clubs/managing-members/how-customers-join-your-club.md).

# How Customers Join Your Club

A customer can become a member through five paths — storefront checkout, two admin paths, POS, and CSV migration. What each one needs, what it creates, and what the member gets.

***

#### Storefront checkout

The self-service path, and the one most of your members will use. The customer fills in a shipping address on the **Club Membership Signup Widget** on your club product page, then pays at checkout like any other Shopify order.

CrushSuite creates a subscription contract and a membership, both active immediately. The member gets a welcome email with a link straight into the member portal.

#### Add to Club — enrolling someone directly

Go to **Members** → **Add Member**, look the customer up, and choose **Add to Club**. The same modal opens from **Add to club** on a member's detail page.

This path needs an existing Shopify customer who already has a saved payment method and a complete shipping address — Shopify won't create a subscription contract without both. CrushSuite creates the membership and the contract on the spot, with no checkout for the customer to complete. They get a welcome email as long as you leave **Send welcome email to member** ticked.

{% hint style="warning" %}
The contract this path creates renews on your club's schedule but is priced at **$0**, so the membership fee never charges again after the first one. If your club charges a membership fee and you need it to keep renewing, use **Create Draft Order** instead, or correct the contract price in **Shopify Admin** afterward.
{% endhint %}

#### Create Draft Order — sending a payment link

The path to use when the customer has no card on file, or when you want the membership fee billed properly. In the same **Add Member** modal, use **Or create a draft order**. All you need is their email address.

CrushSuite creates a draft order in Shopify for the club product at its real price. Nothing exists on the member's side yet — the membership is created only once the draft order is paid. From there you can send the invoice email from CrushSuite, share the payment link yourself, or leave the draft order in Shopify Admin to edit or complete manually.

Once it's paid, the contract is created at the price the customer actually paid, and the welcome email goes out.

#### Point of sale

Use the **Club subscriptions** tile or the **Add membership** button in Shopify POS. A customer has to be attached to the sale.

A paid club captures the card at checkout. A free club looks for a card already saved on the customer instead. Either way CrushSuite creates a subscription contract and a membership, and the member gets a welcome email. If a free-club signup finds no usable card, CrushSuite still creates the membership and sends a second email asking the member to add a payment method.

#### Migrate Members — bringing over an existing list

The bulk path, for members you already had on another platform before you launched CrushSuite. Go to **Members** → **Migrate Members** and upload a CSV of your existing list. CrushSuite creates one membership per row.

Nothing is sent automatically. You decide when checkout links and welcome emails go out — see [Running a Migration](https://crushsuite.gitbook.io/docs/clubs/migrating-from-another-platform/running-a-migration).

***

#### Free clubs still need a payment method

A paid club always ends up with a saved card, because Shopify won't complete a checkout without one. A free club can end up with no payment method at all, which is a problem the first time you need to charge compliance fees, an upsell, or a new membership price.

Each staff-assisted path collects one anyway. **Create Draft Order** on a free club adds a **Payment verification fee** line to the draft order — you set the amount, and it's the charge that captures the card. POS falls back to a card already on the customer record, and emails them if it can't find one.

#### When a new member becomes Active

Members created through storefront checkout, **Add to Club**, a paid draft order, or POS show as **Active** on your Members list right away.

Migration is the exception. Members whose saved payment method comes across cleanly finish the run active; the rest sit in **Pending Migration** until they complete a checkout link. A member in **Pending Migration** is left out of releases, customization emails, and billing until they do.

{% hint style="info" %}
If a member says they can't see their club after signing up, start with [Members Can't See Their Club](https://crushsuite.gitbook.io/docs/clubs/troubleshooting/members-cant-see-their-club).
{% endhint %}