Joining a Membership

If your makerspace offers paid memberships, you can join one yourself from the Membership page in your member area — no waiting for an admin to grant you access. This guide walks through what you’ll see at each step and what to expect after you complete payment.

Before You Start

You’ll need:

A MakerVera account at the makerspace whose membership you’re joining (sign up or accept your invitation first).
A payment method — credit / debit card, or any other method your makerspace’s payment provider supports.
A few minutes — most signups complete in under five minutes including the time on the payment screen.

Step 1 — Browse Available Plans

Sign in to your makerspace and open the Membership page from the sidebar.
If you don’t have an active membership, you’ll see a grid of every plan your makerspace currently offers. Each card shows:
- The plan name and price (monthly, and annual if your makerspace offers an annual option).
- Benefits included — booking discounts, advance-booking windows, member-only access, and any custom benefits the makerspace has configured.
- Places included — Whole space when the plan covers every workspace and piece of equipment, or the workspaces and equipment it covers. Long lists show the first four names and an and N more button; click it to see them all, and Show fewer to fold the list back.
- Usage limits (when the plan has any) — how many visits you get, for example “8 visits/month” or “5 visits/week”, and, where your makerspace offers bookings, how many bookings and booked hours. A plan with no limits shows no usage limits at all.
- An “Annual savings” badge if paying yearly is meaningfully cheaper than monthly × 12.
- Add-ons associated with the plan (when any apply) — small chips listing add-ons that are required with this plan or included at no extra cost. Optional add-ons you can buy alongside the plan are not shown on the card; you’ll see them at checkout.
- If an add-on isn’t currently available, its chip is greyed out and carries a short reason:
  - No longer offered — the makerspace has retired the product (archived). It won’t return.
  - Temporarily unavailable — the makerspace has paused the product (suspended). It may come back later.
  - Unavailable — a catch-all you’ll only see for newer reasons (for example, an add-on whose stock has run out once that feature ships). The Choose Plan button is disabled on any plan whose required add-on shows one of these labels; plans whose only unavailable add-ons are optional remain selectable, and the optional add-on is simply omitted from your order.
Compare plans and pick the one that fits how you’ll use the space.
Click Choose Plan on the plan you want.

Step 2 — Confirm Your Plan & Billing Interval

The checkout page shows:

A summary of the plan you picked (benefits, price, the places it covers, and its usage limits when it has any). The places come first on the plan line: Whole space, or up to four names and “and N more”.
The add-ons you can add to this plan (when your makerspace offers any). Each says what it gives (the places it covers and its limits, for example Ceramics studio · 20 hours/month) and its price per month or year. Tick the ones you want and choose how many; taxable add-ons include your makerspace’s tax. An add-on that’s out of stock or full reads Unavailable and can’t be picked. What the plan includes or requires is shown too.
The order summary lists each add-on you picked with its quantity. The estimated tax and the Cover processing fees amount count your add-ons too, so the total you see is what your first invoice charges.
A Monthly / Annual selector — the annual option is only enabled if your makerspace published an annual price for this plan.
An optional Cover processing fees toggle. Checking it adds the payment-processing fee on top of your price so your makerspace receives the full membership amount; leaving it unchecked deducts the fee from what the makerspace receives.

Review the summary, choose the interval that works for you, and click Subscribe to continue.

Step 3 — Pay on the Secure Payment Page

Clicking Subscribe sends you to the secure payment page hosted by your makerspace’s payment provider. Enter your card details and confirm.

You buy your membership from the makerspace, which is the seller and merchant of record; your payment goes to the makerspace’s own payment-provider account. The payment page and the billing portal open in the language you use in MakerVera when your makerspace’s payment provider supports it; otherwise in English.

If you change your mind at the payment screen, just close the tab or click your provider’s back / cancel link — nothing has been charged yet, and no membership has been created. You can return to the Membership page anytime to pick a different plan.

Step 4 — Activation

After you complete payment, you’re returned to your makerspace’s site on a confirmation page that says Processing your membership… while MakerVera confirms your payment. This usually takes a second or two. The page has a View my membership button if you’d rather not wait.

Once activation completes, MakerVera automatically takes you back to the Membership page, which now shows your active membership card — your plan, billing interval, next renewal date, and the same benefits you picked from on Step 1.

Your Membership Card

The card on the Membership page shows:

Your plan and its status.
A billing line with your billing interval and price, for example Billing: Monthly · $25.00/mo. Prices always show in your makerspace’s currency — the same currency you see on the plan browser.
Your next billing date, shown in your chosen language and in your makerspace’s time zone.
Buttons to change plan, open the billing portal, and cancel.

Your Access

Below your membership card, Your access lists the places your membership includes, in two groups:

Ready to use: the workspaces and equipment you can book and use now. When your plan covers the whole space, every workspace at your makerspace appears here or in the group below. Equipment shows which workspace it’s in.
Needs an authorization first: places your membership includes but that ask for an authorization you don’t hold yet. Each one says Included in your membership. Unlocks with followed by the authorization it needs. You can’t book these until you have that authorization. Ask staff how to get it.

Each heading shows how many places it holds, and a group with no places isn’t shown. When different places come from different parts of your membership, each place says where its access comes from: your plan (for example From Gold), an add-on (for example From Ceramics access), or both. When all your places come from the same part of your membership, for example only your plan, that line is left out.

Places your makerspace has archived or taken offline never appear. If neither your plan nor your add-ons include any place right now, the section says No access. If your plan covers the whole space but your makerspace hasn’t set up any workspaces or equipment yet, it says No places yet. An add-on’s places last as long as your membership does.

If a Payment Fails

If a renewal payment doesn’t go through, your membership card shows Past due. You keep your membership while the payment provider retries the charge. Click Update payment on the card to open the billing portal and fix your payment method. If you had already scheduled a cancellation, the card still shows the date your membership ends.

You can’t cancel a past-due membership from the card, and you can’t change plans until the payment is sorted out. To cancel, or to change plans once you’re caught up, contact your makerspace.

You’ll also receive a welcome email with your membership details. This email is part of the makerspace’s transactional notifications and is sent on every activation.

Changing Your Plan

You can switch to a different plan from your active membership card. Click Change plan to open the plan-change dialog. It lists your makerspace’s plans, and each one shows:

Its price for your billing interval (monthly or annual), in your makerspace’s currency.
The places it covers and its usage limits, the same way the plan browser shows them.
A label on your current plan, and on the plan you’re already scheduled to move to, if any.

Some plans are shown greyed out with the reason, and can’t be picked:

Reason	What it means
You’re on this plan.	It’s your current plan (unless a downgrade is scheduled; see Keeping your current plan).
Already scheduled	You’re already moving to this plan on the date shown.
Not available with annual billing.	You pay annually and the plan has no annual price.
*Needs add-on, which is billed monthly / yearly.*	The plan requires an add-on billed on the other interval than yours.
This plan is full.	The plan has a member cap and every place is taken or held.

MakerVera decides when the switch happens by comparing prices for your billing interval:

You choose	What happens
A more expensive plan	The change applies right away. You’re charged the prorated difference for the rest of your current period, and the new plan’s benefits and usage limits start immediately. Visits and bookings you’ve already used this period still count.
A plan at the same price	The change applies right away.
A cheaper plan	The change is scheduled for the end of your current billing period. You keep your current plan, its benefits and its limits until then, and the new plan and its lower price start at your next renewal.

What the dialog shows before you confirm

When you pick a plan, the dialog says when the change and the new limits apply, and shows the exact amount from your makerspace’s payment provider:

You’ll be charged amount now, for an upgrade, or Nothing is charged now (with any credit taken off your next invoice).
What you’ll pay from when, for example From Nov 1, Gold costs $40.00/mo.

Change plan stays disabled until the amount has loaded. If it can’t be loaded, the change can’t be confirmed yet: click Try again. Once you confirm, the change is sent once and the dialog stays open until it’s done, then closes. If the amount changed in the meantime (for example, your membership renewed), the dialog shows the new amount and asks you to confirm again. You’re never charged an amount you weren’t shown.

A few things to know:

Your billing interval stays the same. A member paying annually stays on annual billing after switching plans, and the price used is the new plan’s annual price.
Your makerspace’s tax rate is applied to the new price. Add-ons the new plan also offers stay on your membership; add-ons it doesn’t offer end (see Your add-ons when you change plans).
If you cover processing fees, the fee is worked out again over the new plan and the add-ons you keep, and the amount the dialog shows includes it.
If the extra charge for an upgrade is declined, the change is refused, you stay on your current plan, and you’re shown a payment-declined message. Update your payment method and try again.
If the change can’t be made, for example because the plan filled up after you opened the dialog, the dialog says so and nothing is changed.
A scheduled downgrade reserves your spot on the cheaper plan. If that plan has a member cap, the place is held for you until it takes effect.
Choosing another cheaper plan while a downgrade is scheduled replaces it; the date stays the same.
Upgrading while a downgrade is scheduled cancels the downgrade and applies the upgrade right away. Add-ons the downgrade would have ended are kept first, then the upgrade ends the ones the new plan doesn’t offer.
Annual memberships work the same way as monthly ones: an upgrade is charged now, and a downgrade waits for your yearly renewal.

Your add-ons when you change plans

A plan only offers some add-ons. When you change to a plan that doesn’t offer an add-on you have, that add-on ends with the change. Before you confirm, the dialog lists them under These add-ons end with this change, with when each one ends:

You choose	Add-ons the new plan doesn’t offer
A more expensive or same-price plan	They end right away (Ends now, unused days credited). The unused days are credited in the same amount the dialog shows, so the charge you confirm already takes them off.
A cheaper plan	They stay on, with their places and limits, until the switch date (Ends date), then end with your current plan. They aren’t credited: you’ve paid for them until then.

A few more things change with the plan:

What a plan includes follows the plan. Add-ons your current plan includes end at the switch, and the ones the new plan includes start then.
What the new plan requires is added. If the new plan requires an add-on, the dialog says so (for example Locker will be added: your new plan requires it.). On an upgrade it’s added and charged for the rest of the period, in the amount shown. On a downgrade it’s added at the switch and first billed on that renewal; until then your Membership page shows it with Starts date.
An add-on you added this period ends too. The minimum term of an add-on you added partway through a period doesn’t keep it on when your new plan doesn’t offer it.
While a downgrade is scheduled, the add-ons it ends show Ends with your plan change on your Membership page, with no Undo button: keep your current plan to keep them. Add-ons the plan you’re moving to doesn’t offer can’t be added until the switch, and say why (for example Not offered on Basic, which starts Nov 30, 2026.).

The same rules apply when your makerspace moves you to another plan, and you get an email listing the add-ons that end.

Keeping your current plan

While a downgrade is scheduled, your membership card says Your plan changes to plan on date. (the date is in your makerspace’s timezone), with a Keep current plan button. If the downgrade ends any add-ons, the notice lists them under These add-ons end on date.

Click it to cancel the downgrade. A confirmation shows that nothing is charged now, what you’ll keep paying from that date and, when the downgrade would have ended add-ons, that they continue. Confirm, and the downgrade is cancelled and the notice goes away. Cancel changes nothing. If the amount changed in the meantime, the confirmation shows the new one and asks you again; if cancelling the downgrade fails, you see why and the notice stays.

You can also keep your plan from the plan-change dialog: with a downgrade scheduled, your current plan can be picked there, and choosing it keeps it.

Adding or Removing an Add-on Later

Your add-ons are billed on your membership’s invoice, on the same renewal date. Each one shows as its own line on that invoice. Your Membership page lists every add-on your plan offers and every add-on you have, with the places it covers, its limits and its price per month or year. Use Add, Remove or Undo on the add-on.

Before anything changes, MakerVera asks you to confirm and shows what your makerspace’s payment provider says:

You choose	What the confirmation shows
Add a paid add-on	The amount charged today and the dates it covers (the rest of your current billing period, for example $20.00 today for Oct 16 – Nov 1), then the add-on’s price per month or year from your next renewal, and what your membership will then cost in total.
Remove a paid add-on	Nothing is charged or credited. The add-on stays on until the end of the period you’ve paid for, then its price stops, and what your membership will then cost.
Undo a removal	Nothing is charged now. The add-on stays and keeps billing its price from your next renewal.
Add or Remove an add-on included with your plan	Nothing is charged now.

Adding mid-period. You pay only for the rest of the current period, but you get the add-on’s full limits right away: a 20-hour add-on added on the 26th gives you 20 hours until the next reset.

The minimum term. An add-on you add partway through a period stays on through the next full period. If you remove it before then, the confirmation says so: it stays on, and is billed once more, until the end of that next period.

Removing. A removal takes effect at the end of what you’ve paid for, and there’s no refund or credit for the days left. Until then the add-on keeps working, and the Membership page shows Ends with the date and an Undo button. Undo keeps the add-on at no charge now.

When an add-on ends, its places and limits end with it. Any reservations you made in those places for after the end date are cancelled, unless something else on your membership still covers them, and you get an email listing them. You can’t book those places for dates after the end.

Required add-ons have no Remove button, and an add-on a scheduled downgrade ends has no Undo (see Your add-ons when you change plans). If your last payment didn’t go through, Add is disabled until you update your payment method; before your membership starts, Add is disabled until it does. One-time passes have no add-ons.

Confirm stays disabled until the amount has loaded. If the amount can’t be loaded, the change can’t be confirmed yet: close the dialog and try again in a moment. If the amount changes before you confirm, for example because your membership renewed in the meantime, the dialog shows the new amount and asks you to confirm again. You’re never charged an amount you weren’t shown.

If the charge for a new add-on is declined, the add-on isn’t added. Update your payment method and try again. In the rare case that the charge went through but the add-on couldn’t be saved, MakerVera refunds the charge and tells you (it can take a few days to show); if the refund can’t be made automatically, your makerspace is told and will refund you.

Common Questions

Yes. From your active membership card you can cancel anytime (effective at the end of your current billing cycle, unless your makerspace has configured a different policy). Refund policy is set by the makerspace — check with them or your makerspace’s terms before signing up.

Once you’ve cancelled, your membership card shows a banner with the date your membership ends, and the Cancel button is hidden. You keep your benefits until that date.

What happens if a plan fills up while I’m at the payment page?

Some plans have a member cap. If the cap fills up while you’re at the payment page, your subscription is refused and you’ll see a message back on your makerspace’s site explaining why. Nothing is charged. You can pick a different plan from the browse page.

Why does checkout say I already have a membership?

You can hold only one membership at a makerspace at a time. If yours is active or has a renewal payment due, clicking Subscribe shows a notice that you already have a membership instead of taking you to the payment page. Nothing is charged. Contact your makerspace to manage the membership you have — for example, to sort out a payment — rather than starting a new one.

You won’t be charged twice. While the payment page is loading, the button stays disabled. If you start checkout again for the same plan, you get the payment page you already had open. If you changed something (a different plan, interval, add-on or the cover-fees choice), the earlier payment page is closed first and can no longer be paid. If your earlier payment already went through, you’re taken to its confirmation instead. You can have one membership or pass checkout open at a time: starting a new one closes the earlier one.

If two payments still both go through, the second is refunded automatically and you get an email. It can take a few days to appear on your statement.

What happens if a renewal payment fails?

Your makerspace’s payment provider retries the charge automatically, and you’ll get an email letting you know the payment failed. The declined attempt appears as Failed in your Transactions. Once a retry goes through, your membership is active again.

If you’ve already paid a renewal, a late notice about an earlier declined attempt for it doesn’t change your membership and doesn’t send you an email. That attempt can still appear as Failed in your Transactions.

I see toggles in my notification preferences that won’t turn off — why?

Some notifications — like your membership activation welcome email and other transactional confirmations — are configured as required by the makerspace. You can’t opt out of them, but you also won’t see “ghost” toggles that look optional but don’t do anything. If a toggle is greyed out, it’s a required notification and the dispatcher will always send it.

What happens when I’ve used all my visits?

If your plan has a visit limit, you get one email that period, overnight after the visit that used the last one, telling you you’ve used your visits and the date they reset, with a link to your Membership page. Self check-in tells you the same thing until then; staff at the front desk can still check you in. On the reset date your full allowance comes back. If you’ve turned off membership emails in your notification preferences, the email isn’t sent.

No. Membership signup requires that you’re signed in to your makerspace first. If you’re visiting /membership without an account, you’ll be redirected to the login page and brought back to the plan browser once you sign in.

Membership Plans — how membership plans relate to roles and what benefits they unlock.
Cover Fees — more on the cover-fees toggle you saw at checkout.
Notifications — the welcome email and other transactional messages around your membership.