Subscription Billing Compliance Requirements

A Guide for Supplement & Nutraceutical Merchants

Applies to: Merchants and partners offering subscription, autoship, or recurring billing on dietary supplements, vitamins, nutraceuticals, and similar consumable health products.

Why These Requirements Exist

Nexio holds supplement and nutraceutical merchants who offer recurring billing to elevated compliance standards. Subscription billing in this category carries a higher dispute and chargeback profile than most other product types, and consumer protection expectations for these offers are significant.

Meeting these standards protects your customers, reduces friction with card networks, and ensures the long-term health of your merchant account. We strongly recommend reviewing this guide with your web developer and legal counsel before submitting an application or launching changes to an existing checkout flow.

The Three Phases of Subscription Compliance

Every subscription offer in this category must satisfy requirements across three phases of the customer journey:

1. Pre-Checkout — How subscription products are presented on your site
2. Checkout — How you obtain affirmative, informed consent
3. Post-Purchase — Order confirmation and recordkeeping

All three phases must be in place. A strong checkout cannot compensate for a weak product page, and vice versa.

Phase 1: Pre-Checkout (Website Presentation)

Before a customer ever reaches your checkout page, your site must make the subscription nature of the offer unmistakable.

Product Page Disclosures

• The product is offered on a recurring / subscription basis (state this plainly)
• The specific product(s) the customer will receive
• The frequency of shipments and charges
• The total cost — or a clear cost range — the customer will be charged over time

Cancellation Information

• A clear explanation of how the customer can cancel (account dashboard, email, phone, etc.)
• Any fees that may apply to cancellation, including restocking fees
• The cancellation deadline relative to the next scheduled shipment

Required Links (visible site-wide, typically in the footer)

• Terms and Conditions
• Return / Refund / Cancellation Policy
• Privacy Policy

FDA Disclosure

The following language must appear on the site, using one of these two exact phrasings:

"These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease."

"This statement has not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease."

Purchase Options

• A one-time purchase option must be available for every subscription product
• The one-time option must be visually equivalent to the subscription option and located in the same space (typically side-by-side with "Subscribe & Save")
• The customer must affirmatively opt in to the subscription — it cannot be pre-selected or set as the default

Phase 2: Checkout Page (Affirmative Opt-In Checkbox)

The checkout page is where Nexio's requirements differ most from a standard e-commerce flow. A general "I agree to the Terms and Conditions" checkbox is not sufficient.

You must include a dedicated subscription consent checkbox, separate from any other agreement on the page.

Checkbox Mechanics

What the Checkbox Must Acknowledge

The text adjacent to the checkbox must clearly disclose all seven of the following:

1. The specific product(s) being purchased on subscription
2. The total cost or cost range the customer will be charged
3. The frequency of recurring charges
4. How to cancel (specific method: online account, email address, phone number)
5. The cancellation deadline (e.g., "at least three business days before the next shipment")
6. Any return or restocking fees that may apply
7. Express permission to charge the customer's payment method on a recurring basis

Sample Checkbox Language

You may adapt the following template to fit your product and policies. Bracketed items should be replaced with your specifics.

☐ By checking this box, I confirm that I am enrolling in an autoship subscription for [product name]. My first order will ship within [three] business days, and I will continue to receive [monthly] shipments at $[amount] per shipment until I cancel.

I may cancel at any time by [updating my autoship settings in my account dashboard / contacting customer service at support@example.com / calling 1-800-XXX-XXXX] at least [three] business days before my next scheduled shipment.

I authorize [Merchant Name] to charge my payment method $[amount] on [the same day each month before my order ships]. Returned orders may be subject to a restocking fee of [$X or X%].

This block must be presented in a font size equal to or larger than the surrounding checkout text. Bold, highlighted, or boxed treatment is encouraged.

Phase 3: Order Confirmation

After every initial subscription order, the customer must receive an order confirmation that meets the standards below.

For Orders Placed Online

• Delivery method: Email
• Subject line: "Order Confirmation" followed by the name of the product (or substantially similar language)
• Content:Must clearly and conspicuously re-disclose all of the auto-renewal terms required at checkout:
  • Products being shipped
  • Total cost and currency
  • Date the initial charge will be processed
  • Frequency of recurring charges
  • Descriptor that will appear on the customer's billing statement
  • How to cancel online
  • Any cancellation or restocking fees
• Restriction: The confirmation email must contain only the order confirmation. No upsells, cross-sells, promotions, or marketing for other products may be included.

Common Reasons Applications Are Pended

The most frequent issues we see in this category:

• Subscription set as the default purchase option, with one-time purchase hidden, harder to find, or visually de-emphasized
• Pre-checked consent boxes at checkout
• A single checkbox bundling T&Cs and subscription consent into one agreement
• Subscription terms buried in T&Cs rather than displayed at checkout
• Cancellation method that is unclear, requires phone-only contact, or limits cancellation to narrow hours
• Order confirmation emails that include cross-sells, promotions, or unrelated marketing
• Missing or non-compliant FDA disclosure language
• Inconsistent pricing or frequency between the product page, checkout, and confirmation email

Before You Launch

We recommend a self-audit using this guide before submitting your site for review. If you'd like, you can also send us:

• A staging URL or screen recording of your full checkout flow
• Screenshots of your product page, checkout page, and confirmation email
• A copy of your draft Terms and Cancellation policies

We're happy to review materials in advance and flag issues before your formal application.

Questions

Contact your Nexio account representative or our Underwriting team for guidance on any of the above.

This guide reflects Nexio's compliance standards for supplement and nutraceutical merchants offering recurring billing. It is provided for informational purposes and does not constitute legal advice. Merchants should consult their own legal counsel regarding their specific offers and disclosures.