The membership business model, which The Subscription Playbook calls the member benefits model, charges customers a monthly or annual fee for perks non-members can't get: free delivery, member prices, storage, priority service, events or replacement cover. It works when the benefits are worth clearly more than the fee and cost you less to deliver than they're worth to members.
Key takeaways
- A member benefits model sells access to perks on top of your main product, not the product itself.
- GoPro's subscription held at about $106 million in 2025 while camera revenue fell, which shows how a membership cushions a hardware business.
- Price the membership so perceived value is several times the fee, and model what your heaviest users will cost you.
- Easy to join, hard to leave is now a legal liability: Amazon paid $2.5 billion over Prime sign-ups and cancellations.
Most people look at GoPro and see a camera company.
A company that sells one-off products. Exactly the kind of business I tell people to be careful of.
But in 2016 GoPro launched a $4.99-a-month cloud plan. By May 2022, when I was writing The Subscription Playbook, it had 1.74 million subscribers on a $49.99-a-year plan that bundled cloud storage, editing tools, discounts on new gear and camera replacement.
So, what happened next?
Camera sales fell hard. GoPro's total revenue dropped from $1,005 million in 2023 to $652 million in 2025. But the subscription barely moved: $107.0 million in 2024 and $106.3 million in 2025. Subscriptions now make up about 16% of revenue, and they cost GoPro roughly 30 cents to deliver for every dollar they bring in. Cameras cost about 73 cents.
That's the member benefits model doing its job. When the main product wobbles, the membership keeps the lights on.
What Is the Member Benefits Model?
Members pay a fee, monthly or annually, to get access to things non-members can't.
That's it. The benefits can be almost anything: free shipping, member-only prices, storage, priority service, private events, extended cover. That's why I call it an umbrella model. It borrows pieces from the other seven models in the eight subscription business models. SaaS, for example, is really a member benefits model where the benefit is software.
The key difference from a plain subscription is that you're not selling the core product on repeat. GoPro still sells the camera. Amazon still sells the stuff in the box. The membership sits on top and makes being a customer better.
Ask yourself one question before you go further:
Is the benefit I can offer big enough that people will pay for it on top of what they already buy from me?
If the answer is no, and you can't bundle enough benefits to change that, one of the other models will suit you better.
Membership Business Model Examples (Updated for 2026)
Let me show you how the book's examples, and a few newer ones, look four years on.
| Business | Fee | Headline benefit | What happened 2022–2026 |
|---|---|---|---|
| GoPro | $49.99/year (book) | Storage, editing, replacement cover | Subscription revenue held at $106.3M in 2025 as hardware fell; 2.45M subscribers mid-2025 |
| Amazon Prime (US) | $14.99/month or $139/year | Free delivery, video | "Subscription services" revenue $13.73B in Q2 2026, up 12% |
| Kogan First (AU) | Annual or monthly | Free shipping, member prices | Loyalty subscription revenue A$61.4M in FY26, up 14.3% (with Mighty Ape in NZ) |
| Uber One (US) | $9.99/month | $0 delivery fees, ride credits | Grew from about 10M members (2022) to more than 50M (2026) |
| Grano, Toronto (book) | $1,200/year | Four private speeches a year | Closed after the owner's stroke; the idea still works |
Two patterns jump out.
First, the strongest memberships have one benefit you can explain in four words. "Free shipping on everything." "Zero delivery fees." Members know exactly what they're paying for.
Second, the money often isn't in the fee. Kogan's membership revenue is mostly high-margin fee income bolted onto a low-margin retailer. Analyst coverage of Uber's Q1 2026 results says members spend about three times as much as non-members. The fee pays for the perks. The behavior change pays for everything else.
Grano: a restaurant that sold access, not food
Grano was an exclusive Italian restaurant in Toronto. The owners worked out they could sell something other than dinner. For $1,200 a year, members got four private speeches from prominent people, held at the restaurant. Grano collected the membership fee, then sold food and wine on the night, and every event introduced new diners to the room. Sadly, the owner, Roberto Materlla, suffered a stroke and Grano is no longer around. But I'd love to see more venues borrow the idea: the benefit doesn't have to be a discount. It can be access.
Who Is This Model Right For (and Who Should Avoid It)?
The member benefits model suits you if:
- Customers already buy from you repeatedly. Retailers, cafés, clinics, gyms and online stores have a base to build on.
- You can offer something scarce. Priority booking, member pricing, early access or events cost you little but feel exclusive.
- You sell hardware or one-off products. A membership turns a single sale into a relationship, as GoPro proved.
It's the wrong choice if:
- Customers buy from you once every few years. Nobody pays a monthly fee for perks they'll use once. (I've never met anyone with a membership at their roofer.)
- Your benefits are just discounts on low-margin products. You'll train members to buy only at member prices and squeeze your margin.
- You can't measure redemption. If you don't know which benefits members use, you can't price or improve them.
Not sure which camp you're in? The Subscription Model Selector will score your business against all eight models in a few minutes.
A Sample Membership Offer
Here's an illustrative three-tier offer for an independent bike shop. The prices are made up to show the structure, not a recommendation.
| Free Club | Rider (A$12/month) | Rider Plus (A$29/month) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Who it's for | Everyone | Weekend riders | Commuters and racers |
| Member prices on parts | No | 10% off | 15% off |
| Free safety check | No | One a year | Every quarter |
| Service booking | Standard | Priority | Same-week guarantee |
| Group rides and events | Yes | Yes | Yes, plus a members' night |
| Crash replacement cover | No | No | Discounted replacement frame |
Notice the free tier. It gives you an email list and a reason for people to say hello. The paid tiers add benefits that cost the shop mostly time, plus one insurance-style perk at the top. (More on that below.)
Is member benefits the right model for you?
Answer eight quick questions and the Subscription Model Selector will tell you which of the eight models fits your business.
How Do You Price a Membership?
Start with two numbers: what the benefits cost you, and what they're worth to members.
Membership margin per member = Fee − Cost of benefits redeemed + Extra gross profit from member purchases
Worked example: the bike shop's Rider tier
Rider costs A$12 a month, or A$144 a year (GST included, so about A$131 before GST). Say a typical Rider member spends A$600 a year on parts. The 10% member discount costs the shop A$60. The annual safety check takes 30 minutes of mechanic time, about A$25. Total benefit cost: about A$85. That leaves roughly A$46 a year from the fee before card fees. Now add the upside: if members spend 30% more than they did before joining (an assumption you must test in your own shop), that's another A$180 of sales. At a 40% gross margin, that's A$72 of extra gross profit. The membership is worth about A$118 a year per member to the shop, and the member saves A$60 plus gets a free check worth A$60 retail.
A few rules of thumb I use:
- Perceived value should be several times the fee. If members can't see they're getting at least double their money back, they'll cancel at the first budget review.
- Model your heaviest users, not your average ones. The people who join first are the ones who'll use every benefit. Pret learned this with its £30-a-month coffee club.
- Make the annual price a genuine deal. It pulls members into a 12-month commitment and brings cash forward. The Annual Discount Calculator helps you find the right gap.
- Remember GST and payment fees. Run your price through the Subscription Price Calculator before you print it.
For a full walk-through, read how to price a membership.
Subscription Price CalculatorWork out a profitable monthly price after costs, GST and fees.Open the free tool →What Can Go Wrong With a Membership Model?
Three things, mostly.
Members stop using the benefits. A membership nobody uses is a membership waiting to be cancelled. Track redemption every month and talk to members who haven't used a benefit in 60 days. The churn rate calculator shows you what each lost member costs.
The benefits get too expensive. If your headline perk has a real cost per use (delivery, food, drinks), a small group of superusers can eat your margin. Cap it, or make it a discount rather than "free."
You make leaving hard. This used to be a growth hack. Now it's a court case. In September 2025 the FTC announced a $2.5 billion settlement with Amazon over allegations it enrolled people in Prime without consent and made cancelling deliberately hard. In April 2025 the FTC sued Uber over Uber One sign-ups and cancellations. In Australia, new subscription rules start on 1 July 2027 that require clear disclosure, notices during the subscription (reminder timing is left to regulations not yet made as at October 2026) and an easy way to cancel. Read the summary of Australia's subscription trap laws before you design your sign-up flow.
Show savings honestly
If you tell members how much they've saved (and you should), show the number after the fee. The FTC's complaint against Uber alleged it overstated savings by not netting off the membership cost.
How Do You Combine Member Benefits With Other Models?
This model plays well with others. In the book I said GoPro proved what works by mixing a touch of the insurance model into member benefits.
- Add insurance-style cover. GoPro's camera replacement is the stickiest benefit it offers. Cancel the membership and you lose the cover. See the insurance model.
- Add consumables. Amazon runs Subscribe and Save alongside Prime, so members get both free delivery and automatic restocking.
- Add bundled services. A salon membership might include a monthly blow-dry plus member prices on everything else.
- Add content. Strava's paid tier adds training plans and analytics on top of a free social network.
If you're weighing a membership against a straight subscription, my comparison of membership vs subscription goes deeper.
What to Do Next
- List every benefit you could offer that non-customers can't get today. Circle the one you could explain in four words.
- Cost each benefit per member per year, using your heaviest customers as the test case.
- Build a two- or three-tier offer and test it on 20 of your best customers before you launch.
- Write the sign-up page so the price, the renewal date and how to cancel are obvious.
- Track three numbers from day one: attach rate (what share of customers join), benefit redemption and monthly churn.
Here's my question for you: if a member walked into your business tomorrow, what would they get that a stranger wouldn't?
If you can answer that in one sentence, you've got the start of a membership.
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Claim the free hardcover Get the ebookFrequently asked questions
Is a paid membership the same as a loyalty program?
No. A loyalty program is usually free and rewards spending after the fact with points. A paid membership charges a fee upfront and gives the benefits straight away. Uber ended its free Uber Rewards program in November 2022 and grew the paid Uber One to more than 50 million members, which tells you which one customers value more when the benefits are real.
Should a membership be billed monthly or annually?
Offer both if you can. Annual fees paid upfront improve cash flow and lock in a 12-month relationship. Kogan held A$11.3 million of membership fees paid in advance at 30 June 2026. Monthly billing lowers the barrier to joining. Price the annual option at a real discount, around two months free, so members have a reason to commit.
How many benefits should a membership include?
Fewer than you think. Lead with one headline benefit that is easy to understand and easy to measure, like free delivery, member pricing or priority booking. Then add two or three supporting perks. A long list of small benefits is hard to market and hard to value, and members rarely use most of them.
Can a service business use the member benefits model?
Yes. A clinic can offer priority appointments and member pricing, a trades business can offer faster call-outs and discounted repairs, and a restaurant can sell access to private events, as Toronto's Grano did with its $1,200-a-year speaker series. The test is the same: would customers pay to get something non-members can't?
Do I charge GST on membership fees in Australia?
If your business is registered for GST, membership fees are generally a taxable supply, so 10% GST applies and should be built into your advertised price. There are exceptions, and the treatment of bundled benefits can get complicated, so check your situation with your accountant or the ATO before you launch.
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Robert Coorey, MBA
Robert is the author of The Subscription Playbook and Feed a Starving Crowd and a Director at BPAG Accountants in Sydney. More about Robert.
Sources
- GoPro Announces Fourth Quarter and 2025 Results (5 March 2026)
- GoPro Announces Second Quarter 2025 Results
- Amazon.com Announces Second Quarter 2026 Results
- FTC Secures Historic $2.5 Billion Settlement Against Amazon (25 September 2025)
- Kogan.com FY26 results announcement (24 August 2026)
- Uber Newsroom: Uber One Member Days 2026
Facts and prices checked 27 October 2026. Spotted something out of date? Tell us.