Free trial duration, expiry behavior, post-trial price explicit
Why it matters
A CTA labeled 'Start free trial' with no stated duration, post-trial price, or auto-conversion notice is textbook negative option marketing under FTC Negative Option Rule (2025) — the consumer is not making an informed decision to authorize future recurring charges. California ARL Section 17601 requires that all three facts (trial length, conversion trigger, post-trial price) appear at the point of enrollment. When a user discovers an unexpected $29 charge weeks after forgetting a trial, the result is a chargeback, not a cancellation — and Stripe's dispute rate threshold is 0.75%.
Severity rationale
High because withholding post-trial price and auto-conversion terms at the enrollment point constitutes the specific negative option pattern the FTC's 2025 rule targets for civil penalty enforcement.
Remediation
Display all three required trial disclosures — duration, auto-conversion, and post-trial price — at the trial entry point, not only at the Stripe checkout screen. In components/TrialCTA.tsx:
import { addDays, format } from 'date-fns'
const trialEndDate = format(addDays(new Date(), 14), 'MMMM d, yyyy')
<p className="trial-terms text-sm mt-2">
Free for 14 days (until {trialEndDate}), then $29/month.
Cancel before your trial ends and you won't be charged.
</p>
When credit card is collected at trial signup, make the conversion notice even more prominent: 'Your card will not be charged until [date]. Cancel before then to avoid the $29/month charge.' Ensure trial_period_days in stripe.subscriptions.create matches the number displayed.
DetectionPro
The detection method for this pattern is part of AuditBuffet Pro.
The full method (what to look for, pass and fail conditions, and how results get reported) ships inside the Subscription & Auto-Renewal Compliance Audit. The pattern definition, severity rationale, and remediation remain openly licensed under CC-BY-4.0.
External references
- external · ftc-negative-option-rule-2025 — FTC Negative Option Marketing Rule (2025) — free trial terms disclosure requirements
- external · california-arl — California Automatic Renewal Law (Bus. & Prof. Code §17601) — free trial conversion disclosure
- external · eu-consumer-rights-directive-2011-83-eu — EU Consumer Rights Directive 2011/83/EU Art. 8 — pre-contractual information including post-trial price
Taxons
History
- 2026-04-18·v1.0.0·Initial import from subscription-compliance·automated