Out of QuickStage credits mid-month? Buy, upgrade or wait

When your QuickStage plan credits run out before the reset date, you have three moves: buy $1 single credits for exactly the photos you're short, upgrade to the next plan, or wait for the reset. For a gap of a few photos, $1 credits are usually the cheapest fix, and they never expire. If you're short more than 20 photos on Basic (60 on Pro, 100 on Studio) most months, the bigger plan costs the same or less than topping up, so upgrade; and if the reset is a few days away with nothing due, waiting costs $0.

Below is the decision table we use, the per-photo math behind it, and where each option lives in your account.

When do my plan credits come back?

Your reset date is on the balance card on the Manage subscription page. Enter the email your plan is under, confirm the sign-in link if we ask, and you'll see "Credits remaining" with your plan total next to it and a "Resets" date on the right. When the balance hits zero, the card says you've used all your credits for this period and gives the date they come back.

Two rules decide everything that follows:

• Plan credits don't roll over. On the reset date your plan balance goes back to the plan's full monthly amount. That's true on annual plans too, since their credits also refresh monthly.
• $1 credits are separate. They never expire, they survive every reset, and they stay on your account if the plan ends. Your plan credits are used before your $1 credits, so a single credit you don't need this month is still there next month.

You can check the balance card on your Manage page any time, before you decide anything.

What are the three options?

1. Buy $1 single credits

Single credits cost $1 a photo, and you can buy from 1 to 50 in one checkout. There's no subscription attached, and they land on top of your plan balance.

You often don't need to go looking for them. If you press stage with more photos than your balance covers, the uploader opens a checkout for exactly the number you're short, at $1 each. Your photos, with the room types and styles you picked, are saved in that browser for up to 24 hours, and staging starts as soon as the payment is confirmed. If you cancel the checkout, you aren't charged and your photos come back as you left them.

Buy with the same email your plan is under. Credits belong to an email address, so a purchase under a second address starts a second balance.

2. Upgrade to the next plan

Open the Manage subscription page, press Manage plan / Cancel, and choose the bigger plan in the billing portal. Upgrades take effect right away: you pay the difference between the plans and get the new plan's full monthly credits and QuickFix allowance immediately. Any $1 credits you hold stay on top.

From then on you're billed at the new plan's price. If the busy stretch is a one-off, you can schedule a downgrade straight after, since downgrades start at your next renewal and you keep the bigger allowance until then. Our guide to how plan switches, cancellations and refunds work walks through the portal screen by screen.

3. Wait for the reset date

Waiting costs nothing. It's the right call when the reset is close and no listing is waiting on the photos. On the reset date your plan's full monthly allowance and QuickFix re-dos come back on their own; there's nothing to press.

The decision table

We call this the short, soon, steady check. A short gap means buy singles. A reset that's coming soon means wait. A gap that shows up steadily, month after month, means upgrade.

Where do the break-even numbers come from?

They're the gaps between the monthly plan prices, counted in $1 credits.

• Basic is $19.99 a month for 75 photos and Pro is $39.99 for 225. The gap is $20, so 20 single credits on top of Basic cost the same as Pro.
• Pro to Studio ($99.99 for 650) is a $60 gap, so 60 single credits.
• Studio to Agency ($199.99 for 1,500) is a $100 gap, so 100 single credits.

For example, say you're on Basic and you need 95 photos a month. Basic plus 20 single credits is $19.99 + $20 = $39.99. Pro is also $39.99, and it gives you 225 photos and 20 QuickFix re-dos instead of 95 photos and 7 re-dos. Once you're past the break-even every month, topping up means paying Pro's price for less of Pro.

At full use, the monthly plans work out to $0.27 a photo on Basic, $0.18 on Pro, $0.15 on Studio and $0.13 on Agency, and as low as $0.11 a photo on the annual Agency plan (billed yearly). Single credits are always $1. Those plan rates only hold if you use the credits, which is why one heavy month is not a reason to upgrade.

Two more examples.

For example, you're on Pro with 0 credits left, 9 days to the reset, and a 25-photo listing due Friday. Waiting misses Friday. Upgrading to Studio would give you 650 photos you probably won't use this month. Buying 25 single credits for $25 is the clean answer. If that happens three months running and the gap is over 60 each time, it's time for Studio.

For example, you're on Basic, 4 photos short, the reset is 2 days out, and the listing goes live next week. Wait. The 4 photos cost $0 two days from now.

Is it a credit problem or a re-do problem?

Before you spend money, check what you need. If a staged room is close but has one thing wrong, such as a chair blocking a doorway or a rug that's too big, a QuickFix re-do handles it without a staging credit. You describe the change and it re-runs that photo. Plans include 7 (Basic), 20 (Pro), 50 (Studio) or 100 (Agency) QuickFix re-dos a month, on a separate allowance from your credits.

QuickFix works on staged interior rooms, not on Curb Appeal or Twilight exterior results. When the QuickFix allowance is used up, it comes back at your next reset, the same as your credits.

What mistakes cost people the most?

1. Expecting leftover plan credits to stack. If you end a Pro month with 40 unused, you start the next month with 225, not 265.
2. Topping up past the break-even every month. Basic plus 25 single credits a month is $44.99, more than Pro's $39.99, for fewer photos.
3. Upgrading for a one-time spike and forgetting about it. The higher price repeats at each renewal until you downgrade.
4. Buying under a different email. The credits land on a second balance that your plan account can't see.
5. Spending a credit on a fix. A small furniture change on an interior is a QuickFix job.

Bottom line

When plan credits run out before the reset, buy $1 credits for a short gap, wait if the reset is days away and nothing is due, and upgrade only when you're past the break-even most months: 20 extra photos on Basic, 60 on Pro, 100 on Studio. Your $1 credits never expire, so a few spares on the account are never wasted.

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