When you downgrade the configuration of a subscription instance, the system calculates a partial refund. No refund is issued if the calculated refundable amount is less than 0.
How refunds work
If the configuration of your subscription instance exceeds your business requirements, you can use an authorized account to downgrade the instance configuration in real time. A configuration downgrade cancels the original order and generates a new order with the new configuration. The refund amount depends on the following factors:
Paid amount: The amount you actually paid, excluding amounts offset by coupons or vouchers.
Fee for consumed resources: The cost of resources you already used, calculated based on the resource type and usage duration.
Price difference ratio: A ratio that accounts for the price difference between the original and new configurations.
If you purchased a resource during a promotional event, the refundable amount may be equal to or smaller than zero. No refund is issued in this case.
Refund formula
Refundable amount = Online refundable amount x Price difference ratio
If the downgrade involves multiple orders (for example, an original purchase order and a subsequent upgrade order), the total refundable amount is the sum of the refund calculated for each order.
Online refundable amount
Online refundable amount = Paid amount - Fee for consumed resources
The fee for consumed resources is calculated differently depending on the resource type:
Resource type | Usage duration | Fee formula |
Subscription ECS instance | Less than 30 days | Daily unit price x Usage duration x Discount for the usage duration x 1.5 |
Subscription ECS instance | 30 days or more | Daily unit price x Usage duration x Discount for the usage duration |
Other resources | Any | Daily unit price x Usage duration x Discount for the usage duration |
Price difference ratio
Price difference ratio = (Daily unit price of original order - Daily unit price of new order) / Price difference between daily unit prices of original orders
The denominator (price difference between daily unit prices of original orders) depends on whether you upgraded the instance before the downgrade:
Scenario | Price difference (denominator) |
No prior upgrade | Daily unit price of the original order |
Prior upgrade | Daily unit price of the original order - Daily unit price of the order before the upgrade |
If the calculated price difference ratio exceeds 1, the system caps it at 1.
Daily unit price
Order type | Daily unit price formula |
Purchase, renewal, or downgrade | Original price of the order / Actual subscription duration of the order |
Upgrade | (Original price of the order / Actual subscription duration of the order) x Price difference ratio before and after upgrade |
For upgrade orders, the price difference ratio before and after upgrade is:
(Daily unit price after upgrade - Daily unit price before upgrade) / Daily unit price after upgrade
Daily unit prices in the upgrade formula do not include discounts.
Usage duration
Usage duration = Downgrade time - Order start time
The usage duration is accurate to days. A duration shorter than one day is rounded up to one day.
Examples:
You purchased an ECS instance for one year on January 1, 2023 at 12:00 and initiated a downgrade on January 10, 2023 at 14:00. Usage duration = 10 days.
You purchased an ECS instance for one year on January 1, 2023 at 12:00 and initiated a downgrade the same day at 14:00. Usage duration = 1 day.
Discount for the usage duration
The system calculates this discount based on the resource configuration and the actual usage duration at the time of refund.
Calculation examples
The following examples use an ECS instance to demonstrate refund calculations for different scenarios. No discount is provided for subscriptions shorter than one year in these examples.
Example 1: Downgrade without a prior upgrade
Setup:
Item | Value |
Instance | 4 vCPUs, 8 GB memory |
Subscription | 1 year (365 days) |
List price | USD 100/month (USD 1,200/year) |
Discount | 15% off for 1-year subscription |
Paid amount | USD 1,020 |
Downgrade timing | After 6 months |
New configuration | 2 vCPUs, 4 GB memory (USD 50/month) |
Order A (purchase order):
Step | Calculation | Result |
Fee for consumed resources | USD 100/month x 6 months x 1.0 | USD 600 |
Online refundable amount | USD 1,020 - USD 600 | USD 420 |
Daily unit price (original) | USD 1,200 / 365 | USD 3.2877 |
Daily unit price (new) | USD 50 / 30 | USD 1.6667 |
Price difference ratio | (3.2877 - 1.6667) / 3.2877 | 0.50694444 |
Refundable amount | USD 420 x 0.50694444 | USD 212.92 |
Example 2: Downgrade to original configuration after an upgrade
Setup:
Item | Value |
Instance | 4 vCPUs, 8 GB memory |
Subscription | 1 year (365 days) |
List price | USD 100/month (USD 1,200/year) |
Discount | 50% off for 1-year subscription |
Paid amount | USD 600 |
Upgrade (after 6 months) | 8 vCPUs, 16 GB memory (USD 200/month), paid USD 600 (Order B) |
Downgrade (3 months later) | Back to 4 vCPUs, 8 GB memory (USD 100/month) |
Order A (purchase order): No refund.
Order B (upgrade order):
Step | Calculation | Result |
Fee for consumed resources | (USD 600 / 6 months) x 3 months | USD 300 |
Online refundable amount | USD 600 - USD 300 | USD 300 |
Daily unit price (original) | USD 200 / 30 | USD 6.6667 |
Daily unit price (new) | USD 100 / 30 | USD 3.3333 |
Daily unit price (pre-upgrade) | USD 1,200 / 365 | USD 3.2877 |
Price difference (denominator) | 6.6667 - 3.2877 | USD 3.3790 |
Price difference ratio | (6.6667 - 3.3333) / 3.3790 | 0.98648649 |
Refundable amount | USD 300 x 0.98648649 | USD 295.95 |
Total refundable amount = USD 0 + USD 295.95 = USD 295.95
Example 3: Downgrade to a lower configuration after an upgrade
Setup:
Item | Value |
Instance | 4 vCPUs, 8 GB memory |
Subscription | 1 year (365 days) |
List price | USD 100/month (USD 1,200/year) |
Discount | 15% off for 1-year subscription |
Paid amount | USD 1,020 |
Upgrade (after 6 months) | 8 vCPUs, 16 GB memory (USD 200/month), paid USD 600 (Order B) |
Downgrade (3 months later) | 2 vCPUs, 4 GB memory (USD 50/month) |
Order A (purchase order):
Step | Calculation | Result |
Fee for consumed resources | USD 100/month x 9 months x 1.0 | USD 900 |
Online refundable amount | USD 1,020 - USD 900 | USD 120 |
Price difference ratio | [(USD 1,200/365) - (USD 50/30)] / (USD 1,200/365) | 0.50694444 |
Refundable amount | USD 120 x 0.50694444 | USD 60.83 |
Order B (upgrade order):
Step | Calculation | Result |
Fee for consumed resources | (USD 600 / 6 months) x 3 months | USD 300 |
Online refundable amount | USD 600 - USD 300 | USD 300 |
Price difference ratio | [(USD 200/30) - (USD 50/30)] / [(USD 200/30) - (USD 1,200/365)] | > 1 (capped at 1) |
Refundable amount | USD 300 x 1 | USD 300 |
Total refundable amount = USD 60.83 + USD 300 = USD 360.83
Example 4: Partial downgrade after an upgrade
Setup:
Item | Value |
Instance | 4 vCPUs, 8 GB memory |
Subscription | 1 year (365 days) |
List price | USD 100/month (USD 1,200/year) |
Discount | 15% off for 1-year subscription |
Paid amount | USD 1,020 |
Upgrade (after 6 months) | 8 vCPUs, 16 GB memory (USD 200/month), paid USD 600 (Order B) |
Downgrade (3 months later) | 6 vCPUs, 12 GB memory (USD 150/month) |
Order A (purchase order): No refund.
Order B (upgrade order):
Step | Calculation | Result |
Fee for consumed resources | (USD 600 / 6 months) x 3 months | USD 300 |
Online refundable amount | USD 600 - USD 300 | USD 300 |
Daily unit price (original) | USD 200 / 30 | USD 6.6667 |
Daily unit price (new) | USD 150 / 30 | USD 5.0000 |
Price difference (denominator) | (USD 200/30) - (USD 1,200/365) | USD 3.3790 |
Price difference ratio | (6.6667 - 5.0000) / 3.3790 | 0.49324324 |
Refundable amount | USD 300 x 0.49324324 | USD 147.97 |
Total refundable amount = USD 0 + USD 147.97 = USD 147.97