Questions about PlanetScope billing and overage

Data Sources
1

Hi @gmilcinski ,

We are in doubt about some aspects of billing of PlanetScope data.
We went through the documentation and forums but still can’t find answers to these questions:

Assuming we have purchased 1 PlanetScope Tier 3 (for 500 ha, the smallest quota available) in May 2024, we create a subscription for a 100 ha polygon (polygon A) right away and then, we have a 400 ha polygon (polygon B) which we want to monitor for one year starting in September 2024. So we create a subscription for polygon B in September 2024.

According to what we read in the documentation an forums:

  1. Polygon B subscription will stop receiving deliveries by the end of our PlanetScope subscription, i.e. in May 2025.
  2. In order to receive deliveries for polygon B from May 2025 to September 2025, we have to purchase a new PlanetScope Tier 3 in May 2025 - so basically we have to pay for the polygon B monitoring twice despite we want to monitor it just for one year.

Is this correct?

Assuming we already consumed the whole quota with polygon A and B, we create a subscription to a 100 ha polygon C in November 2024 (half a year after we purchased our subscription to PlanetScope data), thus exceeding the quota with 100 ha overage. Again, we want to monitor polygon C for a year, i.e. till November 2025:

  1. When will SentinelHub charge us for the overage and what will be the price? The overage is said to be charged with 20% fee, but it is not clear when it is charged and how it is calculated.
  2. Will the polygon C subscription stop receiving deliveries by May 2025, which is the end of our yearly PlanetScope subscription?

If we create a subscription for another 100 ha polygon D in February 2025, i.e. 3 months before the end of our yearly PlanetScope subscription, again for one year monitoring:

  1. What will be the price charged for the overage?
  2. Will the deliveries of polygon D subscription be received for the period of one year, or just till the end of our yearly PlanetScope subscription (May 2025)?

Sorry for the long list of questions.

2

As a general rule, all subscriptions are co-termed to the same contract, with the same start and end date.
If you purchased 500 ha on May 2024, the specific TPDI subscriptions will expire in May 2025.
You can “top-up” the contract mid-year, in which case you will only pay the proportional part of the subscription period (i.e. if you purchase a top-up in August 2025, you will pay 9/12 of the annual price).

I understand this might not work with all the use-cases, but keep in mind:

  • you get access not just to fresh data, but also several years of archive
  • the process is designed around continuous monitoring - i.e. most users would continue monitoring specific area year after year, so the “issue” you are describing would only impact a part of the overall period
3

Thank you, @gmilcinski

Ok, no problem.
We understand the general rules.

We need to decide at which point to “top-up” the quota. For that we need to know how the overage fee is calculated. For example, if we exceed the quota by 100 ha in the mid-year, instead of "top-up"ing quota, how much does it cost us?

4

Overage comes at the list price, i.e. without the top-up discount.
Therefore, top-up is the best option.

5

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