Every trader comparing prop firms does the same thing: opens five storefronts, lines up the fee for the account size they want, and starts eliminating from the top. In that comparison, your fee is your first impression — and the cruel part is that the fee doing the eliminating is charged before the trader has received anything they emotionally value. They're paying full price for an attempt.
Split-fee pricing rewires that moment. Instead of one payment at checkout, the challenge is sold in two parts: a smaller fee to start the evaluation, and the balance charged automatically only when the trader passes and gets funded. The number in the comparison table shrinks; the total you collect from every funded trader doesn't. It is the rare pricing mechanic that improves conversion without touching margin — and in the Singuard Prop Firm CRM it's a per-challenge setting, not a development project.
How the Mechanic Actually Works
The flow has three moments:
- Checkout: the trader pays the starter fee — the smaller first part — and the evaluation account is provisioned on the platform immediately, exactly as with a full-price sale.
- Evaluation: nothing changes. The same rule set, the same drawdown and target enforcement by the rules engine, the same auto phase advance.
- Funding: when the trader passes and a funded account is issued, the balance — the second part — is charged automatically. No invoice chase, no manual follow-up: the charge is wired into the funding event itself.
Both amounts are set per challenge type in the owner portal, so you decide the split's shape product by product: a token starter with a heavy completion fee for aggressive acquisition, or a near-even split for a gentler headline discount. No code either way.
The Conversion Economics
Why does moving the same total across two moments change buying behavior? Three mechanisms, all well-worn in consumer pricing and unusually potent here:
- The comparison table. Storefront prices are compared as single numbers. A split-fee challenge shows its starter fee where competitors show their full fee — and gets shortlisted by traders who would have scrolled past.
- Risk transfer, felt if not literal. The trader's worst case — fail the evaluation — now costs the starter fee only. The larger payment lands exclusively in the scenario where the trader just received something worth far more to them: a funded account. Paying for success feels categorically different from paying for a chance.
- Self-selection. A lower entry price widens the funnel; the completion fee is only ever collected from passers. You acquire more attempts at the small number and monetize success at the full one.
Note what split-fee is not: a discount. Every funded trader pays the full designed total. The mechanic reallocates when the money arrives — more sales at a smaller first payment, with the remainder concentrated on funding events. Model your cash flow accordingly: acquisition revenue per sale drops, completion revenue arrives with your pass rate, and total revenue per funded trader is unchanged while volume rises.
The operational make-or-break: the second charge must be automatic. A "pay the rest to activate your funded account" email converts poorly, ages badly and creates support debt. In the Singuard storefront the balance is charged by the system at the funding event itself — the same automated moment that issues the account and, if configured, the certificate.
Where Split-Fee Fits in the Catalogue
Split-fee shines where the sticker price is the objection: larger account sizes, where full fees cross psychological thresholds, and paid acquisition traffic, where a lower first price directly moves ad economics. It pairs naturally with two-phase evaluations — the harder filter keeps the completion event meaningful — and with refundable fees, its mirror image: split-fee softens the entry, refunds sweeten the exit. Running one challenge type with both, next to conventional full-price products, gives your storefront a price story for every buyer psychology. That portfolio approach is the heart of challenge design.
Getting the Split Right
The ratio between the two parts is a real decision. Three tested shapes:
- Aggressive (small starter, large balance): maximizes funnel width; best for new firms buying attention. The starter must still clear your processing costs and discourage throwaway attempts.
- Balanced (roughly even): a visible discount at checkout without making the funding-day charge feel like a surprise. The safe default.
- Premium (large starter, small completion): a modest headline improvement, useful on flagship sizes where you want commitment signaling to survive.
Whatever the shape, disclose it loudly — on the challenge card, at checkout, in the confirmation email. A completion fee traders knew about is a milestone; one they'd forgotten is a chargeback. Clear disclosure, the automatic charge, and the audit trail behind every payment event are what keep the mechanic clean with both traders and payment processors.
Why This Is a Software Feature, Not a Pricing Memo
Split-fee only works because three systems fire in the same instant: the rules engine detects the pass, the funding event issues the account, and the payment system charges the stored balance — with the record written to the audit log. Stitch those across separate vendors and the mechanic leaks: passes detected overnight, charges run manually, disputes with no trail. In the bundle they are one event in one system, which is why enabling split-fee takes two fields in the owner portal. See it configured live in the demo.
"Pricing is part of challenge design. Splitting the fee moves the decision point and widens the funnel without touching your risk."
— Alex Onta, Executive Director, eTrader & Prop Firm CRM
Key Takeaways
- Split-fee sells one challenge in two parts: a small starter fee at checkout, the balance auto-charged only when the trader passes and gets funded.
- It lowers the sticker price traders compare without lowering revenue per funded trader — conversion mechanics, not a discount.
- The second charge must be automatic and loudly disclosed — wired to the funding event, recorded in the audit log.
- Both amounts are per-challenge settings in the Singuard storefront — shape the split per product, no code.
Frequently Asked Questions
What Happens If the Second Charge Fails?
The funding event and the charge are linked in the system, so a failed payment is visible immediately in the back office rather than discovered weeks later — staff can retry, follow up or hold the funded account per your policy, with every step recorded in the audit log.
Does Split-Fee Attract Lower-Quality Traders?
It widens the funnel, so absolute attempt volume rises — but the evaluation itself is unchanged, and the rules engine filters at the same standard. You're buying more attempts at the same pass bar; the completion fee is only ever collected from traders who cleared it.
Can I Combine Split-Fee with a Refundable Fee on the Same Challenge?
Yes — both are independent per-challenge toggles in the Prop Firm CRM. A small starter fee in, the balance on funding, and a refund of the amount or percentage you configure released with the first payout.