Runbox uses a system of products and accounts. In many cases the product and the account that is assigned to it appear to be the same thing, but in the case of some of our products they can be different and it is useful to understand how they work. This is particularly true when it comes to sub-accounts.
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What are Products?
Products are the foundation of the Runbox system. When you purchase a product it gives you an extra feature in your Runbox account. 
For example, if you purchase products for a main account it could give you one of the following features for that main account.
- the ability to create one or more sub-accounts
- extra storage capacity for your email
- extra storage capacity for your files
- aliases in addition to the standard quota for your account
- domains in addition to the standard quota for your account
- more web space for your website
- the ability to have your website hosted in Norway
Most of the above are straight forward, but in some cases it is important to understand the difference between the product, and the feature it lets you have.
Products and Email Sub-Accounts
When you purchase a sub-account product, it does not create a new email sub-account. It only gives you the ability to create a sub-account. If you don’t ever create that sub-account then the product will expire after one year and you will need to renew it in order to retain the right to create a sub-account.
When you do create a sub-account using the product, the sub-account is given the same expiry date as the product.
When a sub-account product expires you will need to renew it so that the associated email sub-accounts do not expire.
Buying more than one Sub-Account
A single product can give you the ability to create more than one sub-account. This is because we bundle products together of the same kind that are purchased at the same time. Therefore, a sub-account product that lets you create 10 sub-accounts could appear as a single product with a quantity of 10 on your Account page.
You don’t need to create all of the sub-accounts at the same time. This is a great feature for businesses because you could buy 20 sub-accounts as part of single product purchase and then create those over any period of time you like without making further purchases. Of course, if you leave it too long to create all of the sub-accounts some will have an expiry date much less than one year, and you might feel it is better to buy a few sub-accounts now and then some later when you need them. Ultimately the choice is yours and leads to great flexibility.
The other advantage of buying them all at the same time is that you only have one expiry date to think about. If you buy more sub-account products over a period of time, each will expire one year from when it starts. This means you have multiple expiry dates to deal with. If things become complicated over a period of time, we can probably consolidate some of your accounts. Please contact Runbox Support about this.
Products and Other Runbox Features
Most of the products act directly on the various quotas in your account. For example, if you buy a product giving you extra storage, your storage quota is updated immediately and you don’t need to do anything else. After a year if you don’t renew the product it will expire and your quota will be reduced again.
If you have any questions about products and accounts, please contact Runbox Support.