Purchases & Rentals

RamTV lets you charge for a movie or TV episode on your website. A payment can grant permanent access or a timed rental. You set the item price in its admin edit screen; the buyer’s User Role decides which kind of access they receive. Rentals are available in RamTV without a separate Store switch. The TV episode option appears when the TV plugin is installed.

Purchase or rental: what changes?

Both use the same item price and your users’ website balance. Permanent access has no rental deadline. Rental access lasts for the number of hours set on the buyer’s role, starting when they pay. A rental can be watched during that window but cannot be downloaded. When it ends, playback access stops and the user can pay again under their current role. Changing a role later does not turn an existing purchase into a rental or change an existing rental deadline.

1. Set up the buyer’s User Role

Go to Admin → Setting → User → User Role for the default logged-in role, or Admin → Users → Roles & Access to edit another user role. The default Users role on a new RamTV installation is set to a 48-hour rental. Only signed-in users can buy or rent; the purchase action is available to user roles, not guests.

• Set Purchase type to Permanent for purchases, or Rental for timed access. Not set leaves the decision to another role; if none chooses, a payment grants permanent access.
• For Rental, set Rental period ( hours ) to the access window. The form accepts 1–8,760 hours and suggests 48. Leaving it empty makes the payment permanent, so enter a positive value when you intend to rent.
• A user can hold several roles. Permanent wins over Rental; among rental roles, the longest period wins. Check every role a test buyer has before testing the offer.

Premium content access is a separate role setting: Some or All can grant access without an individual payment. None does not prevent a signed-in user from buying. Download content and its in-app/device options govern downloads for eligible items; rentals remain streaming only. For role and subscription-plan setup, see User Roles and Subscription System.

2. Price the content

• For a movie, open Admin → Movie → List Movies, create or edit the movie, and use its Price section.
• For an individual episode, open Admin → TV → List Episodes, create or edit the episode, and use its Price section.
• Enter a price above zero in your default currency and save. A zero price leaves the item free. Add a playable Source before offering a title to viewers; a title without one cannot be watched.

There is no separate “rent this item” switch or rental price on those forms. The same priced item can be a purchase for one buyer and a rental for another, according to their roles. The Exclude subscription plans access option in the Price section means users need an individual purchase instead of access through a plan. Leave it off if your plans should also unlock the item. The self-service user uploader creates free content; price items from the admin edit screens. For content and sources, see Adding Movies & TV Content.

3. What your users see

A signed-in viewer sees a Buy or Rent action for priced content they cannot already access. After a successful payment, access is immediate. The item appears in Library → Purchased; rentals also appear in Library → Rentals with the remaining time. Expired rentals stay listed with an expired label, but no longer unlock playback. A permanent purchase stays available without a rental deadline, subject to the account and the content still being available on your website.

An active purchase or rental cannot be bought again. After a rental expires, the user can pay again; their current role determines whether the new payment is a rental or permanent purchase. Your admin area lists these records under Users → User Content → Purchases; Business → Transactions shows the financial activity.

4. Payments and currencies

Item purchases and rentals are paid from the user’s website balance. If the balance is too low, RamTV offers Add funds; the user selects an enabled payment gateway to top up, then returns to buy or rent the item. Configure and test gateways under Admin → Business → Payment Gateways. Gateway setup and checkout limits are covered in Payment gateways.

Set your default currency before entering prices at Admin → Setting → General → Currencies. Item prices are stored in that default currency; other active currencies convert the displayed amount. See Currency for exchange rates and visitor currency selection.

Before you launch

• Test with a signed-in account carrying the exact roles you plan to sell to. Confirm the action says Buy or Rent, the price, and the rental window before charging real users.
• Make one complete top-up and item-purchase test with your chosen gateway, then check the user’s Library and the admin Purchases and Transactions screens.
• Use Premium content access and subscription-plan grants deliberately: they can give users playback access without an individual Store payment.

For the broader launch order, see Setup your app.