What you pay for
The single home for the charging rules. Everywhere else in this documentation, a question about money is a link to this page.
You pay for parts, not for messages
A message longer than one part is charged as several. The counter under the text field is the honest answer to what a campaign will cost: it shows the parts, and the parts are the units.
The alphabet decides where the boundary falls, so the same text in Latin and in Cyrillic costs differently. Emoji, a short link and an unsubscribe link all add characters, and adding characters can add a part.
Limits, prices and the set of available options are tuned to your account. This documentation gives the meaning rather than the figure: the current value is always shown on the screen, next to the field it applies to.
When the money leaves
A bulk campaign is charged as one sum the moment you start it, before the first message goes anywhere. That is why the balance drops immediately and the report fills up gradually.
Single messages and sends through the API are charged one at a time.
The threshold for sending
Sending goes ahead while balance plus credit limit covers the cost of the campaign. The size of the limit is set by your manager.
Surcharges
Each of these is money on top of the message itself: the HLR check in the send form, a short link, an unsubscribe link, a test message, and a notification about the campaign finishing if it comes as an SMS.
An incoming SMS to a short number is charged, or brings income, according to the arrangement for that number.
Where the price is shown
Price depends on the operator, the country, the channel and your contract with Blackbox Business, so the cabinet answers the question about price in the two places where the answer is exact:
- Before sending — the cost calculation on the second step, broken down by operator.
- After sending — the financial report, where each operation has a purpose.
Refunds and delivery
The terms for messages that were not delivered, and whether the charge is for sending or for delivery, are part of your contract.
Ask your manager for the terms that apply to your account — that is the shortest way to the exact answer.