Hello judges!
It’s getting close to membership renewal time for a lot of you. I thought it might be a good idea to provide some instructions and answer a few questions to help you all get your accounts sorted.
How to Renew Your Membership
On judgeacademy.com go to your profile.
Click the Account Details tab.
Click the “View” button on the topmost entry in your subscription log.
Click the “Renew Now” button.
That should take you to the Checkout page where you submit your payment!
Frequently Asked Questions
I'm getting charged $75 but I thought you said membership is going up to $85?
I have payment entries for December 2021 AND March 2022. Why? How?
Did I get charged twice?
No, the money came out of your account when you made your regular yearly payment. The March 2022 entry that you see did not actually pull money from your bank account or credit card.
Why does it say that then???Â
Last year we gave judges an extended grace period in case they needed a little more time to make their membership payment. While that was helpful to a lot of folks, our website’s payment system did not appreciate being made to think that hard about it. When we did updates to our payment system in March and all of that got resolved, the website made this log entry in everyone’s history.
We know, it’s not ideal. It looks like a second payment, but it isn’t. We shake our fists at the sky in frustration every day about it.
When is my membership renewal due? I don't know how to tell!
The payment you made in 2021 will be your renewal date for 2022.
- If you paid in December 2021 but you also have that rogue March 2022 membership entry, your renewal date will be in December, not March.
- If you paid in November 2021 but you also have that mysterious March 2022 membership entry, your renewal date will be in November, not March.
- If you became a newly certified judge in 2022, whatever day you paid the fee in 2022 will be the day you pay your fee in 2023. You have some time.
Thank you all for your constant support and enthusiasm! Magic judging is coming back stronger and stronger, and we’re glad to have such amazing folks taking this journey with us. If you have any questions or concerns not covered above, please feel free to reach out to me and the Judge Academy team anytime via email: questions@judgeacademy.com
Do they not renew automatically anymore? I don’t think I had to do anything to remain a judge for 2022.
Are the mail out promos still not a thing? That is what made paying for the renewal worth it.
They discontinued it for 2022. I have no idea what they intend to do for 2023 though.
https://judgeacademy.com/judge-academy-2022-announcements/ (scroll to near the bottom)
It would be nice to have a much clearer idea of what we’re paying for like the original membership infographic, I don’t think one exists in the redesigned homepage/site. https://judgeacademy.com/member-benefits/
Promos are not automatically mailed out to all members, but being a member means you can receive foils for attending conferences and continuing your judge education. Attending even a single conference throughout the year will more than cover the cost of membership, I’m sure.
That probably works on the First world where there are many judges and stores to justify conferences in the nearby area. For us people in the third world going to a conference means investing at least a few thousand USD to be able to travel there.
There are even digital conferences and this year digital conferences give you a complete pack of foils indtead of half. That’s not exactly an issue cause I also live in a third world country but I try to attend digital conferences in my region (continent).
The only problem is that because of logistics we tend to receive foils reaaaaly late and by that time they have usually lost half its value.
Not really a fan of that. I can appreciate the educational opportunity that the judge program provides but when we’re paying into the program and were initially promised promos it seems like a rug-pull to totally remove general promos, especially when we’re paying subscriptions again.
I could understand it being an issue to send promos when we didn’t have fees for a year, but that’s not an excuse now. Not every judge finds value in conferences and not everyone has time to dedicate their entire day to sitting at a computer for what amounts to a zoom lecture for classes we’ve already taken.
Kinda feels bad that we went from paying nothing and getting promos, to paying and getting promos, to not paying and not getting promos, to paying and not getting promos. Very convenient for the program.
i hate to be critical, but the fact that there needs to be a detailed walkthrough explaining how to give you money shows how the website needs to be overhauled.
This comment is right on the button.
Completely agree
i agree, i m still looking how to pay this year , even with the walktrough i do not see the “renew” now button.
I have paypal set as payment (paid in that way for 2022 in 2021), and have the next payment date set as 31st of December 2022. I don’t have the option to “renew now” – I guess I just wait 31st and hopefully payment goes through paypal automatically?
Is it normal I do not have an account detail tab on my profile ?
Sorry it was just that I was on my public profile. But the real profile page is not so easy to access…
Sadly this year I am not going to pay to be a judge anymore. I’ve loved doing it but I live in an area that everyone has to travel for bigger events. There are only 2 L1 in my area, myself and 1 other. We do FNM and the other small ran events for the stores here. The mail out promos made it worth it for me to pay. Why they stopped those I have no idea. Yes I know that I can go to judge conferences. But that also means traveling and another expense. I’m only writing this comment because I don’t think I am the only person that feels this way.
“Unfortunately, we could not collect sufficient information to confirm your location. To proceed with the order, please tick the box below the billing details to confirm that you will be using the product(s) in country you selected.” I keep getting this message and I cant find any box to tick am I blind?
Try switching countries (Germany to Greece for instance) then switch back to yours, the box should appear.
Good the same issue. I am in the US
I share the same concern as many here- where we’re paying additional dues for fewer rewards this year it seems. Similarly to those others who have expressed they can’t reasonably travel to physical conferences, especially now with the prospect of reduced support for digital conferences in certain regions, I’m finding it difficult to justify continuing on. We’ll see how this year goes I guess; hoping the changes go smoother than I worry. Really hoping for some more support to the rural/small country/remote judges, or those with difficult schedules to set aside time to sit in a zoom call for half a day. Not just those at the top with significant time and means to attend many conferences.
The direct mailings were very nice.
Why are there TWO renewals for Jan 31st for $75 on my account? Will both auto-renew to a total of $150 at the end of the month? Please advise
Turns out they did, and my bank account is showing 2x charges. Can someone tell me why?
I missed the renewal time, but I don’t see the payment button. What should I do?
1. Complete any required Level 1/2 education modules that you have not yet completed.
2. Retake and pass the Level 1/2 final exam.
3. Pay the membership fee.
Once those steps are complete you will regain your Level 1/2 Magic judge certification.
I missed the renewal time, but I don’t see the payment button. What should I do?
It also doesn’t let me buy as a new judge