why do people price with 2 options: month or 1 time

I don't think I've seen one quite like that, but I get what you mean.

Typically, you'll see something like a one time payment of $497 or six monthly payments of $100 for a coaching program or online course. This is done because a lot of people can find a way to swing $100, but not $500.

For membership sites, the "lifetime" price is typically a month or two more than the normal retention for the site. If people pay $47 per month, but typically drop out after three months, offering lifetime membership for $197 boosts the expected profit for the typical subscriber who takes them up on it.

Either way, it's a tactic to increase revenue.

Sounds like some kind of MLM deal with an autoship program.

If I were in your shoes, I would remove the issue before it becomes an issue. A simple popup explaining that fulfillment is done through Company XYZ, which is the name at the top of the enrollment form. That way, when the names do not match, it's what they were coached to expect.

As for people caring, some will, some won't regardless of how you handle it.

Back when paying for anything online was considered risky business, I used such a pop-up to explain that I used a secure third party processor called PayPal to handle their sensitive credit card info. At the time, I saw a bump of almost 50%.

Nowadays, with people being much more comfortable with online purchases, I wouldn't expect quite so dramatic results. But the disclosure does add to the trust factor. More, I believe, than the mistrust from the names not matching.

Short version (I know, kinda late for that), tell people what to expect and then give them that.

I'm guessing they base there profit on someone buying a lifetime, but when someone just buys a month or pays monthly, they are getting an extra bonus.. that's just my guess.

I don't believe it is common, but they trying to push buyers to upgrade. I would say it works indeed. Not sure it is smart strategy (If their system work why would they get 1 time payment instead of on going)

I have a number of membership sites and the lifetime plan is very popular. For example, if a member really likes the site, they don't want to continually pay a monthly membership. Offering a lifetime option will be ideal for them. My membership sites I offer great content so I have just as many lifetime members as I do monthly members. And a lot of the time members will purchase the monthly membership and if they like it they will upgrade to a lifetime membership.

Another great way is to give them a trial, for example, a $1 trial, if it's a great membership/service you provide they will definitely upgrade.

Also, below any payment buttons, you should always explain who processes the payments and the name of your business. For example, I use the same PayPal account which has 1 business name, but all my websites are different names, so I let the potential buyer know this so there will be no surprises upon checkout.