I'm using items to do a monthly discount, using the layout described under "Tracked Items" in the Pricing Plan Basics KB article. I have a situation where users will get a discount if they enter a code (on my side of the system) when they register. They get charged at the time of registration, so I need to apply a tracked item to effect the discount before their card is charged.
However from what I can tell, creating a customer -- which automatically charges if no trial -- and adding items to a customer are fundamentally separate processes.
I figure that I can get around this issue by adding them to a Free account first, adding the items, then moving them to the paid plan. Is there a better answer I'm not seeing?
#1 Posted by Marc Guyer Support staff on 09 Apr, 2010 01:38 PM
You've hit on a feature we've been planning to implement. We're also planning to enable issuing custom charges/credits at the time of the subscription. Essentially, anything you can do with an existing subscription, you should be able to do when you initially create the subscription.
We don't have a firm roadmap for the feature since we haven't heard much chatter about it until this post. What does your timeline look like on implementing your discount code addition?
#2 Posted by Frank Koehl on 09 Apr, 2010 03:30 PM
Unfortunately for both of us, I'm rolling out the initial plan next week. I guess I'll stick with my workaround for now.
I'll keep watching this thread, just repost whenever your updates are released.
#3 Posted by Marc Guyer Support staff on 09 Apr, 2010 03:36 PM
You'll probably be better served by joining this thread: http://support.cheddargetter.com/discussions/questions/127-service-...
Marc Guyer closed this discussion on 09 Apr, 2010 03:36 PM.
Frank Koehl re-opened this discussion on 11 Apr, 2010 10:58 PM
#4 Posted by Frank Koehl on 11 Apr, 2010 10:58 PM
Ok, big new wrinkle. Following the process I laid out above is currently impossible. After I create the user under a free subscription, I try to add the items to the account. Here's the layout of the discount item on the free subscription:
CG returns the following error when I try to add 3 of this item:
...which means I have absolutely no way of ensuring that items are counted at the time of account creation. This essentially forces me to create a bunch of subscriptions to handle the scenario, or perform two transactions (charge then refund). I shudder at both.
Is the error message above expected behavior? Doesn't seem right, I mean shouldn't you be able to add/remove items with zero cost?
Assuming that's the correct behavior, my need for a solution just moved to "yesterday." I intended to launch site features powered by this functionality this week for a major new partner. Please advise.
#5 Posted by Marc Guyer Support staff on 12 Apr, 2010 01:08 AM
Hmm... Yeah - you can't add usage that incurs charges on a free plan. Overage amount = 0 means no overage is allowed. The free plan must have quantity included sufficient to allow you to add the usage amount before switching to the paid plan.
#6 Posted by Frank Koehl on 12 Apr, 2010 03:20 AM
Overage amount is a monetary value, which by definition has no bearing on a free plan. This means one of two things:
Which is it?
#7 Posted by Marc Guyer Support staff on 12 Apr, 2010 07:15 PM
If you add an overage amount on the plan the plan will no longer be free.
Maybe my suggestion wasn't understood: When configuring the tracked items for a free plan, enter a Quantity Included value sufficient to accommodate the customer's quantity for that item. When you move the customer to the paid plan, which presumably has a positive overage amount, they will be charged for the usage.
If you still have questions, I'll be here for a few hours this afternoon: https://sprtbx.campfirenow.com/2db0c
#8 Posted by Frank Koehl on 12 Apr, 2010 08:29 PM
Thanks again for the live support chat, Marc. Very helpful.
To recap for anyone who might be in the same boat. I added an "Included Quantity" to my free plan that is above the total number of discounts I will ever offer. Since my plans are charged on a monthly basis, I set "Included Quantity" to 12, since I'll only ever offer this discount for 12 months or less.
Every account on this plan will have this item included, however since it's (a) a free account, and (b) a free item, it essentially does nothing. It just sits there.
Doing so allows me to perform the actions outlined above: create account under free subscription, add the necessary discount items, then move the user to a paid plan.
#9 Posted by Marc Guyer Support staff on 12 Apr, 2010 09:05 PM
Thanks for the recap -- Actually, on further examination, I think you'll only need to have an included quantity of 1 on the free plan. Since the customer either has the discount or doesn't have it, you'll only be setting an individual's item quantity to 1 or 0. Am I missing it?
If I were you, I'd just play around with it for a bit. I think it'll become entirely clear at that point.
#10 Posted by Frank Koehl on 15 Apr, 2010 04:05 PM
I did exactly that, and you're right, I only need to include a quantity of 1. My misunderstanding was based on the idea that I could add the total number of monthly discounts at once, and have them drop off one-by-one on a monthly basis. But if I add more than one, it applies the discount more than once to a single invoice, which is obviously not what I want.
So I have a working answer, but now I have to write more logic to track ongoing discounts on my end, in order to add just 1 discount per month up to the limit of the special (3 months, 6 months, etc).
So in addition to adding items at account creation, I have another feature request: Monthly recurring items with a set number of reoccurrences. In practice, I would be able to set another limit on a per-customer basis, defining how many billing periods an item would apply. So in my example -- a monthly discount for 3 months -- I have an item...
...that would look more like this...
Since I know all too well that dev time is precious, I'd probably put recurring item limits ahead of items at account creation. That would preempt a whole block of logic and processing for me (as opposed to items with account creation, which is a simple workaround).
#11 Posted by Marc Guyer Support staff on 15 Apr, 2010 06:38 PM
That does sound nice, but probably not in our wheelhouse. If CG were to implement such a feature, it would probably be done by scheduling some sort of future event. Then we're in the business of managing scheduled events.
It sounds like a relatively simple cron for you but a fairly involved system for CG.
#12 Posted by Frank Koehl on 15 Apr, 2010 06:50 PM
I understand, figured I'd ask all the same. :)
#13 Posted by Marc Guyer Support staff on 15 Apr, 2010 09:05 PM
It doesn't hurt. When we implement the recurring discount UI changes -- we'll try to add the feature at that time.
Marc Guyer closed this discussion on 15 Apr, 2010 09:05 PM.
Frank Koehl re-opened this discussion on 16 Jun, 2010 08:24 PM
#14 Posted by Frank Koehl on 16 Jun, 2010 08:24 PM
Am I to understand correctly that you now handle the situation explained in this thread?
Edit: Specifically, post no. 11
From your newsletter...
And from Pricing Plan Basics...
#15 Posted by Marc Guyer Support staff on 17 Jun, 2010 12:42 PM
Yes, recurring discounts are possible, however it is not yet possible to specify a discount (or any tracked item quantity for that matter) when creating a customer. In other words, if your plan is set to bill immediately on signup, the first invoice will not contain any tracked items or charges/credits. It's coming soon.
Marc Guyer closed this discussion on 17 Jun, 2010 12:42 PM.
Frank Koehl re-opened this discussion on 09 Sep, 2010 06:21 PM
#16 Posted by Frank Koehl on 09 Sep, 2010 06:21 PM
Just want to confirm that this is also no longer the case, since the API code for creating a customer includes entries for
items[<user-defined>][itemCode]and
items[<user-defined>][quantity]#17 Posted by Marc Guyer Support staff on 14 Sep, 2010 09:34 PM
That is correct, you can now specify item quantities and custom charges when creating a customer.
Marc Guyer closed this discussion on 14 Sep, 2010 09:34 PM.