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More Information Apple® In-App Purchase Conversion

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ylan.segal

09 Oct, 2012 05:04 PM

I am just getting started with Cheddar Getter, and while setting up my account, i noticed the Apple® In-App Purchase Conversion feature. I am very interested in learining how this works, but can't find more information on the knowledge base or docs. Specifically, I want to know how to record an in-app purchase in CG.

Thanks,

-- Ylan Segal

1. Support Staff 1 Posted by Marc Guyer on 09 Oct, 2012 07:29 PM

   

   Hi Ylan -- Thanks for your interest. Apple In-App Purchase Conversions is a relatively new feature in CheddarGetter. The goal of the system is to convert an in-app purchase into a CheddarGetter subscription with a traditional payment method. It's not documented yet and should be considered experimental.

   Here's the progression:

   1. User chooses to pay for usage of your service for a finite period via in-app purchase.
   2. Merchant subscribes user to a CheddarGetter subscription via CG's API. The in-app purchase receipt is provided to CheddarGetter in lieu of payment information in the API call.
   3. CheddarGetter verifies and decrypts the receipt information and registers a subscription on the pricing plan that corresponds to the "product_id" that the user paid for with the in-app purchase.
   4. CheddarGetter schedules the user's next bill for the end of the period specified by the pricing plan config (end of period paid for by in-app purchase).

   You can then use CheddarGetter normally to prompt the user to enter payment information (credit card or paypal) so that CheddarGetter can bill for the recurring subscription. If they do that, no more periodic in-app purchasing is required. All of the billing interaction (email, your website, etc) with the user happens outside the app after a payment method is provided. If a payment method isn't provided, CG "cancels" the subscription. The user can reactivate the subscription with another in-app purchase conversion (as prompted by the app) or by providing a traditional payment method.

   This system is currently in use successfully and you're welcome to implement it in your app. I'm happy to help with questions as they come up.

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2. 2 Posted by tom on 09 Oct, 2012 07:38 PM

   

   Hi Ylan, Just wanted to let you know that my company, Kincast, has been using the Apple in-app purchase feature of CheddarGetter and it has been working great. Tracking everything all in one place on CheddarGetter is very convenient.

   Also important for my company is that our product is not a one time purchase, but instead an ongoing subscription which Apple doesn't support auto-renewing subscriptions unless you are a newspaper or magazine. CheddarGetter helps us reach out to these customers and offer them to auto-renewing subscriptions with a credit card.

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3. 3 Posted by ylan.segal on 09 Oct, 2012 08:12 PM

   

   Marc, Tom: Thanks for the information. It certainly is interesting and I will be considering it for our app.

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4. Dean closed this discussion on 23 Jan, 2013 04:42 PM.