Coupon Code – Trial Period

Hoping this is an easy one… I’ve looked through lots of threads on the subject, but none specifically answer this question that I found.

I’m hoping to create a coupon code in pro forms that allows for a free 30 day trial, then $X.YZ per year recurring. If there is no coupon code, they are automatically charged right away without a trial.

I understand that the coupon code should be created appropriately, but the proform requires some modification that I’d love to get right the first time.

Thank you!

Hi Jordan,

You can simply create a coupon code that discounts the checkout amount by 30 days.

So if your yearly subscription is $120/year ($10/mo), you’d create a coupon that reduces the first payment to $110. They will be charged the discounted amount the first year, then $120/year after that. The coupon that would create this is SAVE-10|10.00.

If you’re trying to create a coupon that postpones charging them for 30 days, that’s not currently possible. The only way to achieve that is to sign them up as a free user, then use Advanced PHP Conditionals (see Dashboard -› s2Member® -› API / Scripting -› Advanced PHP Conditionals) to check if they’ve been a free member for more than 30 days and if so show them a message asking them to upgrade to the paid membership (you’d present them with a Billing Modification form: Dashboard -› s2Member® -› PayPal® Pro Forms -› Billing Modification Forms).

If you wanted to offer a voucher code that allows them access to the free registration form, please see Knowledge Base » Offering a Free Coupon Code (100% Discount).

Hi Raam,

Thanks a ton for your response.

In the case that I discount (for our purposes) $5 off a yearly recurring subscription. If they use a coupon code, won’t they get that same discount when it renews? Or are coupon codes just a one time thing?

My model is entirely based on a yearly charges, so I would love if an initial discount is just a one time gig.

Thanks brother.

Hi Jordan.

If you apply the discount to the regular (recurring) amount, then it’ll be that way for all the coming payments, since that’s the regular amount the user is subscribed with. If you apply the discount to the initial amount only, then the regular (recurring) payments won’t have the discount.

What you can do, is have an initial term that’s as long as the regular ones. Then the first one can have a discount applied to it without affecting the recurring ones. If you do yearly payments, then make the initial term 1 year for the same amount as the regular 1 year terms. Then the coupon code would have ta-only (trial/initial amount only), e.g. [hilite code]5-OFF|5.00||ta-only[/hilite].

I hope that helps.

Hi Christian –

I have a question on this too… I have a yearly subscription of $97.00 and want to create a coupon that gives the user $25 off for the first year only and then back to normal amount.

if I have something like this Get25off |25.00|ta-only how would I change the short code up (or do I need to ) so the coupon only applied to the first year ( PS I also want the coupon expire after 3 months )

ta=”0″ tp=”0″ tt=”D” ra=”97.00″ rp=”1″ rt=”Y” rr=”1″ rra=”0″

Just change trial values to match regular values?

ta=”97.00″ tp=”1″ tt=”Y” ra=”97.00″ rp=”1″ rt=”Y” rr=”1″ rra=”0″

and then create a code like so?
Get25off |25.00|31/07/2012|ta-only

If I understand correctly the user would pay $72.00 for the first year and then $97 thereafter. What would happen with users that did not use the coupon – does the Trial period have any effect?

Hi Dina,

Yes, that looks correct. Users who use that coupon will pay $72 for the first year and then $97 thereafter. Users who don’t use a coupon code would simply pay $97 for the first year and then $97 every year thereafter.

Also, I noticed that you appear to be using the date format of DD-MM-YYYY in the coupon expiration: The format should be MM-DD-YYYY.

Dina and Raam, I tried that same idea so that my users can apply a coupon to the first year but got this error: “these cannot be exactly the same as your “ra, rp, rt” attributes”

Any idea how to get around that?

Mike,

Those fields need to be different. They cannot be the same. So the way I got around it, was to change the trial time period to “12 months” instead of 1 year. Or you can make it 365 days.

Make your trial and regular amounts the same, but it fools the system by calling them different values.

Hope that makes sense.

Okay, that worked. Thanks Jordan! Also, is it possible to change the verbage that gets displayed after user puts in the coupon code and applies it? Right now, it says “Coupon: $50.00 off. ( Now: $250.00 for 12 months, then $300.00 / yearly )” but I want it to say: “Coupon: $50.00 off. ( Now: $250.00 first year, then $300.00 / yearly )”

Is that possible?

I wonder the same question, and I’ve tried finding a way to fix that… As far as I know, it’s all preprogrammed.

The good news part is that they know EXACTLY what they’re getting, and the terms are very clearly explained. The average person would understand what’s happening, that’s a good thing.

Can I ask to see your site?

okay, thanks. It is here: https://www.seozones.com/website-hosting-standard-minor-changes

Thanks Guys!

How does this look for a user that does not use the coupon in terms of paypal and the recurring payments?

Does it show up as a trial?

If you set it up this way, it will work as a full price trial. They won’t know the difference. It acts just like a real full price account without a coupon code.