Coupon vs Print credit

crystalheis

I'm wanting to send some of my clients a thank you gift and am trying to figure out the best/most cost effective way to do it. Essentially I want to give them a flat dollar amount discount, so I can choose between a discount amount coupon or a print credit. I'm having a hard time understanding the difference.
Both allow you to set a flat dollar amount.
Both can have an expiration date option
Both options can cover shipping costs (as an add on option)
Both can be set for use in specific galleries.
Amount Coupons can have the number of uses limited.
Print credits will carry over a balance if the full amount isn't used.

Commission to Smugmug with a print credit is payed on the full amount(?) on top of the cost of the items.
Commission to Smugmug with a Amount coupon is paid on the amount after the discount is applied (?)

Can someone confirm this is correct?

rnrjosh

You are correct. You can think of a Print Credit coupon as akin to a 'gift card'. It has a set dollar amount, and can be reused until that balance is used up. It's like giving a customer cash, so with these coupons, the profit on the order is calculated before the credit is applied to the order (which means you would have to pay SmugMug's 15% commission). Example: you sell $10 worth of prints for $110 and the client uses a $110 Print Credit. In this case, you'd owe SmugMug $25 ($10 for the print cost and 15% of the $100 profit = $15).

Amount-off coupons are more like a manufacturer's coupon. Those will not carry over a balance. Amount-off coupons will be applied to the order total before profit is calculated, so your profit would only be subject to the post-coupon amount. Similar example, if you sell $10 of prints for $110 and provide a $110 Amount Off coupon, that would essentially erase any profits, leaving you owing SmugMug just for the $10 print cost.

I hope this helps!