Feature Request: Pre-paid coupons?

cambler

If this is already available, please brand me an idiot for not seeing it...

I'd like the ability to sell business cards with a coupon code on them good for a single 8x10 print. That is, a dollar value that equals the final cost of an 8x10 print, shipping and such.

Say I bought them for my cost, in batches of 10 or 25 or 50. I could then have that many "pre-loaded" in my pro account. A parent at a cheerleading competition buys three from me at whatever price I sell them, goes to the site in a week, finds three pictures that they want, enters the code off of each card, and is able to check out without ever giving credit card info.

Benefit - I can sell these at competitions for instant money in my pocket
Benefit - Parents who know and like my work will buy more of these than just picking pictures, I'm sure. They'd buy 10 at a time at a discount and if there weren't 10 shots they liked, they'd use some of them and keep others for next time.

Benefit - Instant money for SmugMug
Benefit - No credit card fees for anyone - add in the fee, if you wish, when I purchase them with credit card.
Benefit - NO CHARGEBACKS!

And before you say it, guys, I'm a software developer by trade (photographer as serious hobby that manages to pay for itself), so I grok development times and triage of features.

PS: you need not sell the cards. Just the codes. I'll print up the cards myself, with my logo and the like, and put the codes on them. It's 100% software and accounting for you.

mercphoto

cambler wrote:

I'd like the ability to sell business cards with a coupon code on them good for a single 8x10 print. That is, a dollar value that equals the final cost of an 8x10 print, shipping and such.

Very interesting idea. I would assume there would be some way of making sure the customer only uses the coupon for stuff from your account and not some other Smugmug user.

I like this idea better than digital downloads... I don't think it would be particulary easy to implement however. How do you know what shipping will be? If that customer gets charged sales tax or not? What about luster prints, which cost more than matte and glossy? What if the customer doesn't actually redeem the coupon that you have already paid for? For that matter, YOU will have to collect sales tax when you sell the business card in the first place.

However, it could be an easy way for me to order take on-site, in certain circumstances. The only way I see it working, though, is if you buy a "gift certificate" at full-face value from SmugMug in the first place. You then collect that money directly from the customer to compensate yourself. Smugmug then calculates the profit from the sale and adds that profit into your account.

cambler

Not at all, I should think.

The redemption code keys into a database that knows which pro account it is for, and it's only valid for that account. It also knows what's been bought (glossy or matte 8x10, for example - lustre 8x10 for another example). The code covers standard in-US shipping.

Pro account holders can purchase them in batches of 10, or 25 or what-have-you. They pay for them, and pay their standard cost plus 15% plus shipping and so on. If the account holder need not normally pay tax, they do not pay tax. That's not Smugmug's problem.

The pro account holder then can make business cards with codes on them, or just email a code to a client.

Unused codes aren't refunded. That's not Smugmug's problem. Account holders can retrieve their codes online any time (they're stored in a database, remember?) - and when used, they disappear. Indeed, the account holder can check redemption status, and perhaps what prints were bought.

Tax problems are those of the photographer. Smugmug is selling to the account holder. They are, in essence, pre-purchasing for their clients. If they charge for a profit, they're going to have to deal with sales tax just like they do now.

From a software development standpoint, this isn't rocket science, though it's surely not an overnight feature. Like I said, I develop stuff like this on a daily basis :-)

System

I really would like to see coupon codes as well. This would be a very valuable tool. Unlike an above poster I would also like to see digital downloads because this is the hottest thing going in new stock sites and micro sales sites.

Both would enhance smugmugs revenue stream greatly, I think.

Good suggestion.

-don

Nikolai

How about simply SmugBucks?
Like a gift card, you know?

Unique codes, certain dollar amount ($5, $10, $15, ...) - and let customer decide what he/she wants to buy.
The problem could be to tie the card to this seller only, but I think it's doable, too.
Otherwise it can be "open" cards, too, without restriction whose pictures/services to buy.

Just a thought..

landrum

Nikolai wrote:

Like a gift card, you know?

Unique codes, certain dollar amount ($5, $10, $15, ...) - and let customer decide what he/she wants to buy.
The problem could be to tie the card to this seller only, but I think it's doable, too.
Otherwise it can be "open" cards, too, without restriction whose pictures/services to buy.

Just a thought..

I like that idea. I have people wanting gift certificates now, and when they are redeemed all the orders have to go thru me. If I could just put a code on the certificate for them to redeem online it would make things easier I think. It's derfinately something to ponder.

Nikolai

Thank you!
I'd like to make a further enhancement to that idea:

Apart from simply being a "coupon code", SmugBuck can BE a gift card (just like a mouse pad!)

So you (or anybody) can purchase s SmugBuck for a certain amount of $$ with a certain image on it, and then present somebody with it. Since picture can be a card's face, all you need to do is to mark a picture as a "gift card", and then allow certain nominations...

It's nice to dream on a sunny Tuesday evening...

Cheers!

flyingpylon

SmugBucks... I really like that name!

System

flyingpylon wrote:

SmugBucks... I really like that name!

Yes, Nicolai indeed nailed that name. He certainly has a real knack for that marketers dream name or url it seems....

The man's brain must work like a fine watch. Always, always on time.

Cheers

-don

Nikolai

SmugBucks

flyingpylon wrote:

SmugBucks... I really like that name!

Thanks, man!
I guess I spent so much time looking for the new name for S*E, that now I'm kinda "branding expert":-)
Cheers!

Nikolai

U r 2 kind:-)

minoltaman wrote:

Yes, Nicolai indeed nailed that name. He certainly has a real knack for that marketers dream name or url it seems....

The man's brain must work like a fine watch. Always, always on time.

Cheers

-don

Don,
appeciate your compliment:D !

I'm just watching dgrin real close lately - new APIs, new features keep me on my toes..
Besides, I don't want another meltdown, so I'm trying to catch any bug reports asap:-)

Cheers!