still confused about coupons.

mrfizzed · June 20, 2011

i am still after these years confused about the coupon code. lets say i want to give a client a free 16x20, 4 free 11x14s and 6 free 8x10s, assuming i have increased the pricing of prints from the default, what would i issue the coupon code as? would i figure out how much that should be based on my pricing and issue a print credit (gift card for full amount) which in this case would be something like $49.89 in my gallery, or would i issue the card at what "my cost" as owner would be?

rnrjosh · June 20, 2011

mrfizzed wrote: »

i am still after these years confused about the coupon code. lets say i want to give a client a free 16x20, 4 free 11x14s and 6 free 8x10s, assuming i have increased the pricing of prints from the default, what would i issue the coupon code as? would i figure out how much that should be based on my pricing and issue a print credit (gift card for full amount) which in this case would be something like $49.89 in my gallery, or would i issue the card at what "my cost" as owner would be?

If you'd like to offer a coupon that will give your customer free prints, what you'd want to do is to create either a print credit or a amount-off coupon that covers the dollar amount of the prints at your custom, pro prices. For example, if you sell 16x20s for $50, 11x14s for $20 and 8x10s for 10$, you'd need to issue a coupon valued at $190 (using the quantities in your example above).

mrfizzed · June 20, 2011

ok so...
making sure i have this correct...i issue a "print credit: coupon for what they prints would have costed the client if they had purchased them at my custom price, not my smugmug cost? i will only be charged by smugmug though what my cost was right?

rnrjosh · June 20, 2011

Correct, you would need to create the coupon to cover the cost at your pro prices, as these are the prices that your customer will see in the shopping cart.

Regarding coupon billing, print credits work a bit differently from other coupons. They're like giving out cash, and are applied *after* profit is calculated. So, in the case of a print credit coupon, we'd calculate the profit you earned on the order, and subtract the coupon amount from that total. In other words, in the case of a print credit coupon, you are accountable for covering the base cost of the prints + SmugMug's 15% commission on the total profit from the sale.

Amount-off coupons work differently, in that those are applied to the order subtotal, before profit is calculated. So, in the case of issuing a amount-off coupon, you'd only be accountable for covering the base-cost of the prints.

Studio Simplicity Jenny · June 30, 2011

Ok, I think I'm just still a bit confused. Can you help clarify?

If I'm at a wedding handing out $5 print credits to guests, I would do the Amount-Off coupons for $5. My lowest pricing is $4 for 4x6. If a guest purchases ONE 4x6, they will be charged only the shipping and I will be charged only the base cost of the print. Is that right?

2nd question. I only want one guest to use $5 once. Is there anyway I can prevent one guest from ordering say 5 separate orders of 4x6 using the coupon code 5x?

Thanks for clarifying!

Ann McRae · June 30, 2011

Hi

A print credit works differently than a dollar off coupon, and you may need to think about the differences, to see which suits your business model best.

A print credit is like a gift card. It has a total value, and can (only) be used until that total is spent. You would create a unique credit for each guest. The way that the profit is calculated is different from a coupon - we calculate profit based on the pre credit sale amount.

A $ offcoupon can be set up so that to be used one time only. However, to do so means that you would also need to create a new coupon code for each guest at the wedding.

You can also allow/disallow the coupon to cover shipping.

Your profit (or amount owing) will be based on the after coupon amount of the sale. If the coupon is large enough that it allows the customer to place an order without covering the cost of the print, then you are charged for the print and there would be no profit in that case.

So, for example:
Your customer buys
1 4x6 @ $4
coupon value $5 is greater than your price for the print so the customer would not be charged for the print.
cost of print $0.38

You would be charged for the print in that case.

On the other hand, your customer buys

2 4x6 @ $4 = $8
coupon value $5
Cost of print 2*$0.38= 0.76
Gross profit = $2.24
Net profit = $1.90

You can also put a minimum purchase onto your coupons, so that you avoid having multiple $5 orders.

ann

Studio Simplicity Jenny · July 1, 2011

THANK YOU, Ann! That sure cleared it up for me. I think the best way for me to do this would be to use the $ off coupon. Is there anyway I can monitor if a customer keep using the coupon over and over? I really don't want to use a minimum purchase. And I really don't want to create a unique coupon code for each guest (over 300). If there is no way I can do anything with the coupon itself, perhaps if there's a way I can approve an order before it goes through? That way I can check to see if it's being sent to the same address. Is there a feature where I can approve/monitor orders before it goes to print?

Smug Eric · July 1, 2011

So something like a proof delay?

http://www.smugmug.com/help/proof-retouch-replace

still confused about coupons.

Comments