A code from last spring
You ran an early bird code for your spring launch, for your email list. In September, you notice sales at the early bird price. The code was posted on a coupon website, which appears in search results when people look up your course name. Nobody set an end date on it, because the checkout made that optional and it was launch week.
Another buyer combined the early bird code with an affiliate's code and paid far less than you intended. A third emailed to complain that her friend got a better price last week.
Why codes get out of hand
Discount codes are created quickly, during busy launches, often as one code shared with a whole list. Checkouts vary in how they handle expiry, usage limits and stacking. Once a code is public, anyone can find it. And with several codes for different audiences, affiliates and bonuses, nobody has a single view of what is active.
- One code is shared with everyone, so it spreads.
- End dates and usage limits are not set.
- Codes can be combined in ways you did not intend.
- There is no list of active codes and who they were for.
- Buyers compare prices and feel unfairly treated.
What loose codes cost
Margin, directly, on every sale made with a code that should not have worked. Pricing credibility, when buyers see different prices and feel cheated. And the value of your launch deadlines, because if the early bird price is always findable, nobody needs to buy early.
Discount handling you control
- Every code is created from one place, with an audience, a start and end date, a usage limit and stacking rules.
- For email offers, each recipient can receive a personal code, which only works once and only for them, so posting it publicly is useless.
- Codes are applied through Stripe or your platform's checkout via its API, so the rules are enforced at payment.
- When a launch ends, its codes stop at the time you set, and anyone trying one sees a friendly message pointing to your current offer or waitlist.
- A list shows every active code, who it was for, how many times it has been used and what it brought in.
- Unusual use, such as one code used far more than its audience size, is flagged to you.
| Code type | Who can use it | Ends |
|---|---|---|
| Personal early bird | One named subscriber, once | At your launch deadline |
| Affiliate code | Anyone referred by that affiliate | When you set, not stackable |
| Alumni discount | Past buyers, verified at checkout | When you set |
| Apology or goodwill code | One person, once | Short window |
Offers that end when you say
Early bird prices end at the deadline, because the codes do. Coupon sites stop being a problem, because personal codes do not work for anyone else. Buyers see consistent prices and trust your deadlines. And you can see which codes and audiences brought sales, which is useful when planning the next launch.
Think back to the spring early bird. Under this setup each subscriber on your list has a personal code, valid until midnight on the deadline. The version posted on the coupon site belonged to one person who had already used it, so it does nothing. The affiliate code cannot be stacked on top. In September, nobody buys at the spring price.
Is discounting getting away from you?
- Old codes still work months after a launch.
- Your codes appear on coupon websites.
- Buyers have combined codes you did not mean to stack.
- You do not have a list of active codes.
- Buyers complain that others got a better price.