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Coupon or price-plan discount: which one do I want?
A coupon, nearly always. A price plan in systeme.io has no discount setting of its own, so the alternative is building a second price plan at the lower amount and putting that on the order form instead.
What a coupon is
A code the buyer types into the order form to get money off. Coupons live under the Assets tab, at Coupons, and are created there rather than inside the funnel.
Creating one asks for six things.
- A name, for your own reference
- The code the customer types
- A discount type: a fixed amount or a percentage
- The amount itself
- An expiration date
- A limit on how many people can use it
Pick the fixed amount type and a Coupon currency field appears as well, because a flat sum has to be denominated in something.
What a price plan holds
A price plan is where the amount and the schedule live. The settings systeme.io documents for one are the display names, the statement descriptor, the type (one-time payment, subscription or payment plan), the amount, the interval between payments, the number of payments, an optional trial period, and the tax behaviour.
There is no discount among them. A price plan holds one amount, and nothing in it records what the full price was.
So what does a price plan discount actually mean?
Building a second price plan at the lower amount and selling that one instead. An order form accepts one or more price plans, so a reduced plan can sit alongside the standard one or replace it for a while.
It is a real technique. It is not a discount feature, which is why looking for the setting is a waste of an afternoon.
The two side by side
| Coupon code | Second price plan | |
|---|---|---|
| What the buyer does | Types a code | Nothing. The lower price is what they see |
| Expiry | A date set on the coupon | Whenever you change the order form back |
| Use limit | A number you set, or blank for unlimited | None |
| On a subscription | Comes off each payment on its due date | It is the recurring amount |
| Extra work on the page | A Coupon element dragged into the editor | None |
| Changing the amount later | Not possible. Create another coupon | Edit the plan, or create another |
Which one do I want?
- A code handed to one group, or read out to a live audience: coupon.
- An offer that has to expire on a date, or stop after 50 buyers: coupon.
- A lower price for a whole launch window, with no code to leak: second price plan.
- A price the buyer should see fall when they type something: coupon.
What a coupon does to a subscription
It comes off every payment, not only the first. The discount is applied on the payment due date each month, so a $100 monthly subscription with a $20 coupon bills at $80 a month for as long as it runs.
To hand something over for nothing, set the fixed amount equal to the price, or set the percentage to 100.
The rules that catch people out
- Pick the expiry from the calendar popup. Type the date in by hand and the coupon will not work.
- Leave the limit box empty for unlimited uses.
- The amount is final. Once a coupon exists, its discount amount or percentage cannot be changed. A different discount means a different coupon.
- Two steps put it on the page. Adding the coupon in the order form settings is one. Dragging the Coupon element into the page in the editor is the other. Skip the second and the buyer has nowhere to type.
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Keep reading
- Is systeme.io free? Yes, and the free plan never expires. Here is exactly what fits inside it.
- Which systeme.io plan do I need? Count your contacts. That is nearly the whole decision.
- Should I build my website with a funnel or a blog? There is a third option, and it is the one their own help centre buries.