Tuesday, May 5, 2015

Adding Promo Codes to Paypal Buttons


So, I was shopping online the other day, and looking to buy a t-shirt from The Gap. I found the shirt I was looking for, and I was sorely tempted to buy two, because I have one already and I know they are very soft, fit perfectly, blah-blah-blah. Didn't want to spend quite that much though, so I settled on a color, and went to on the complete the transaction. When I was partway through, it asked me for a promo code.

Huh. I know, generally, what a promo code is, but I had never used one. Just out of curiosity, I googled "GAP discount promo code" and discovered a code for that day, that I could type in and save 40%. Just because. No special reason.

I bought two shirts.

And I started thinking, what if I wanted to offer facebook fans a promo code? Or people who sign up for my as-yet-imaginary newsletter? Surely Paypal offers a way to do this.

Sadly, no, actually they don't. However! I discovered that you can add html code to your paypal button, to allow for the entry of promo discount codes. At webdesigneretc.co, John Futia has a code generator you can utilize.
This is good timing, because I have lots of nice pots left over from the pottery tour, and my website badly needs new items. I plan to spend some time this week updating, and maybe try out this discount-code code. Here's a test button I made; you can check out how it works with completing the transaction.

The coupon code is COUPON



Enter Coupon code

Whaddaya think? Pretty neat, huh? If I were doing this for real, I would use a script obfuscator, so people couldn't get the promo just by looking at the source code.


PS. That shirt is ridiculously cheap now. Maybe I should go buy some more! With a promo code! If it gets any less, they pay me to take it.
PPS. Okay, so it's doing this weird thing where it adds a dollar shipping and handling, which, NO. Obviously I will need to add shipping to pots, more than a dollar, but I thought that would be a separate line. Hmm. So, still needs work. I play with it this week, see what we get.

7 comments:

smartcat said...

This sounds great! I'll watch you and see if I want to get into online sales! I've been very hesitant about this!

Michèle Hastings said...

I was shopping for a dishwasher a couple of weeks ago and google promo code for Lowe's... sure enough... got another $30 off of the dishwasher.

Lori Watts said...

COuldn't figure out how to make it work correctly...it just randomly assigns shipping and "handling" costs. Ugh.

Anna Schafer said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Lori Watts said...

Buzz off with the spam, Jowd.

Anna Schafer said...

Didn't want to spend quite that much though, so I settled on a color, and went to on the complete the transaction. When I was partway through, it asked me for a promo code.
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