When users install your plugin, they’re able to input coupon codes that can give them certain discounts. The thing is… Adobe Plugin developers have no way of viewing information about what coupon codes are being used, how many installs are associated with each coupon code, and how much revenue is attributable to each coupon code.
This is a MAJOR failing of the Adobe Marketplace / FastSpring payment framework. Because it makes it impossible to do any sort of revenue-split partnerships. If you wanted to partner with influencers, affiliates, or other businesses, the simplest way to do that would be to provide each person/organization a unique coupon code that could be used to attribute those installs (and the subsequent revenue associated with it), and then pay these parties the agreed-upon amounts based on how much revenue they drive. This is simply not possible with the current Adobe Marketplace / FastSpring setup.
I asked FastSpring about why we don’t have access to coupon code information in our FastSpring dashboard. They basically told me… not our problem, ask Adobe to give you this information. I reach out to Adobe to request this information, and they basically told me… we’ll create the coupon codes for you, but providing coupon-code-usage/revenue-attribution information is not their problem. So we’re not provided with this information AND neither side of the payment system is interested in / willing to help with this.
Why is there not some simple method – either on the FastSpring side or on the Adobe Developer side – to show us this coupon code usage information?
Nobody’s asking for sensitive customer information, we don’t need to know names or e-mails or ANYTHING aside from just “what coupon codes were used, how many installs came from those coupons, how much revenue is associated with each one.”
And for someone whose business strategy is pretty dead-set on marketing their plugin via these strategies, what are some of the best workarounds? Here are my best ideas so far:
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Simply take your plugin off the Adobe Marketplace, and offer it via your own website for install where you control everything (including payment capture, coupon code information, etc) so you’re not subject to these limitations. (Adobe and FastSpring loses their revenue cut via this method – ie this failing is costing them money.)
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Offer the plugin for install as “free” via Adobe Marketplace, but handle the payment capture yourself inside of it – (then probably just make extremely crystal clear all over the plugin listing page that it’s a PAID plugin so people don’t complain how it’s listed as free but asks you to pay upon install.) – (Adobe and FastSpring ALSO lose their cut via this method.)
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Capture coupon codes yourself via the plugin and then approximate the associated revenues based upon usage information – (not a great solution because, A) the numbers won’t be accurate, and B) clever parties could potentially game such a system to inflate their coupon code usage numbers.)
The SIMPLEST solution would of course be for Adobe and/or FastSpring to provide us this information (I’d place the responsibility on Adobe, since they HAVE the info – they just don’t provide it to us).
It’s extremely annoying that I’m going to have to develop a 2nd different version of my identical plugin JUST to be able to have accurate information about coupon code usage/attribution.
Thanks.