Vouchers and your balance
How a voucher code is applied in the checkout, what your balance is, where it comes from, and how a period can pay for itself from it.
Two things can reduce what you pay for a Plus period: a voucher code and your balance. They are separate, they stack, and between them they can cover a period completely.
Vouchers
A code does one of three things:
| Kind | What it does |
|---|---|
| A percentage | Takes a share off the price — 25%, say |
| An amount in dollars | Takes a fixed sum off the price |
| Credit to your balance | Adds dollars to your balance instead of discounting anything |
There are two sorts of code. A public code is one word you may be given to type — letters and digits, 3 to 64 of them, usable by many people until it is used up or revoked. A personal code is minted for one person, shown to whoever minted it once and never again, and can be redeemed one single time.
Using one
- Open the checkout and pick your period — see Buy a Plus subscription.
- Type the code into Voucher code (its hint reads Have a code?) and press Apply.
- The amount is re-quoted. The discount appears as its own line and To pay drops. Remove takes the code off again.
- Pay as usual — or, if the code and your balance cover the whole price, press Activate your Plus subscription and there is no invoice at all.
A code that cannot be used says exactly one thing: This code can't be used. It does not say whether the code never existed, was revoked, was used up, or has already been redeemed by you — the same sentence for all of them, so a code cannot be guessed at by watching the answers. Checking is limited to ten tries an hour; past that it says Too many tries — come back in an hour.
A code that credits your balance works differently: it does not wait for a purchase. Redeeming it credits the balance there and then, with no invoice, and the top-up shows in Settings › Subscription under Payments as Top-up · To your balance.
Only a one-way hash of it. The code itself is never stored, which is why a personal code cannot be looked up or shown to you a second time — not by you and not by us. Keep it somewhere safe when you are given one.
Your balance
The balance is credit in US dollars held against your account. Shown in Settings › Subscription as Balance, with a line saying how many periods it covers — 1 of 1 yearly periods (12 of 12 monthly).
Where it comes from:
- Overpaying an invoice. Send more than the invoice asked for and the surplus becomes balance.
- A voucher that credits balance (above).
What it does:
- It is counted off your next purchase automatically. The checkout subtracts it before showing To pay.
- It can cover a period entirely. Then there is no invoice, and the one button is Activate your Plus subscription.
How it behaves during a purchase. The part of your balance a purchase needs is set aside when the invoice is created and only actually spent when the payment confirms. So an invoice you never pay, or one that expires, leaves your balance exactly as it was. Nothing is lost by starting a purchase and walking away.
If you ask for more than you hold, the answer is Your balance does not cover that.
Letting a period pay for itself
One switch in Settings › Subscription: Extend by itself from the balance. With it on, and only when your balance covers the price, the next period is paid from the balance on the last day of the current one. The line under the switch says it in full: On the last day, yearly is paid from your balance when it covers it. Nothing else is ever charged.
That is the entire extent of anything automatic in Plus. There is no card, no stored payment method and no subscription with a payment company — if the balance does not cover the price, nothing happens and the period ends.
What balance is not
- It cannot be cashed out. There is no withdrawal, and no refunds — see Buy a Plus subscription.
- It cannot be topped up on purpose. There is no top-up screen. Balance arrives by overpaying an invoice or through a voucher that credits it.
- It cannot be moved to another account. It belongs to the account that earned it.
- It buys nothing but Plus periods.
Cannot see
- The code itself. Only a one-way hash of it is stored, so nobody here can read a code back
- Anything about your mail, chat or files. None of this touches them
Can see
- Which account redeemed which voucher, and how often
- Your balance, every change to it, and whether extending from it is on
I was given a personal code and lost it.
It cannot be recovered. Only a hash of it is stored, so there is nothing to read back — not for you and not for us. Ask whoever gave it to you; they may be able to mint another.
Can I use two codes on one purchase?
No. One code per purchase. Your balance applies on top of it.
My code was refused and I am sure it is right.
The refusal sentence is deliberately the same for every reason, so there is no way to tell from the screen. Check for a typo first — codes are letters and digits only — then write to us: Contact.
Does a voucher I applied but did not pay for get used up?
No. A code is spent when the purchase settles, not when you type it.
Why did my balance not go down after I abandoned a purchase?
Because it was only set aside, not spent. Balance is debited when a payment confirms. An expired or abandoned invoice never touches it.
Can somebody buy Plus for me?
With a voucher, yes — that is what they are for. Not through the checkout, where the invoice belongs to the account that created it.