Discount only if you have a specific email address

[SamS1]

Hi there,

Is there a way to setup a package in WHMCS that would require a .edu email address for example? Not sure if that's the best way to set it up but basically want to offer students a discount. There was a post that said it could be done via hooks but i looked into it and have no idea how those work.

Whats the best way to set this up? 

Thanks

[SamS1]

Forgot to add: pretty much what Siteground does here: https://www.siteground.com/students-plan.htm

[WHMCS ChrisD]

Out of the box there is a way to do this, you would need either a developer or to check the marketplace for a third party addon

[pRieStaKos]

Do you want it for new customers ?

Do you assign .edu customers to a specific Client Group manually ? Because you can assign a discount for a client group.

You can do it with a hook but you need coding skills or a third party addon.

Edited February 27, 2019 by pRieStaKos

[brian!]

12 hours ago, SamS1 said:

Is there a way to setup a package in WHMCS that would require a .edu email address for example?

as a custom field, or as the users signup address? the answer would be yes to both, but then you have to decide if you're just checking that it's a .edu address (simple enough) or whether it's a valid .edu address (a little trickier as you could easily signup with a false address - I don't think siteground are checking for this).

the idea was previously requested 4 years ago, but only got 4 votes... so I doubt WHMCS are going to do this themselves anytime soon.

off the top of my head, I can't think of an addon that would cover this particular situation... so i'd go along with the other replies, that you probably need to get a developer in form something like this.

[SamS1]

Thank you very much everyone for the answers. Looks like it's not a built in or simple process. And as mentioned even if we do implement it then there's the whole verification side of it. I'll look/think into it more.

Appreciate it.

[steven99]

On the dev  / custom front, what you could do is use a dailycron hook and check for accounts with .edu addresses that have been verified -- whmcs has a system for email verification.  If it is verified, then change the client group to the edu group.  This of course goes for all clients and not just new ones.  If you want new clients only, a clientadd hook that checks for .edu and sets a edu-verification custom field to "pending" .   Then on the dailycron, just look for clients with a verified email and a edu-verification custom field of pending. (you could also do clientareapage and check. to bad there isn't a verified email hook.)    Once found, change the client group to education group, edu-verification custom field to "verified", and save . 

The first one would be easier to implement but may not suit your needs if you don't want existing clients moved over.

[brian!]

the problem with that @steven99 is that once a user is registered, they can order straight away - regardless of whether they've verified their email or not... yeah, you could fix it so they couldn't order until their email was verified, but still...

besides, there might be a fatal flaw in @SamS1 question when he realises that people can buy .edu email addresses online for a dollar or two from eBay, and can probably get one for free through various nefarious methods. 🙂

[SamS1]

Hey everyone. While i was testing other sites that have this implemented, i did find flaws exactly like @brian! mentioned. Searching for just .edu emails in Google was enough to show the demand for them to benefit from discounts just like this one. I guess id verification would be the next step. Either have them upload or use 3rd party company to do it. 

[steven99]

5 hours ago, brian! said:

the problem with that @steven99 is that once a user is registered, they can order straight away - regardless of whether they've verified their email or not... yeah, you could fix it so they couldn't order until their email was verified, but still...

besides, there might be a fatal flaw in @SamS1 question when he realises that people can buy .edu email addresses online for a dollar or two from eBay, and can probably get one for free through various nefarious methods. 🙂

Indeed and edu-verification custom field mentioned could be used for that as you could put value as "verified" or "pending" depending on the status.  The dailycron wouldn't do any client group changes or discounts until that custom field was a "verified" state.   And the hook could apply the discount to the existing order that is left in a "pending edu verification" stage.   Or go with your idea and require user registration and verification first and block access to the cart pages until then via a clientareapage and a custom page saying to wait until verified. 

I think a current student ID is the best option and isn't out of the norm to be asked for to get student discounts.    Though would need some sort of encrypted data storage for that depending on local laws and such.