lj_biz: Coupons for Invite codes

Brad Fitzpatrick (

bradfitz) wrote in

lj_biz,
@ 2003-12-17 17:31:00

Coupons for Invite codes
Coupons for invite codes are now available. If you'll recall, this is for the people who valued their invite code collections and wanted something back for them after we removed invite codes from the site. We understand the other viewpoint too, though, that it's stupid we're rewarding people for not inviting users. That's kinda true. But it's also true that that's exactly what invite codes were meant to accomplish. *shrug* Another good point is that invite codes were also given for support points, and contributions, so think of this as a reward for that.

First, generate more codes:
http://www.livejournal.com/invite/gen.bml

Then get a coupon for them:
http://www.livejournal.com/invite/claim.bml

You can give the coupon to other people or buy gifts with it. (services only, not t-shirts)

Sorry this took so long... we had to deal with cleaning the database in cases where people used fradulent credit cards to buy $1000 of paid accounts and get lots of invite codes that way. We also had to do some stats on what exchange rate made sense and the trade-offs in the dozen different things we could do, and then add support for the "intangible coupons" we decided on. (Coupons that can only be used for services... not tangible items.)

Anyway, the exchange is $0.50 for each of first 10 codes, then $0.25 thereafter, with a cap of $25, which is a year of paid time.

If you find any bugs with this tool, report them here and

whitaker will look into it.

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(Post a new comment)

	cordelia_sue 2003-12-17 05:32 pm UTC (link)
	Is there a deadline on when this has to happen by? Once you have the coupons, do those have an expiration date? (Reply to this) (Thread)

	bradfitz 2003-12-17 05:34 pm UTC (link)
	Nope, but they should. We never thought of that. Guess they never expire. :-) We will be taking down both the /invite/gen.bml and /invite/claim.bml pages in a few months, though. (Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)(Expand)

	gerg 2003-12-17 05:34 pm UTC (link)
	Will active support volunteers/contributors continue to be able to generate invitation codes, or is there a deadline for when we will no longer be able to generate further codes? (Reply to this) (Thread)

	bradfitz 2003-12-17 05:35 pm UTC (link)
	End of this year... then /invite/gen.bml is gone. We'll come up with a new system to reward volunteers. There are proposals in Zilla. (Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)(Expand)

	intrepia 2003-12-17 05:36 pm UTC (link)
	At some point, the invite page should also be removed. (Reply to this) (Thread)(Expand)

	invite page chuckmoulton 2003-12-17 09:50 pm UTC (link)
	In my opinion the invite page still contains useful information, namely a list of people who accepted your invites. Though maybe that information could be moved elsewhere. (Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)(Expand)

	aaangyl 2003-12-17 05:37 pm UTC (link)
	Wow, I feel like an idiot for only generating more codes when I had more people to invite now. :D (Reply to this) (Thread)

	borggrrl 2003-12-18 10:23 am UTC (link)
	If you follow the first link, I think you can generate all of the codes that are due to you and then redeem them for a coupon. (Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)(Expand)

	rho 2003-12-17 05:43 pm UTC (link)
	What happens to the coupon if the email isn't received? I'm very wary of generating mine atm, with LJ being in SPEWS as I've been having problems getting comment notification emails. (Reply to this) (Thread)(Expand)

	whitaker 2003-12-17 05:45 pm UTC (link)
	We still have them stored locally. If there are any mass problems with people not receiving email due to something on our end we'll make a retrieval page or something. (Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)(Expand)

	rah 2003-12-17 05:43 pm UTC (link)
	I know this page exists, but for the life of me I can't find it right now. Can anyone tell me where that page is that tells which friends have accounts that are expiring soon? Being a perm. user I have no use for the coupons for myself, so I'd like to give it away to those most in need of it right now. Thanks in advance! (Reply to this) (Thread)(Expand)

	intrepia 2003-12-17 05:45 pm UTC (link)
	http://www.livejournal.com/paidaccounts/friends.bml (The Site Map is useful. :-)) (Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)(Expand)

	chrissmari 2003-12-17 05:56 pm UTC (link)
	What about generating codes for communities? I tried to generate some a couple days ago and it said you couldn't now when I go to the generate page it says I've generated all my codes because there isn't an option to switch to communities. But, when you go to make a coupon..they do have that community drop down box. (Reply to this) (Thread)

	whitaker 2003-12-17 06:03 pm UTC (link)
	If you go to: http://www.livejournal.com/invite/, there will be a drop-down at the top of that page, so if you switch to your community there THEN click the "generate more" link at the bottom of the page it will generate codes for your community. Does this help? (Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)(Expand)

	maelkann 2003-12-17 05:59 pm UTC (link)
	I like this implementation quite a lot. (Reply to this)

	angelsk 2003-12-17 06:02 pm UTC (link)
	Can you combine codes in an order - i.e: because I have a few 50cents from communities plus over 10dollars from my main account - or is it one per order (please don't make it one per order!). (Reply to this) (Thread)

	slowdanceonme 2003-12-17 06:03 pm UTC (link)
	yes you can. ^^ -jade- (Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)(Expand)

	dream 2003-12-17 06:02 pm UTC (link)
	thanks for this. i've never bothered with codes before. i can put the codes i got for being an EA to good use now, along with my paid time ones. (Reply to this) (Thread)

	_favorite 2003-12-17 07:44 pm UTC (link)
	i love your icon. that movie > all. (Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)(Expand)

	halkeye 2003-12-17 06:06 pm UTC (link)
	can we combine coupons? I have a couple of accounts now, each with thier own set of invite codes.. (Reply to this) (Thread)

	whitaker 2003-12-17 06:07 pm UTC (link)
	Yes, you can combine coupons in a single cart. (Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)(Expand)

	dakri 2003-12-17 06:12 pm UTC (link)
	Why does it say my coupons were redeemed by the system? :( Is it because I had a gift that was revoked because the girl who gave it to me stole her mom's CC or something? (Reply to this) (Thread)(Expand)

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	maelkann 2003-12-17 06:14 pm UTC (link)
	As far as I understand it, codes converted to coupons are listed as redeemed by the system. However, I wouldn't discount the possibility. (Reply to this) (Parent)

	redbird 2003-12-17 06:14 pm UTC (link)
	I have codes from more than one account; I assume I can combine the coupons from them. (Reply to this) (Thread)

	asciident 2003-12-17 06:52 pm UTC (link)
	Yes, you can. I just used 9 coupons to buy services for 5 people (all in the same cart session). (Reply to this) (Parent)

	sunkistsoda 2003-12-17 06:16 pm UTC (link)
	So if we haven't generated them before now, we aren't eligible to claim a coupon for them? I saw, above, where someone was having that problem, too. (Reply to this) (Thread)

	whitaker 2003-12-17 06:18 pm UTC (link)
	If you have unclaimed coupons, you can still get them from gen.bml. Provided that your account is still eligible for more. (Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)(Expand)

	Charity / Redemption maelkann 2003-12-17 06:27 pm UTC (link)
	I've set up a post in my journal here for friends and randoms to donate coupons so I can buy my friends paid accounts as a 'taster' so hopefully they get hooked and keep buying paid time. I figured it was better than letting the coupons go to waste, and I'm not redeeming them for myself, so I'm not just using this as an excuse to get paid time. (Reply to this) (Parent)

	lizvang 2003-12-17 06:48 pm UTC (link)
	OMG, I totally screwed up and didn't use up all my redeemed code cash and now I can't use the last $6. No chance to do a do-over huh? The one who didn't read the coupon e.mail fully, Liz (Reply to this)

	Invalid Coupon code supa 2003-12-17 06:49 pm UTC (link)
	I tried to redeem my coupon for paid time, and it says there is an error, that the coupon code is invalid. I just cut & pasted the coupon numbers that were sent to me. You have any idea why this is happening? (Reply to this) (Thread)

	Re: Invalid Coupon code myfriendjenny 2003-12-18 07:18 pm UTC (link)
	the same thing happened to me just now. (Reply to this) (Parent)

	absolut 2003-12-17 06:59 pm UTC (link)
	The email says its only for intangible items, but then there's a link to the LiveJournal store, which sells clothing (not intangible)? (Reply to this) (Thread)