Gift subscription

You can include a feature in your application that enables users to gift subscriptions to others. This can help boost revenue and attract new users.

How it works

A user can gift a subscription to an existing user in your system by specifying their account information or to a new user by specifying their email address. In this case, the user sending the gift can hide their name or add a text message to the gift email notification. After creating a subscription, the gift recipient becomes its owner. The created subscription is of the one-time payment renewal type.

Interaction flow when gifting a subscription to an existing user:

Interaction flow when gifting a subscription to a new user:

How to set it up

You can set up the ability to gift a subscription in your app:

• to an existing user
• to a new user

Gift to an existing user

1. Implement in your application an interface for purchasing a gift subscription with the following elements:
   • fields for entering data of the gift recipient
   • field for entering a message from the sender (optional)
   • option to select anonymous sending (optional)
   • elements for selecting a subscription plan (optional)

2. Implement receiving a token after filling in the gift details when proceeding to the payment. To do this, pass the purchase.subscription.gift object to the Create token API call with the following parameters:
   • recipient — ID of the subscription recipient. Required.
   • email — recipient’s email address. Required.
   • redirect_url — redirect URL. Provide a link to a page with additional information about the gifted subscription or to the main page of the project.

• Additionally, you can pass the following parameters in the purchase.subscription object:
  • gift.anonymous — whether the gift was sent anonymously. If true, the sender’s name is hidden in the email notification. Defaults to false.
  • gift.message — message from the sender of the gift. Sent in an email notification of the gifted subscription.
  • plan_id — subscription plan ID.

Example of a request to receive a token:

 1{
 2  "purchase": {
 3    "checkout": {
 4      "currency": "USD",
 5      "amount": 10
 6    },
 7    "subscription": {
 8      "gift": {
 9        "recipient": "test_recipient_v1",
10        "email": "recipient_email@email.com",
11        "redirect_url": "https://example.com/",
12        "anonymous": true,
13        "message": "Happy birthday!"
14      }
15    }
16  },
17  "settings": {
18    "currency": "USD",
19    "language": "en",
20    "project_id": 16184,
21    "ui": {
22      "components": {
23        "virtual_currency": {
24          "custom_amount": true
25        }
26      },
27      "desktop": {
28        "virtual_item_list": {
29          "button_with_price": true,
30          "layout": "list"
31        }
32      },
33      "size": "medium"
34    }
35  },
36  "user": {
37    "country": {
38      "allow_modify": true,
39      "value": "US"
40    },
41    "age": 19,
42    "email": {
43      "value": "john.smith@mail.com"
44    },
45    "id": {
46      "value": "user_2"
47    },
48    "name": {
49      "value": "John Smith"
50    }
51  }
52}

3. Using the token received in step 2, open the payment interface in a new window, in an Iframe, or using Pay Station Embed.

Gift to a new user

1. Implement in your application an interface for purchasing a gift subscription with the following elements:
   • fields for entering the email address of the gift recipient
   • field for entering a message from the sender (optional)
   • option to select anonymous sending (optional)
   • elements for selecting a subscription plan (optional)
2. Implement the new user creation and assign an ID to it in your system.
3. Create a link to activate the user account.

4. Implement receiving a token after filling in the gift details when proceeding to payment. To do this, pass the purchase.subscription.gift object with the parameters to the Create token API call:
   • recipient — the subscription recipient ID created in step 2.
   • email — recipient’s email address.
   • redirect_url — activation URL created in step 3.

• Additionally, you can pass the following parameters in the purchase.subscription object:
  • gift.anonymous — whether the gift was sent anonymously. If true, the sender’s name is hidden in the email notification. Defaults to false.
  • gift.message — message from the sender of the gift. Sent in an email notification of the gifted subscription.
  • plan_id — subscription plan ID.

Example of a request to receive a token:

 1{
 2  "purchase": {
 3    "checkout": {
 4      "currency": "USD",
 5      "amount": 10
 6    },
 7    "subscription": {
 8      "gift": {
 9        "recipient": "test_recipient_v1",
10        "email": "recipient_email@email.com",
11        "redirect_url": "https://example.com/",
12        "anonymous": true,
13        "message": "Happy birthday!"
14      }
15    }
16  },
17  "settings": {
18    "currency": "USD",
19    "language": "en",
20    "project_id": 16184,
21    "ui": {
22      "components": {
23        "virtual_currency": {
24          "custom_amount": true
25        }
26      },
27      "desktop": {
28        "virtual_item_list": {
29          "button_with_price": true,
30          "layout": "list"
31        }
32      },
33      "size": "medium"
34    }
35  },
36  "user": {
37    "country": {
38      "allow_modify": true,
39      "value": "US"
40    },
41    "age": 19,
42    "email": {
43      "value": "john.smith@mail.com"
44    },
45    "id": {
46      "value": "user_2"
47    },
48    "name": {
49      "value": "John Smith"
50    }
51  }
52}

5. Using the token received in step 4, open the payment interface in a new window, in an Iframe, or using Pay Station Embed.