Discount code: types and uses

A percentage code takes the same share off any price, so 20% off saves more on an expensive product than a cheap one. A fixed code takes a set amount off, such as £5, which feels generous on a low-priced item and costs you less on an expensive one.

Percentages suit store-wide launches and sales. Fixed amounts suit thank-you codes and offers on a single product, because buyers can see exactly what they save.

Codes work best with a reason to use them now. Three limits help:

• An end date: the code stops at a set time, such as the end of launch week.
• A use limit: only the first 50 buyers, for example.
• Specific products: the code works on one product, so it does not discount everything.

Announce the limit plainly when you share the code, and keep to it. Extending a "last chance" offer teaches followers to wait next time.

Good moments for a code include a launch, a thank-you to people who claimed a free lead magnet, a collaboration where another creator shares a code with their audience, and a small reward for buyers who leave a review. Avoid running codes constantly, or your full price stops meaning anything.

A 100% code is also a handy testing tool: it lets you go through your own checkout and receive your file without paying.

Codes can take a percentage or a fixed amount off, start and end on dates you choose, stop after a set number of uses, and apply to all your downloads or only some. Buyers enter them on the product page and see the new total before paying.