Introduction to discounts

What is a discount?
A discount is an onCourse marketing tool allowing you to sell a class at a reduced price.

How is the value of a discount calculated?
A discount value may be applied in dollars, percentage or a change the fee to a set amount (where you specify the same fee that will apply for all classes eligible). All discount values are ex GST, meaning GST (if it applies) will be recalculated on the resulting class fee.

For example, if a class fee is $150 (inc GST) and you offer a $50 discount, the fee the student pays will not be $100.

In this instance the class fee is actually $136.36 and the GST is $13.64. When the $50 discount is deducted, the class fee becomes $86.36. GST is now re-calculated on the new class fee to be $8.64 and the total fee payable becomes $95 (inc GST).

If the $50 discount is offered on a class where the fee is $150 (ex GST) then the fee payable will be $100 (ex GST).

In both instances, your college earns $50 less income by providing the discount. In the example with GST, the government also earns $5 less GST income as the sale cost of your product has been reduced.

You can link classes both with and without GST to the same discount policy as the calculation will be determined on each class fee individually.

How is discount eligibility calculated?

Students
Discounts may be offered to anyone; students under or over a certain age, students in a certain postcode, students with particular memberships such as corporate members, or students with a concession such as a senior’s card. If a student meets the requirement of the discount, it will be offered automatically on enrolment. If a student is eligible for multiple discounts, the best discount available will be offered.

Classes
Discounts may be offered to a course (and all its classes), a class, all current and pending classes or any combination of the above. If an eligible student is enrolling in an eligible class, the discount will be offered automatically.

Discount validity
The discount itself may have a valid from or expiry date, or require students to enter a special promotional code. Discounts may automatically apply when the invoice contains multiple enrolments, or when the value of the invoice exceeds a specified value. Discounts are offered automatically when the student(s) in the enrolment process meet the discount requirement.

When is a discount applied?
Discounts always apply automatically when the discount conditions have been met.
Discounts can be made available for online enrolments, or only for enrolments processed through the office.

There are two ways a discount will apply:

1. Discounts based on the student or invoice meeting an eligibility criteria - This means you have defined some restrictions on who is able to receive this discount when they enrol e.g. students with a senior’s card. If the student meets this criteria, or this criteria is added during the enrolment process, the discount will apply.
   Invoice criteria include the number of enrolments, total invoice value, or the use of a CorporatePass to create the invoice.
2. Discounts using a promotional code - These discounts are often part of a marketing campaign and are designed to be 'shared' amongst your targeted clients and their friends. They do not usually have additional restrictions attached - whoever can supply the promotional code can access the reduced fee. The promotional code has to be supplied at the time of enrolment to access the discount.

What happens when a student is eligible for multiple discounts?
When a student is eligible for more than one type of discount, onCourse will automatically apply the discount that gives the student the best possible price. For example, if a student is eligible for a $10 discount and a 10% discount on a $50 enrolment, the $10 discount will be selected by default.

In checkout, you can change the discount applied to a different discount in the Summary section. The student must be eligible for the discount for it to appear in the list to select from. Ineligible discounts won’t appear.

Conversely, when one or more negative discounts apply (a surcharge fee for using a corporatePass, for example) the highest fee for the student will be chosen from the discounted,full fees and surcharge fees the student meets the eligibility criteria for.