Code stacking

Several codes for one product collapse into one subscription at a higher tier.

2 min read

Stacking is the convention lifetime-deal marketplaces sell on: buy one code for tier one, two codes for tier two, and so on. The panel implements it directly.

What happens on redemption#

When a customer redeems a code for a product with a stacking ladder configured:

The panel counts how many codes from that marketplace they already hold for that product.
The new code makes that count N, so tier N is the target.
The plan for tier N is resolved.
Their existing subscription is upgraded in place to that plan — new domain limit, new update window, status set back to active. If they have no subscription for that product yet, one is created.

The customer ends with one subscription and one license key, at the tier their codes add up to. Not three subscriptions and three keys.

Configuring the ladder#

Admin → Products → Stacking. Map each tier number to the plan it grants. A product with no ladder configured redeems codes as standalone subscriptions instead.

Running out of tiers#

A customer redeeming a fourth code against a three-tier ladder is told they are already at the highest tier — and the code is not consumed. The whole redemption rolls back, so they can return it on the marketplace for a refund.

Getting this wrong is a support disaster on a big launch: hundreds of buyers holding codes that were silently swallowed. It is worth testing your top tier before a deal goes live.

How a stack is identified#

By the combination of user, product, and source. No dedicated stacking table exists — every code already carries a source and a plan that belongs to a product, and every subscription reaches its source through its order. That is enough to count a customer’s codes and find the single subscription they feed.

One practical consequence: stacks are per marketplace. Two AppSumo codes stack with each other. An AppSumo code and a Dealify code do not, which is what you want when the two marketplaces sold different deals.

Auditing#

Every stacked redemption is written to the activity log with the tier it moved to, so you can reconstruct exactly how a customer reached the tier they are on.