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[noble horizon]

hello! We mainly help with developers who want to integrate directly with the Stripe API here on this channel. It doesn't look like your question is related to the Stripe API so we likely don't have the relevant expertise to advise you on that

[earnest meadow]

I watched this which uses the API and it is close...https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ytRkVL1Dm50

But it ignores the whole process of having a user sign up first on my site. I am not selling products that ship to customers I am selling an online subscription. So I want the customers to make an account on my site first then, be logged in, then buy the subscription

That I am not sure how to do with the API

https://stackoverflow.com/questions/67609908/how-to-implement-a-double-sided-referral-program-with-stripe-checkout

This was another idea but I am really stumped here the best and easiest route to take

[noble horizon]

How the customer makes an account (or sign up on your site) isn't something we can advise on. You might want to look around for other guides about that

[earnest meadow]

The last reply from totor also I am not sure about

Right I realize that but surely you guys can at least recommend some ideas for how to build this. There are lots of ways it seems.

[noble horizon]

like you mentioned, there're many ways, and it really depends on the stack that you're using. It's difficult for me to even begin suggesting because I don't have any idea of what you're using. If you want a few suggestions, here's what i found from a quick search online :
https://www.digitalocean.com/community/tutorials/how-to-add-login-authentication-to-react-applications
https://medium.com/@moinahmedbgbn/a-basic-login-system-with-python-746a64dc88d6
https://jc1175.medium.com/how-a-login-system-works-84cb827a7930

[earnest meadow]

django

[noble horizon]

then you can do the same and perform a search online using relevant search terms e.g. django login authentication

[earnest meadow]

I already have a login and signup in place

The user logs in, then they could buy a membership through stripe checkout

But now I would love to build an affiliate program where users do all the marketing for me and they get rewarded for it via something like stripe connect when the new customer buys the subscription after signing up and doing the whole sales funnel

[noble horizon]

sorry, i'm pretty confused here, I may have originally misunderstood that you didn't know how to setup a login / authentication system. Can you explain more on which part you don't understand and need help with?

[earnest meadow]

My appologies

Let's start with what portions of the API I would use for this. Payment links, stripe connect, webhooks?

[noble horizon]

probably both Payment Links and Webhooks at least. Does your business model use Connect?

[earnest meadow]

Maybe start off with an existing customer on my site generate a link, then they share it with the customer. The customer signs up on that site with the generated link, then it stores that the user signed up using this existing customer's link. Then whenever a customer buys a subscription, it will use that existing customer's link or code that got stored. And whenever the customer pays it will apply the reward to the original customer.

No I don't use connect yet

I have some questions about it though..

Like the different account types via connect. Explain them like I am 5 standard and express.

Then the payment types explain like I am 5

Which one would I then use for this scenario?

I think I understand the account types but want to be sure. I am more confused about the payment types in connect.

[noble horizon]

i think it would be easier if you explained your business model in more detail so that i can point you to the specific fund flow and account type that you should use

[earnest meadow]

e-learning. Like linkedin learning

buy a monthly or yearly subscription to see content

When a user signs up, they get an email to verify their account to ensure they are real

Then only when they are logged in can they buy the subscription to see content

[noble horizon]

who creates the content?

[earnest meadow]

me

Like some rewards I would give would be free months, discounts on the next subscription payment, buy 1 lifetime free course, etc.

or pay them via stripe connect

only if they successfully onboard a new customer

[noble horizon]

based off your current description, you would only need to use Connect if you intend to pay them money, which can be paid out to their bank account

[earnest meadow]

right so I am okay with that for now to start out with

otherwise I guess the other rewards would involve a pause/trial to existing membership

buy 1 free lifetime course would be on my side I think or a promo code probably

[noble horizon]

are all your customers going to be in the same region? e.g. if your company is based in the US, will all your customers also only be in the US?

[earnest meadow]

No, all over the world

company in USA

[noble horizon]

then my reccomendation is Separate Charges and Transfers (SCT) with Express accounts. The Express accounts need to be on a recipient agreement so that you can perform a cross border transfer.

• https://stripe.com/docs/connect/cross-border-payouts

You can only either use Express / Custom accounts for cross border payouts. I suggest Express since Express accounts have their own (simplified) Dashboard and you don't need to build one for them (which you would need to do so if you used Express).

[earnest meadow]

Yea custom seems like way too much work I was thinking about express

[noble horizon]

For the Payment Links, you would probably add in some metadata when creating them to know which is the original referrer. Then listening for the relevant event when payment is successful, you would refer to the metadata to know which connected account you should transfer the referral funds to

[earnest meadow]

ah ok makees sense

[noble horizon]

you can read more about how to onboard Express accounts here : https://stripe.com/docs/connect/express-accounts

[earnest meadow]

I think I am going to have to read the entire stripe connect docs I am really unfamiliar with them

[noble horizon]

i'd suggest doing it bit by bit i.e. onboard a connected account with a recipient agreement -> create a Payment Link with the relevant metadata -> successfully sign up for a subscription with the Payment Link -> then perform a Transfer of funds to the connected account

[earnest meadow]

hmm but how to connect the payment link to the new customer's account on my website?

[noble horizon]

when your customer signs up for a connected account (CA), you should store and link your customer's id to the CA id in your DB

when the customer creates the Payment Link, you would add a metadata that lists what's the customer's (referrer) CA id

[earnest meadow]

i currently store thee stripe customer id when a user signs up on my site. But when they sign up they use an email and username

[noble horizon]

how are you paying out the referral fees? Is it upon first time payment for the Subscription?

[earnest meadow]

So what you are saying is the existing paying customer makes a payment link to give someone else and they have to signup for stripe connect.

I would pay them a commission when the existing customer onboards a new customer

[noble horizon]

to create a Payment Link to give to someone else, you should get your user to sign up for Stripe Connect i.e. a Connected account

[earnest meadow]

1. Existing paying stripe customer onboards into connect
2. Existing paying stripe customer makes payment link and shares it on social media
3. New potential customer sees payment link (but doees not make a new account on my site?) But the new potential customer signs up for stripe connect also?

[noble horizon]

assuming the new customer pays for a subscription. A Stripe Customer object will be created (if they don't yet have one). If they want to create a referral payment link too, you will need to get them to register a connected account, otherwise there's no way you can pay out to the new customer

[earnest meadow]

Yes a new stripe customer object will be created for the new customer but not a username and password on my site. I think that is bad.

[noble horizon]

that's how Payment Links work, that you can easily send a link to collect payment anywhere and anytime. If you want the customer to sign up on your site first, then you should probably not use Payment Links. Direct users to your site instead and use Checkout Sessions (you can reach out via the email on this page : https://stripe.com/docs/payments/checkout to ask for access to embedded Checkout Sessions) or the Payment Element

[earnest meadow]

Yes I currently use stripe checkout for the subscriptions

What do you think of this logic?

1. Existing customer (user1) generates shareable link with 1 time or forever referral code
2. New customer (user2) signs up or logs in on site with that link.
3. Store this somewhere -> new customer (user2) signed up or logs in with existing customer (user1) link
4. When new customer (user2) buys subscription, existing customer (user1) gets rewarded (stripe connect commission from new customer user2 purchase or discount on next recurring payment or free months)
5. Shareable link either needs to expire or can be reused again by more people

[noble horizon]

looks about right. You can iron out all the details as you attempt to go through the flow once

[earnest meadow]

I just wonder though how to prevent misuse or people re-using the same links again

I would probably want new people to use that same existing customer's link but don't allow user2 to use his link again

[noble horizon]

i'm not sure i understand, can you explain why don't you want user2 to use the link again?

[earnest meadow]

Let's say user2 used user1's link again after their first subscription expired. Then user1 would get paid again? I would probably want user1 to get paid only with new customers each time not repeats.

Or user1 could use the link on themselves and pay themselves back

[noble horizon]

then i think you would want to implement some kind of verification logic. Since the customer needs to login to your site before they can pay for a subscription, you can check if it's a new customer or existing customer

[earnest meadow]

ooh makes sense

[earnest meadow]

@noble horizon just wanted to say thank you. that is all i have for today