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I'm thinking about offering a discount to students for a software product. I may even give them free licenses. What's the best/easiest way of verifying that someone is a student or an educator? Would checking that their account is tied to an Any ideas on how the big companies like Adobe or Microsoft do this? |
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There are a number of methods different companies use, none of which is bullet-proof. For me, your basic choice is whether to manually vet every application - in which case you can use .edu email address as part of your verification, and also capture edge cases. I quite like this example of structuring the choices. In a startup context I would rather have people self-certify (that could include requiring a .edu email) and keep the thing automated. As long as you keep an audit trail, you can go back and verify a sample or/and suspicious cases. If you 'sell' gazillions of free licenses and nothing else, you may have a problem (but you also have a big opportunity!). |
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Just automate it - it is not worth the hassle of checking up on people. .edu domain should be enough - though many people have access to edu mail addresses as alums. A simpel check box that makes the person certify they are entitled to the discount along with the edu auto-check is the way I would go. |
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How the big boys do it:
Using an edu address would seem the easiest to automate but worth considering other education addresses if your software is suitable for global markets (e.g ac.uk for UK Universities) in that case. |
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Amazon requires an .edu email address for the student prime. Apple used to require a student ID number online. I think we just showed my wife's student in the Apple Store last time we got a mac. I'm not sure about online any more as it's been a while. |
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