Use and manage coupons

For more information about coupons, seeAnnouncement on the merge and migration of cash coupons and coupons.

Apply a coupon during order payment

When you purchase a prepaid resource, such as a subscription ECS instance, the system matches attributes such as the order product, payment type, and order amount. The system then automatically filters and displays the available coupons on the Confirm Order page. Select one coupon manually to offset the order.

• Usage limit: You can use only one coupon for a single order. Within its validity period, a Cash Coupon can offset multiple orders until its balance is used up, while a Spend and Save Coupon or a Discount Coupon applies to one order only.

• Frozen coupons: After you select a coupon on the Confirm Order page, the coupon in the unpaid order is frozen. Cancel the unpaid order before you use the coupon again. Go to the My Order page, find the associated unpaid order, and then Void it. After the order is canceled, the coupon returns to the Valid state.

• Renewal coupons: When you renew a resource manually, the Confirm Order page of the renewal displays the applicable coupons, and you decide whether to use one. When you enable auto-renewal, the system automatically selects a coupon for the deduction based on the applicable rules.

If a coupon that you selected still does not appear or cannot be used, check the following possible causes:

• Multiple account verification: If a coupon that you claimed on a mobile device does not appear on a computer, confirm that both devices are logged on to the same Alibaba Cloud account. If you are unsure, locate the correct account by using the phone number or the identity verification information.

• Mobile entry point: On a mobile device, go to Mine > Expenses and Costs > Cards & Coupons to view your coupons.

• Campaign conflicts: Some coupons conflict with specific campaigns, such as renewal campaigns or first-purchase offers for new users. If the coupon does not appear on the Confirm Order page, check whether another discount already applies, or whether the coupon has a special usage threshold (for example, you must place the order in the student zone).

Automatic deduction for pay-as-you-go bills

For pay-as-you-go resources, the system automatically uses the coupons in effect to offset the charges when the bill is generated.

• Automatic matching: The system first uses the coupons that expire soonest. If several coupons expire at the same time, the system first uses the coupon with the larger balance.

• Multi-coupon deduction: If the balance of one coupon cannot cover the entire bill, the system automatically uses the next available Cash Coupon to continue the deduction, until the bill is fully offset or all available coupons are used.

• Balance payment: If an amount remains on the bill after all coupons are used, pay the remaining amount separately.

Coupons cannot offset overdue payments. Top up your account to clear the overdue amount. After you clear the overdue amount, coupons can offset the pay-as-you-go charges that you incur afterwards.

Share coupons across multiple accounts

If your enterprise has several Alibaba Cloud accounts, enable Enterprise Account Center and use equity asset sharing to share coupons within the organization and optimize costs.

Prerequisites: The Enterprise Account Center feature is enabled.

Procedure

1. Log on to Expenses and Costs and click Account Sharing.

2. On the Equity Asset Sharing page, view the coupons that you hold.

3. Select the coupon to share, and then click Edit in the Actions column.

4. Configure the sharing settings in the dialog box.

The sharing scope includes Organization and Account. If you share a coupon with an organization, the coupon is shared with all accounts under the organization node, and the scope adjusts automatically as the accounts in the organization change. If you share a coupon with accounts, the selected scope is fixed and does not change automatically.

Cancel sharing: In the Actions column, you can cancel sharing for a shared coupon.

Why can't I use my coupon?

Coupons have specific usage rules and deductible scopes. To view the details, log on to the Coupons management page or the campaign page. Common causes include:

• Product restrictions: The coupon does not apply to the product that you are purchasing.

• Validity period: The coupon has expired.

• Transaction scenario: The order type is outside the applicable scope of the coupon.

• Duration restrictions: The order duration does not meet the condition that the coupon requires.

• Order amount: The order amount does not meet the usage condition of a Spend and Save Coupon.

• Promotion conflicts: Another discount or campaign offer already applies.

• Device: If you cannot use a coupon on a mobile device, switch to another browser or use a computer.

• Campaign restrictions: For example, the CNY 300 student coupon is used only on the campaign page, so go to the Student Coupon Center to use it. Even in the Student Coupon Center, the coupon applies only to the designated products that the page marks as eligible, so check the coupon details to confirm the applicable products. For example, this coupon offsets only the bills of the Model Studio models listed on the "AI Model Services" tab of the Student Coupon Center. It does not offset the bills of all model services on the Model Studio platform.

Which products are ineligible for general-purpose coupons?

General-purpose coupons do not support the following products and commodities. The exclusions are organized by product code, by commodity code, and for physical goods and third-party Alibaba Cloud Marketplace products.

• By product: All commodities under the following product codes cannot use general-purpose coupons.

Alibaba Cloud Marketplace featured second-party products cover a large number of commodities. For the complete list, see Notice: general-purpose coupons cannot be used for any commodity under Alibaba Cloud Marketplace featured second-party products.

• By commodity: All of the following commodity codes cannot use general-purpose coupons.

• Physical goods and third-party Alibaba Cloud Marketplace products: Physical goods, which are hardware devices or accessories related to cloud computing, such as server hardware and network devices, and all third-party products in Alibaba Cloud Marketplace cannot use general-purpose coupons.