In this guide 6 sections
Ask five things first. Do keys come from a pool you load or from the publisher on each order? What happens to a key on refund? How many activations does one key allow? Does the tax invoice carry company details? Does each buyer get a download area?
Where does each key come from?
A key pool is a CSV of codes from the publisher, uploaded to the shop, and the shop hands out the next unused row whenever an order is paid. It suits a small catalogue. It fails quietly when the pool runs dry at midnight and nobody is watching the count.
Publisher issuance works the other way. At the moment of payment the shop calls the publisher’s licensing service, and a fresh key comes back tied to that order number. Stock never runs out, and the publisher sees every holder. The price is a dependency on their uptime. That is a real trade.
Ask which model the vendor supports, whether one catalogue can mix both for different titles, and what the buyer sees when the publisher’s service times out. A held order with an automatic retry is a good answer. A paid order with an empty email is not.
- Who loads the pool file and how often
- Alert when unused keys fall below a set level
- Retry rule when the publisher’s service is slow
- Whether one product can use a pool and another issuance
- Where unused keys are stored and who can export them
What happens to a key when you refund the order?
A refund without a voided key is a free copy. Check whether the shop can mark the key as void, and whether that message reaches the publisher or stays in your own record. Some publishers deactivate through an API call, while others accept only an emailed request.
Write the rule before the first dispute. A refund inside the cooling-off period might void the key when the activation count is zero, and go to a person for review when the key was already used. That rule needs the shop to see the count.
Ask about partial refunds too. An order for four seats where one seat comes back should void one key, not all four. Many systems refund whole orders only. Find that out early. It is a common trap.
How many times can one key be activated?
The activation count is the number of machines or accounts a key may register. The publisher sets it, and the shop usually cannot change it, but the shop should display it and let the buyer release one activation when a laptop is replaced.
Without that page, support gets the same message all week. New laptop, key says already used. A self-service release inside the buyer’s account clears most of them. Ask whether each activation is logged with a date and a machine name.
Single-user keys and volume keys behave differently. A volume key may cover twenty machines on one string. A single key covers exactly one. Your catalogue probably holds both kinds, so the shop must store the limit against each product.
- Activation limit stored per product
- Count of activations used, visible to the buyer
- Self-service release of one activation
- Log of date, machine name and network address
- Rule for a key that passes its limit
What does the buyer receive after paying?
A key in an email is not enough for a company buyer. Their accounts team wants a tax invoice carrying the company name, registered address and tax number, issued to the firm rather than to the employee who clicked pay. Ask whether checkout collects those fields.
Then look at the download area. Each buyer should log in, see every key they own, pick the installer for the right version and fetch an old invoice as a PDF. This replaces the inbox search that follows every lost key.
Check how corrections are numbered. A credit note against the original invoice is cleaner than a deleted invoice, and your accountant will ask for exactly that at quarter end.
- Company name, address and tax number captured at checkout
- Credit note issued against the original invoice number
- Installer for each version held in the buyer’s area
- Past orders and keys listed on one screen
Run a test order before you sign
Request a trial shop from the vendor and place four orders. Make a plain one, a refunded one, a company order with a tax number and a seat order for several users. Time the key on each. Seconds matter.
Open the refunded order afterwards. Is the key void? Did the activation count show? Did a credit note appear? Write down every gap, because each gap you find in a trial becomes a support ticket in the live shop.
Send the list back to the vendor and ask which gaps close with a setting and which need custom work. Choose the vendor with the shortest list. Get the answers in writing before you sign.
Vendor question sheet
One page laid out as a grid, with each question from this article on its own line. The columns are question, vendor answer, tested in trial (yes or no), gap found, and fix by setting or custom work. Across the top, write the product names, the key model and who placed the test orders.
Open a blank worksheet to printQuestions owners ask
Is a key pool or publisher issuance better?
Neither always wins. A pool is simple and keeps working when the publisher’s service is down. Issuance removes stock handling and gives the publisher a record of every holder. Many shops use a pool for one title and issuance for another.
Can a refunded key be revoked automatically?
Only when the publisher offers a way to deactivate it, usually an API call. Ask the publisher first. If there is none, the shop can still mark the key void in its own record and a person then writes to the publisher.
Why does a buyer need an account for downloads?
An account holds every key, installer and invoice in one place. It also lets the buyer release an activation without writing to support, which removes a steady stream of routine tickets.
What should a trial order include?
One plain order, one refund, one company order with a tax number and one multi-seat order. Together they touch each question in this article.