| page.title=Administering In-app Billing |
| parent.title=In-app Billing |
| parent.link=index.html |
| @jd:body |
| |
| <div id="qv-wrapper"> |
| <div id="qv"> |
| <h2>In this document</h2> |
| <ol> |
| <li><a href="#billing-list-setup">Creating a Product List</a></li> |
| <li><a href="#pricing-template">Pricing Templates</a></li> |
| <li><a href="#billing-purchase-type">Choosing a Product Type</a></li> |
| <li><a href="#billing-refunds">Handling Refunds</a></li> |
| <li><a href="#billing-refunds">Working with Order Numbers</a></li> |
| <li><a href="#billing-testing-setup">Setting up Test Accounts</a></li> |
| <li><a href="#billing-support">Where to Get Support</a></li> |
| </ol> |
| |
| </ol> |
| <h2>See also</h2> |
| <ol> |
| <li><a href="{@docRoot}google/play/billing/billing_overview.html">Overview of In-app |
| Billing</a></li> |
| </ol> |
| </div> |
| </div> |
| |
| <p>In-app billing frees you from processing financial transactions, but you still need to perform a |
| few administrative tasks. These tasks include the following:</p> |
| <ul> |
| <li>Setting up and maintaining your product list on the Google Play Developer Console.</li> |
| <li>Registering test accounts.</li> |
| <li>Handling refunds when necessary.</li> |
| </ul> |
| </p> |
| |
| <p>To register a test account, you must have a Google Play publisher account. If you |
| already have a publisher account on Google Play, you can use your existing account. You do not |
| need to register for a new account to support in-app billing. If you don't have a publisher |
| account, you can register as a Google Play developer and set up a publisher account through the <a |
| href="http://play.google.com/apps/publish">Google Play Developer Console</a>.</p> |
| |
| <p>If you want to create a product list and issue refunds to your users, you must have a |
| Google payments merchant account. If you don't have a merchant account, you can |
| register for one through the Developer Console.</p> |
| |
| <h2 id="billing-list-setup">Creating a Product List</h2> |
| |
| <p>The Google Play Developer Console provides a product list for each of your published |
| apps. You can sell an item using Google Play's in-app billing feature only if the item is |
| listed on an app's product list. Each app has its own product list; you cannot sell |
| items that appear on another app's product list.</p> |
| |
| <p>You can access an app's product list by opening the <em>In-app Products</em> |
| page for an app that is listed in your developer account. The link to the |
| <em>In-app Products</em> page appears only if you have a Google payments merchant |
| account and the app's manifest includes the |
| <code>com.android.vending.BILLING</code> permission. For more information about this |
| permission, see <a href="{@docRoot}google/play/billing/billing_integrate.html#billing-permission"> |
| Updating Your App's Manifest</a>.</p> |
| |
| <p>A product list specifies items you are selling in an app: in-app products, |
| subscriptions, or a combination of both. For each item, the product list contains information |
| such as product ID, product description, and price. You can create a product list for any |
| published app, including apps published to the alpha and beta channels.</p> |
| |
| <p>The product list stores only metadata about the items you are selling in your app. |
| It does not store any digital content. You are responsible for storing and delivering |
| the digital content that you sell in your apps.</p> |
| |
| <p class="note"><strong>Note:</strong> Previously, you could test an app by |
| uploading an unpublished draft version. This functionality is no longer |
| supported; instead, you must publish it to the alpha or beta distribution |
| channel. For more information, see <a |
| href="{@docRoot}google/play/billing/billing_testing.html#draft_apps">Draft Apps |
| are No Longer Supported</a>.</p> |
| |
| <p>In addition, an app package can have only one product list. If you create a product |
| list for an app, and you use the <a |
| href="{@docRoot}google/play/publishing/multiple-apks.html">multiple APK feature</a> to distribute |
| more than one APK for that app, the product list applies to all APK versions that are |
| associated with the app listing. You cannot create individual product lists for each APK if |
| you are using the multiple APK feature.</p> |
| |
| <p>You can add items to a product list two ways: you can add items one at a time on the <em>In-app |
| Products</em> page, or you can add a batch of items by importing the items from a |
| comma-separated values (CSV) file. Adding items one at a time is useful if your |
| app has only a few in-app items or you are adding only a few items to a |
| product list for testing purposes. The CSV file method is useful if your app has a large |
| number of in-app items.</p> |
| |
| <p class="note"><strong>Note:</strong> Batch upload of product lists containing |
| subscriptions is not supported. Also, when updating existing items in a batch upload, |
| you cannot include changes to in-app products that are linked to a |
| <a href="#pricing-template">pricing template</a>.</p> |
| |
| <h3 id="billing-form-add">Adding items one at a time to a product list</h3> |
| |
| <p>To add an item to a product list using the Developer Console UI, follow these steps:</p> |
| |
| <ol> |
| <li><a href="http://play.google.com/apps/publish">Log in</a> to your publisher account.</li> |
| <li>In the <em>All applications</em> panel, click on the |
| app name, then open the <em>In-app Products</em> page.</li> |
| <li><p>Click <strong>Add new product</strong>. After you provide the product type and ID for the item you are |
| selling, click <strong>Continue</strong>.</p> |
| <dl> |
| <dt>Product Type</dt> |
| <dd> |
| <p>The product type can be "Managed product" or "Subscription." You cannot |
| change an item's product type after you create the item. For more information, see |
| <a href="#billing-purchase-type">Choosing a Product Type</a>.</p> |
| <p class="note"><strong>Note: </strong>For subscription items, you cannot change the |
| item's price once you have published the item.</p> |
| </dd> |
| <dt>Product ID</dt> |
| <dd> |
| <p>Product IDs are unique across an app's namespace. A product ID must start with a |
| lowercase letter or a number and must be composed of only lowercase letters (a-z), numbers |
| (0-9), underscores (_), and periods (.). The product ID <code>android.test</code> is reserved, as are all |
| product IDs that start with <code>android.test</code>.</p> |
| <p class="note"><strong>Note: </strong>Be sure to plan your product ID namespace carefully. You |
| cannot modify an item's product ID after the item is created, and you cannot reuse |
| a product ID within an app.</p> |
| </dd> |
| </dl> |
| </li> |
| <li><p>Enter additional information about the item. If you're adding a |
| subscription, also include |
| <a href="#billing-form-add-subscription">subscription-specific details</a>. |
| After you've provided this information, click <strong>Save</strong>.</p> |
| <dl> |
| <dt>Publishing State</dt> |
| <dd> |
| <p>An item's publishing state can be <strong>Active</strong> or |
| <strong>Inactive</strong>. To be visible to a user during checkout, an item's publishing state must be set to |
| <strong>Active</strong>, and the item's app must be published on Google Play.</p> |
| <p class="note"><strong>Note:</strong> If you're using a test account, users can see active items |
| within unpublished apps, as well. For more information, see <a |
| href="{@docRoot}google/play/billing/billing_testing.html#billing-testing-real">Testing In-app |
| Billing</a>.</p> |
| </dd> |
| <dt>Languages and Translations</dt> |
| <dd> |
| <p>By default, in-app products inherit their default language from the parent app.</p> |
| <p>You can provide localized titles and descriptions for your in-app |
| products by selecting <strong>Add Translations</strong>. If you want Google |
| Play to translate your title and description for you, based on the title and |
| description in the default language, just choose the languages that you |
| want to offer. You can also provide custom translations in specific |
| languages.</p> |
| </dd> |
| <dt>Title</dt> |
| <dd> |
| The title is a short descriptor for the item. An example of a title is: "Sleeping potion." |
| Every item must have a title. The title is visible to users during checkout. For optimum appearance, |
| titles should be no longer than 25 characters; however, titles can be up to 55 characters in length. |
| </dd> |
| <dt>Description</dt> |
| <dd> |
| The description is a long descriptor for the item. An example of a description is: |
| "Instantly puts creatures to sleep. Does not work on angry elves." Every item must have a description. |
| Descriptions can be up to 80 characters in length. |
| </dd> |
| <dt>Price</dt> |
| <dd> |
| <p>Provide a price in your home currency, or link the price to an existing |
| pricing template. Based on the price you enter or the prices |
| from the pricing template, the system autofills country-specific prices for |
| different currencies. These generated prices use current exchange rates and |
| locally relevant pricing patterns (see figure 1).</p> |
| <p>You can also change prices for other currencies manually, but you can do |
| this only if a currency is used in one of the target countries for your |
| app. You can specify target countries for your app on the |
| <em>Pricing & Distribution</em> page in the Google Play |
| Developer Console.</p> |
| </dd> |
| </dl> |
| </li> |
| </ol> |
| |
| <figure id="fig-elp"> |
| <img class="border-img" src="{@docRoot}images/in-app-billing/edit_local_prices.png" |
| width="700" alt="An item that costs 1.99 in USD usually costs a different |
| amount in AUD, EUR, or BOB. Some countries also add tax to the price."> |
| <figcaption> |
| <b>Figure 1. </b>Specifying additional currencies for an in-app product. |
| </figcaption> |
| </figure> |
| |
| <h4 id="billing-form-add-subscription"> |
| Adding subscription details |
| </h4> |
| |
| <p> |
| When you add a subscription to a product list, you must define its billing |
| period. All other settings related to subscriptions are optional. The |
| following list shows each property that you can set: |
| </p> |
| |
| <dl> |
| <dt>Billing period</dt> |
| <dd> |
| <p> |
| Sets the frequency at which a user is charged while their subscription |
| is active. |
| </p> |
| |
| <p> |
| If the billing period for the new subscription is Seasonal, you must |
| specify when the season starts and ends using the <strong>Start |
| date</strong> and <strong>End date</strong> options. The subscription is |
| active only between these two dates. |
| </p> |
| |
| <p> |
| To allow users to activate a seasonal subscription for a discounted price |
| after the season begins, you can provide prorated pricing by selecting |
| <strong>Add Prorated Price</strong>. In the text boxes that appear after |
| you select this option, specify a discounted price for your subscription, |
| as well as the first date during the season when users can activate the |
| subscription for the discounted price. You can set multiple prorated |
| prices for a single subscription, with each price point taking effect on |
| a different start date. |
| </p> |
| |
| <p class="note"> |
| <strong>Note:</strong> After you activate a subscription, you cannot |
| change the subscription's billing period. For a seasonal subscription, |
| this restriction means that you also cannot change the season's start and |
| end dates. However, you can still add, change, and remove the prorated |
| prices that you've associated with a seasonal subscription. |
| </p> |
| </dd> |
| |
| <dt>Free trial period</dt> |
| <dd> |
| Sets the number of days that users can access the subscription for free |
| after they first activate it. The trial period must be at least 7 days. |
| </dd> |
| |
| <dt>Grace period</dt> |
| <dd> |
| Determines the amount of time that the user can continue accessing the |
| subscription after their payment is declined. If the user doesn't fix their |
| payment issue after the grace period has ended, their access to the |
| subscription is revoked. |
| </dd> |
| </dl> |
| |
| <p> |
| To learn more about how you can manage subscriptions using the In-app Billing |
| service, see the |
| <a href="/google/play/billing/billing_subscriptions.html">In-app |
| Subscriptions</a> guide. |
| </p> |
| |
| <h3 id="billing-bulk-add">Adding a batch of items to a product list</h3> |
| |
| <p>To add a batch of items to a product list using a CSV file, you first need to |
| create your CSV file. The data values that you specify in the CSV file represent |
| the options that you set when adding in-app products to a product list using the |
| Google Play Developer Console UI. For more information about using this UI, see |
| <a href="#billing-form-add">Adding items one at a time to a product list</a>. |
| |
| <p class="note"><strong>Note:</strong> Batch upload of in-app product lists |
| containing subscriptions is not supported. Also, when updating existing items in |
| a batch upload, you cannot include changes to in-app products that are linked to |
| a <a href="#pricing-template">pricing template</a>.</p> |
| |
| <p>To import the in-app products that are specified in your CSV file, do the |
| following:</p> |
| |
| <ol> |
| <li> |
| <a href="http://play.google.com/apps/publish">Log in</a> to your |
| publisher account. |
| </li> |
| <li>In the <em>All applications</em> panel, select the app |
| name, then open the <em>In-app Products</em> page.</li> |
| <li> |
| <p>On the <em>In-app Products</em> page, click |
| <strong>Import/Export</strong> > <strong>Import in-app products from CSV |
| file</strong> to open the <em>Import In-app Products</em> dialog.</p> |
| </li> |
| <li> |
| <p> |
| If you want to overwrite existing in-app products in your product list |
| during the import process, select the <strong>Overwrite existing |
| products</strong> checkbox. |
| </p> |
| <p> |
| This option overwrites values of existing items only if the value of the |
| <code>Product ID</code> in the CSV file matches the in-app product ID for |
| an existing in-app product in the product list. The overwriting process |
| doesn't delete in-app products that exist in a product list but aren't |
| included in the CSV file |
| </p> |
| <p class="note"><strong>Note: </strong>If you choose not to overwrite |
| existing items, the <code>Product ID</code> given to each item in the CSV |
| file must be different from any of the <code>Product ID</code> values |
| assigned to existing in-app products. |
| </p> |
| </li> |
| <li> |
| Select <strong>Browse files</strong>, then choose the CSV file that contains |
| the items you want to import. The CSV file must be stored locally. |
| </li> |
| </ol> |
| |
| <p> |
| You can also export an existing product list to a CSV file by clicking |
| <strong>Import/Export</strong> > <strong>Export in-app products to CSV file |
| </strong> on the <em>In-app Products page</em>. This is useful if you have |
| used the UI to add in-app products to your app but you want to start managing |
| the product list through a CSV file instead. |
| </p> |
| |
| <h4 id="billing-bulk-format">Formatting batches of items</h4> |
| |
| <p> |
| The CSV file uses commas (<code>,</code>) and semicolons (<code>;</code>) to |
| separate data values. Commas are used to separate primary data values, and |
| semicolons are used to separate subvalues. Each item must appear entirely on a |
| single line within the CSV file. |
| </p> |
| <p> |
| When creating a CSV file that represents a list of items, you must specify the |
| CSV syntax on the first row, followed by the items themselves on subsequent |
| rows, as shown in the following example: |
| </p> |
| |
| <pre class="no-pretty-print"> |
| Product ID,Published State,Purchase Type,Auto Translate,Locale; Title; Description,Auto Fill Prices,Price,Pricing Template ID |
| basic_sleeping_potion,published,managed_by_android,false,en_US; Basic Sleeping Potion; Puts small creatures to sleep.; es_ES; Poción básica de dormir; Causa las criaturas pequeñas ir a dormir.,false,,4637138456024710495 |
| standard_sleeping_potion,published,managed_by_android,false,en_US; Standard Sleeping Potion; Puts all creatures to sleep for 2 minutes.,true, 1990000, |
| invisibility_potion,published,managed_by_android,false,en_US; Invisibility Potion; Invisible to all enemies for 5 minutes.,false, US; 1990000; BR; 6990000; RU; 129000000; IN; 130000000; ID; 27000000000; MX; 37000000; |
| </pre> |
| |
| <p> |
| This example contains details for three items, each of which represents an |
| in-app product: |
| </p> |
| <ul> |
| <li> |
| The first item defines a title and description for the <code>en_US</code> |
| and <code>es_ES</code> locales. A pricing template defines the item's |
| price. |
| </li> |
| <li> |
| The second item doesn't use a pricing template. Instead, it specifies a |
| price for the default country (US). The Google Play Developer Console |
| uses current exchange rates and locally relevant pricing patterns to |
| automatically set the prices in all other countries where the app is |
| distributed. |
| </li> |
| <li> |
| The third item also doesn't use a pricing template. The item's price is |
| specified manually for each country where the app is distributed. |
| </li> |
| </ul> |
| |
| <p> |
| Each row in a CSV file can contain the following values, though at least one |
| of these values is undefined in each row: |
| </p> |
| |
| <dl> |
| <dt><code>Product ID</code></dt> |
| <dd> |
| <p> |
| Setting this value in the CSV file has the same effect as entering a |
| <em>Product ID</em> when creating a new in-app product. |
| </p> |
| <p> |
| If you specify a <code>Product ID</code> assigned to an in-app product that already |
| exists in a product list, and you've checked the <strong>Overwrite |
| existing products</strong> checkbox in the <em>Import In-app Products</em> |
| dialog, the data for the existing in-app product is overwritten with the |
| values that you specify in the CSV file. |
| </p> |
| </dd> |
| <dt><code>Publish State</code></dt> |
| <dd> |
| <p> |
| This value must be set to <code>published</code> |
| or <code>unpublished</code>. |
| </p> |
| <p> |
| Setting this value to <code>published</code> has the same effect as |
| navigating to an item's <em>Managed Product Details</em> page and choosing |
| <strong>Active</strong> in the drop-down list next to the in-app product's |
| title and product ID. Setting the value to <code>unpublished</code> |
| has the same effect as choosing <strong>Inactive</strong> in the same |
| drop-down list. |
| </p> |
| </dd> |
| <dt><code>Purchase Type</code></dt> |
| <dd> |
| <p> |
| This value must be set to <code>managed_by_android</code> because batch |
| upload of product lists containing subscriptions is not supported. |
| </p> |
| <p> |
| Setting this value to <code>managed_by_android</code> has the same effect |
| as selecting <strong>Managed product</strong> in the <em>Add New |
| Product</em> dialog when creating an in-app product. |
| </p> |
| </dd> |
| <dt><code>Auto Translate</code></dt> |
| <dd> |
| <p> |
| This value must be set to <code>false</code> because auto-translation of |
| in-app product details isn't supported. |
| </p> |
| <p> |
| If you want to provide translations of an in-app product's title and |
| description, you need to specify these translations explicitly within the |
| <code>Locale</code> value. |
| </p> |
| </dd> |
| <dt><code>Locale</code>, <code>Title</code>, and <code>Description</code></dt> |
| <dd> |
| <p> |
| If you include only one locale for an item, you must specify your app's |
| default locale and the item's default title and description: |
| </p> |
| |
| <pre class="no-pretty-print"> |
| <var>app_default_locale</var>; <var>item_default_title</var>; <var>item_default_description</var>; |
| </pre> |
| |
| <p> |
| Setting these values has the same effect as performing the following |
| sequence of actions: |
| </p> |
| <ol> |
| <li> |
| Choosing a default language when you add a new app to your |
| publisher account. |
| </li> |
| <li> |
| Navigating to an in-app product's <em>Managed Product Details</em> page. |
| </li> |
| <li> |
| Specifying the in-app product's default title and description. |
| </li> |
| </ol> |
| <p> |
| When setting the <code>Locale</code> value, you can use any of the |
| language codes that appear within the <em>Add Your Own Translations</em> |
| dialog. You can access this dialog by navigating to an in-app product's |
| <em>Managed Product Details</em> page and clicking <strong>Add |
| translations</strong> or <strong>Manage translations</strong>. |
| </p> |
| <p class="note"> |
| <strong>Note: </strong>When specifying the <code>Title</code> and |
| <code>Description</code> values, use backslashes to escape the semicolon |
| (<code>\;</code>) and backslash (<code>\\</code>) characters. |
| </p> |
| <p> |
| If you want to include translated versions of the item's title and |
| description, you must list the default locale, title, and description, |
| followed by the locales, titles, and descriptions for each translation. |
| In the following example, the in-app product uses <code>en_US</code> |
| (United States English) as the default locale and <code>es_ES</code> |
| (Spain Spanish) as a translation: |
| </p> |
| <pre class="no-pretty-print"> |
| en_US; Invisibility Cloak; Makes you invisible.; es_ES; Capote Invisible; Se vuelven invisible. |
| </pre> |
| <p class="note"> |
| <strong>Note: </strong>An app contains a single default language, but each |
| in-app product maintains its own list of translations. Therefore, although |
| the first locale in each item's <code>Locale</code> value must be the same |
| throughout the CSV file, the other locales can differ from one item to |
| another. |
| </p> |
| <p> |
| Providing values for multiple translations has the same effect as |
| performing the following sequence of actions: |
| </p> |
| <ol> |
| <li> |
| Navigating to an in-app product's <em>Managed Product Details</em> page. |
| </li> |
| <li> |
| Clicking <strong>Add translations</strong>. |
| </li> |
| <li> |
| Selecting the languages for the translations and clicking |
| <strong>Add</strong>. |
| </li> |
| <li> |
| Choosing one of the languages you added in the previous step. |
| </li> |
| <li> |
| Specifying a new title and description, which serve as translations into |
| the selected language. |
| </li> |
| <li> |
| Repeating steps 4 and 5 to add translations into all other non-default |
| languages. |
| </li> |
| </ol> |
| </dd> |
| <dt><code>Auto Fill Prices</code>, <code>Country</code>, and |
| <code>Price</code></dt> |
| <dd> |
| <p> |
| You can set <code>Auto Fill Prices</code> to <code>true</code> or |
| <code>false</code>. |
| If an in-app product uses a <a href="#pricing-template">pricing |
| template</a>, you should set <code>Auto Fill Prices</code> to |
| <code>false</code>, and you shouldn't set a value for the |
| <code>Price</code>. |
| </p> |
| <p class="note"> |
| <strong>Note: </strong>When you specify an item's price in a CSV file, you |
| provide a price in <em>micro-units</em>, where 1,000,000 micro-units is |
| equivalent to 1 unit of real currency. |
| </p> |
| <p> |
| The following sections describe how the value of |
| <code>Auto Fill Prices</code> affects the syntax and meaning of the |
| <code>Country</code> and <code>Price</code> values. |
| </p> |
| <h5>Using auto-filled prices</h5> |
| <p> |
| If you set <code>Auto Fill Prices</code> to <code>true</code>, you specify |
| only the item's default price; you don't include a <code>Country</code> |
| value. Setting <code>Auto Fill Prices</code> to <code>true</code> has the |
| same effect as performing the following sequence of actions: |
| </p> |
| <ol> |
| <li> |
| Navigating to an in-app product's <em>Managed Product Details</em> page. |
| </li> |
| <li> |
| Selecting <strong>Edit</strong> in the <em>Price</em> section. |
| </li> |
| <li> |
| Entering a default, tax-exclusive price. Auto-filled prices include tax. |
| </li> |
| <li> |
| Clicking the checkbox next to <em>COUNTRY</em> in the <em>Edit Local |
| Prices</em> dialog that appears. |
| </li> |
| <li> |
| Selecting <strong>Refresh exchange rates</strong>. |
| </li> |
| <li> |
| Selecting <strong>Apply</strong>. |
| </li> |
| </ol> |
| <p> |
| For example, under the following conditions: |
| </p> |
| <ul> |
| <li>Your app's default locale is <code>en_US</code>.</li> |
| <li>An in-app product's default, tax-exclusive price is $1.99.</li> |
| <li>You want the prices for other countries auto-filled.</li> |
| </ul> |
| <p> |
| ...you'd set the values of <code>Auto Fill Prices</code> and |
| <code>Price</code> at the end of a row in the CSV file as follows: |
| </p> |
| |
| <pre class="no-pretty-print"> |
| true,1990000, |
| </pre> |
| |
| <h5>Not using auto-filled prices</h5> |
| <p> |
| If you set <code>Auto Fill Prices</code> to <code>false</code> instead, |
| you specify a series of <code>Country</code> and <code>Price</code> |
| values for all countries where you distribute your app, including the country corresponding to your app's default locale. |
| Each <code>Country</code> value is the two-letter uppercase <a |
| class="external-link" |
| href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISO_3166-1_alpha-2">ISO country |
| code</a> that represents a country where your app is distributed. |
| </p> |
| <p class="note"> |
| <strong>Note: </strong>You must provide a country code and price for each |
| country that your app is targeting. To view and edit the list of countries |
| that your app targets, open your app's <em>Pricing & Distribution</em> |
| page. |
| </p> |
| <p> |
| Each <code>Price</code> value represents the cost of the item in |
| micro-units of the currency used in that country. Setting <code>Auto Fill |
| Prices</code> to <code>false</code> has the same effect as performing |
| the following sequence of actions: |
| </p> |
| <ol> |
| <li> |
| Navigating to an in-app product's <em>Managed Product Details</em> page. |
| </li> |
| <li> |
| Selecting <strong>Edit</strong> in the <em>Price</em> section. |
| </li> |
| <li> |
| Explicitly setting tax-inclusive prices for different countries in the |
| <em>Edit Local Prices</em> dialog that appears. |
| </li> |
| <li> |
| Selecting <strong>Apply</strong>. |
| </li> |
| </ol> |
| <p> |
| For example, if you're offering your app for the following prices (all |
| taxes included) in other countries: |
| </p> |
| <ul> |
| <li>R$6.99 in Brazil.</li> |
| <li>129 ₽ in Russia.</li> |
| <li>₹130 in India.</li> |
| <li>Rp 27,000 in Indonesia.</li> |
| <li>$37 in Mexico.</li> |
| </ul> |
| <p> |
| ...you'd set the values of <code>Auto Fill Prices</code>, |
| <code>Country</code>, and <code>Price</code> at the end of a row in the |
| CSV file as follows: |
| </p> |
| |
| <pre class="no-pretty-print"> |
| false, BR; 6990000; RU; 129000000; IN; 130000000; ID; 27000000000; MX; 37000000; |
| </pre> |
| |
| </dd> |
| <dt><code>Pricing Template ID</code></dt> |
| <dd> |
| <p> |
| If an item is linked to a pricing template, you should set <code>Auto Fill |
| Prices</code> to <code>false</code>, and you shouldn't set a value for the |
| <code>Price</code> column. If the item isn't linked to a pricing template, |
| you shouldn't set a value for the <code>Pricing Template ID</code>; instead, |
| you should set <code>Auto Fill Prices</code>, <code>Country</code>, and |
| <code>Price</code> based on how you want to set the in-app product's prices. |
| </p> |
| <p> |
| Setting this value has the same effect as navigating to an in-app product's |
| <em>Managed Product Details</em> page and linking the product's price to the |
| pricing template that has the same pricing template ID as the one specified |
| in the CSV file. This pricing template ID appears underneath a pricing |
| template's name on the <em>Pricing template</em> page. |
| </p> |
| <p> |
| If you import a CSV file, and you've checked the <strong>Overwrite existing |
| products</strong> checkbox in the <em>Import In-app Products</em> dialog, |
| you can update the links between in-app products and pricing templates. To |
| link the product to a specific pricing template, set the <code>Pricing |
| Template ID</code> value to that pricing template's ID. To unlink an in-app |
| product from all pricing templates, don't set a value for its <code>Pricing |
| Template ID</code>. |
| </p> |
| <p> |
| You can link up to 100 app prices or in-app product prices to a particular |
| pricing template. Therefore, don't specify the same <code>Pricing Template |
| ID</code> value in more than 100 rows of a CSV file. |
| </p> |
| </dd> |
| </dl> |
| |
| <h2 id="pricing-template"> |
| Pricing Templates |
| </h2> |
| |
| <p> |
| If you sell multiple apps at the same price, or if you sell multiple in-app |
| products at the same price across one or more apps, you can add <em>pricing |
| templates</em>. These templates make it easier to manage shared prices. |
| </p> |
| |
| <h3 id="add-pricing-template"> |
| Adding a pricing template |
| </h3> |
| |
| <p> |
| When creating a pricing template, you provide new pricing information that you |
| can apply to paid apps and in-app products. You can link the prices of up to |
| 100 apps and in-app products to a single pricing template. |
| </p> |
| |
| <p> |
| To add a pricing template, do the following: |
| </p> |
| |
| <ol> |
| <li> |
| <a href="http://play.google.com/apps/publish">Log in</a> to your publisher |
| account. |
| </li> |
| |
| <li>In the <em>Settings</em> panel, open the <em>Pricing |
| template</em> page. |
| </li> |
| |
| <li> |
| <p> |
| If you are adding your first pricing template, the <em>Add a Pricing |
| Template</em> banner appears. Select <strong>Add template</strong> to |
| create a new template. The new template's <em>Pricing</em> tab appears. |
| </p> |
| |
| <p> |
| Otherwise, you see a list of your pricing templates. Select <strong>New |
| pricing template</strong>. The new template's <em>Pricing</em> tab |
| appears. |
| </p> |
| </li> |
| |
| <li> |
| <p> |
| Provide details about the template. These details include the name, the |
| price, and whether to include tax as part of your country-specific |
| prices. |
| </p> |
| <p> |
| Based on the price and tax option you provide, the Developer Console |
| generates prices for international currencies using current exchange |
| rates and country-specific pricing patterns. |
| </p> |
| </li> |
| <li>Select <strong>Create template</strong> to finish adding the template. |
| </li> |
| </ol> |
| |
| <h3 id="link-pricing-template"> |
| Linking a pricing template |
| </h3> |
| |
| <p> |
| You can create links between pricing templates and sets of paid apps and |
| in-app products that share the same price. After completing this linking |
| process, any changes you make to the pricing template are applied to the |
| prices of items that you've linked to the template. To complete the linking |
| process, use either the pricing template's <em>Linked Items</em> tab or the |
| Price section within a paid app or in-app product's pricing page. |
| </p> |
| |
| <p class="note"> |
| <strong>Note:</strong> Since a subscription within your app has a constant |
| price, you cannot link a subscription with a pricing template. You can, |
| however, import the prices from a pricing template and apply them to a new |
| subscription. |
| </p> |
| |
| <h4> |
| Linking a pricing template to in-app products and paid apps |
| </h4> |
| |
| <p> |
| To link a pricing template to an in-app product, do the following: |
| </p> |
| |
| <ol> |
| <li> |
| <a href="http://play.google.com/apps/publish">Log in</a> to your publisher |
| account. |
| </li> |
| |
| <li>In the <em>Settings</em> panel, open the <em>Pricing |
| template</em> page. This page shows the list of pricing templates you have |
| created for your account. |
| </li> |
| |
| <li>Choose an existing pricing template that you want to link to an in-app |
| product, then select the template's <em>Linked Items</em> tab. This tab shows |
| options to link your pricing template to in-app products and paid apps |
| (see figure 2). |
| </li> |
| |
| <li>In the Link In-App Products section of the tab, enter or choose the name |
| of an app. This app should contain the in-app product that you want to link |
| to your pricing template. |
| </li> |
| |
| <li>Based on the app that you selected, you see a list of in-app products |
| that are active and are not yet linked to a pricing template. Choose the |
| in-app product that you want to link to the pricing template by selecting the |
| <strong>Link</strong> button that appears in the same row as the in-app |
| product. |
| </li> |
| |
| <li>The price of the in-app product is now linked to your pricing template. |
| Any changes you make to the prices within your pricing template affect the |
| prices of the linked in-app product. |
| </li> |
| </ol> |
| |
| <p> |
| To link a pricing template to the price of a paid app, you follow a similar |
| process. On the pricing template's <em>Linked Items</em> tab, choose a paid |
| app in the Link Paid Apps section. |
| </p> |
| |
| <figure id="fig-lpt"> |
| <img class="border-img" |
| src="{@docRoot}images/in-app-billing/link_pricing_template.png" width="700" |
| alt="The Sleeping Potion in-app product is linked to the Basic Inventory item, |
| but the Invisibility Potion is not."> |
| <figcaption> |
| <b>Figure 2. </b>On a pricing template's <em>Linked Items</em> tab, you can |
| change which in-app products and paid apps are linked to the pricing |
| template. |
| </figcaption> |
| </figure> |
| |
| <h4> |
| Linking an in-app product or paid app to a pricing template |
| </h4> |
| |
| <p> |
| To link an in-app product to a pricing template, do the following: |
| </p> |
| |
| <ol> |
| <li> |
| <a href="http://play.google.com/apps/publish">Log in</a> to your publisher |
| account. |
| </li> |
| |
| <li>In the <em>All applications</em> panel, select the app name, then |
| open the <em>In-app Products</em> page. |
| </li> |
| |
| <li>Choose the in-app product that you want to link to a pricing template. |
| The item's details page appears. |
| </li> |
| |
| <li>In the Pricing section, choose the pricing template that you want to link |
| to the price of this in-app product. |
| </li> |
| |
| <li>The price of the in-app product is now linked to the pricing template you |
| selected. Any changes you make to the prices within your pricing template |
| affect the prices of this in-app product. |
| </li> |
| </ol> |
| |
| <p> |
| To link the price of a paid app to a pricing template, you follow a similar |
| process on the app's <em>Pricing & Distribution</em> page. |
| </p> |
| |
| <h3 id="delete-linked-item"> |
| Deleting an item that is linked to a pricing template |
| </h3> |
| |
| <p> |
| As your app evolves, you may find it useful to remove older versions of |
| in-app products or unpublish paid apps, some of which may be linked to pricing |
| templates. To delete an in-app product or unpublish a paid app that is linked |
| to a pricing template, complete the following steps. You don't need to unlink |
| the in-app product or paid app from the pricing template beforehand. |
| </p> |
| |
| <h4> |
| Deleting an in-app product that is linked to a template |
| </h4> |
| |
| <p> |
| To delete an in-app product that is linked to a template, do the following: |
| </p> |
| |
| <ol> |
| <li> |
| <a href="http://play.google.com/apps/publish">Log in</a> to your publisher |
| account. |
| </li> |
| |
| <li>Select the app that contains the in-app product you want to delete. |
| </li> |
| |
| <li>Open the app's <em>In-app Products</em> page. |
| </li> |
| |
| <li>Choose the in-app product that you want to delete. |
| </li> |
| |
| <li>Select the button that indicates whether the in-app product is active or |
| inactive (enclosed in a box within figure 3). The drop-down menu includes a |
| <strong>Delete</strong> option. |
| </li> |
| <li>Select <strong>Delete</strong>, then choose <strong>Yes</strong> in the |
| confirmation dialog that appears. |
| </li> |
| </ol> |
| |
| <figure id="fig-diap"> |
| <img class="border-img" src="{@docRoot}images/in-app-billing/delete_iap.png" |
| width="500" alt=""> |
| <figcaption> |
| <b>Figure 3. </b>Deleting an in-app product that is linked to a pricing |
| template. |
| </figcaption> |
| </figure> |
| |
| <h4> |
| Unpublishing a paid app that is linked to a template |
| </h4> |
| |
| <div class="figure-right"> |
| <figure id="fig-upa"> |
| <img src="{@docRoot}images/in-app-billing/unpublish_paid_app.png" |
| width="700" alt=""> |
| <figcaption> |
| <b>Figure 4. </b>Unpublishing an app that has already been published and is |
| linked to a pricing template. |
| </figcaption> |
| </figure> |
| </div> |
| |
| <p> |
| To unpublish a paid app that is already published and is linked to a template, |
| do the following: |
| </p> |
| |
| <ol> |
| <li> |
| <a href="http://play.google.com/apps/publish">Log in</a> to your publisher |
| account. |
| </li> |
| |
| <li>Select the app that you want to unpublish. |
| </li> |
| |
| <li>Select <strong>Unpublish app</strong> (enclosed in a box within figure 4), |
| then choose <strong>Unpublish</strong> in the confirmation dialog that |
| appears. |
| </li> |
| </ol> |
| |
| <h3 id="delete-pricing-template"> |
| Deleting a pricing template |
| </h3> |
| |
| <p> |
| If you no longer need a pricing template, you can delete it by completing the |
| following steps: |
| </p> |
| |
| <ol> |
| <li> |
| <a href="http://play.google.com/apps/publish">Log in</a> to your publisher |
| account. |
| </li> |
| |
| <li>In the <em>Settings</em> panel, open the <em>Pricing |
| template</em> page, which shows the list of pricing templates you have |
| created for your account. |
| </li> |
| |
| <li>Select the pricing template that you wish to delete. |
| </li> |
| |
| <li>On the pricing template's <em>Linked Items</em> tab, unlink all in-app |
| products that are linked to the template.</li> |
| |
| <li>Select <strong>Delete template</strong>. |
| </li> |
| </ol> |
| |
| <h2 id="billing-purchase-type">Choosing a Product Type</h2> |
| |
| <p>An item's product type controls how Google Play manages the purchase of the item. The supported |
| product types include "managed product" and "subscription." Since support for different product |
| types can vary among versions of the In-app Billing API, make sure that you choose a product |
| type that's valid for the version of the In-app Billing API that your app uses.</p> |
| |
| <p>For details, refer to the documentation for the <a |
| href="{@docRoot}google/play/billing/api.html#producttype">In-app Billing API</a>.</p> |
| |
| <h2 id="billing-refunds">Handling Refunds</h2> |
| |
| <p>In-app billing does not allow users to send a refund request to Google Play. Refunds for |
| in-app purchases must be directed to you (the app developer). You can then process the |
| refund through your Google payments merchant account. When you do this, Google Play receives a |
| refund notification from Google payments, and Google Play sends a refund message to your |
| app. For more information, see <a |
| href="{@docRoot}google/play/billing/v2/api.html#billing-action-notify">Handling |
| IN_APP_NOTIFY messages</a> and <a |
| href="http://support.google.com/googleplay/android-developer/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=1153485"> |
| In-app Billing Pricing</a>.</p> |
| |
| <p class="caution"><strong>Important:</strong> You cannot use the API to issue |
| refunds or cancel In-app Billing transactions. You must do this manually through your Google |
| payments merchant account. However, you can use the API to retrieve order |
| information.</p> |
| |
| <h2 id="orderId">Working with Order Numbers</h2> |
| |
| <p>When a user purchases an in-app item, Google assigns the transaction |
| a unique and permanent order number. Google Play provides that order number to |
| you at the conclusion of the purchase flow, as the value of the |
| <code>orderId</code> field of the <code>PURCHASE_STATE_CHANGED</code> |
| intent.</p> |
| |
| <p class="note"> |
| <strong>Note:</strong> When a user completes a test purchase, the |
| <code>orderId</code> field remains blank. To track test transactions, use |
| the <code>purchaseToken</code> field instead. For more information about |
| working with test purchases, see <a |
| href="{@docRoot}google/play/billing/billing_testing.html">Testing In-app |
| Billing</a>. |
| </p> |
| |
| <p>In your app, you can use the order number as a general-purpose identifier for |
| the in-app purchase transaction. After the purchase, you can use the order |
| number as a means of tracking the transaction in reconciliation reports and for |
| customer support.</p> |
| |
| <p>The order number itself is a string consisting of numbers only, with a format |
| assigned and managed by Google.</p> |
| |
| <p>For transactions dated 5 December 2012 or later, Google payments assigns a |
| Merchant Order Number (rather than a Google Order Number) and reports the Merchant |
| Order Number as the value of <code>orderID</code>. Here's an |
| example:</p> |
| |
| <pre>"orderId" : "GPA.1234-5678-9012-34567"</pre> |
| |
| <p>For transactions dated previous to 5 December 2012, Google checkout assigned |
| a Google Order Number and reported that number as the value of |
| <code>orderID</code>. Here's an example of an <code>orderID</code> holding a |
| Google Order Number:</p> |
| |
| <pre>"orderId" : "556515565155651"</pre> |
| |
| <h2 id="billing-testing-setup">Setting Up Test Accounts</h2> |
| |
| <p>The Google Play Developer Console lets you set up one or more test accounts. |
| A test account is a regular Google account that you register on the Developer |
| Console as a test account. Test accounts are authorized to make in-app purchases |
| from apps that you have uploaded to the Google Play Developer Console |
| but have not yet published.</p> |
| |
| <p>You can use any Google account as a test account. Test accounts are useful if you want to let |
| multiple people test In-app Billing on apps without giving them access to your publisher |
| account's sign-in credentials. If you want to own and control the test accounts, you can create the |
| accounts yourself and distribute the credentials to your developers or testers.</p> |
| |
| <p>Test accounts have three limitations:</p> |
| |
| <ul> |
| <li>Test account users can make purchase requests only within apps that are already |
| uploaded to your publisher account (although the app doesn't need to be published).</li> |
| <li>Test accounts can only be used to purchase items that are listed (and published) in an |
| app's product list.</li> |
| <li>Test account users do not have access to your publisher account and cannot upload apps |
| to your publisher account.</li> |
| </ul> |
| |
| <p>To add test accounts to your publisher account, follow these steps:</p> |
| |
| <ol> |
| <li><a href="http://play.google.com/apps/publish">Log in</a> to your publisher account.</li> |
| <li>Click the <strong>Settings</strong> icon.</li> |
| <li>Locate the License Testing panel.</li> |
| <li>Add the email addresses for the test accounts you want to register, |
| separating each account with a comma.</li> |
| <li>Click <strong>Save</strong> to save your profile changes.</li> |
| </ol> |
| |
| <h3 id="license_key">Getting an app's license key</h3> |
| |
| <p>The Google Play Developer Console provides a public licensing key for each |
| app.</p> |
| |
| <p>To locate the key for an app, follow these steps:</p> |
| <ol> |
| <li>Open the <em>All applications</em> panel.</li> |
| <li>Click on the app name, then open the <em>Services & APIs</em> |
| page.</li> |
| <li>Scroll down to the section of the page labeled Your License Key for This |
| Application, as shown in figure 5.</li> |
| </ol> |
| <p>Previously, the Developer Console provided a single public key per developer |
| account. To transition apps to the new per-app public key, the Developer Console |
| sets the app-specific key as the former developer key. This ensures compatibility |
| for apps that depend on the (former) developer key. </p> |
| |
| <figure id="fig-bak"> |
| <img class="border-img" src="{@docRoot}images/in-app-billing/billing_app_key.png" |
| width="700" alt=""> |
| <figcaption> |
| <b>Figure 5. </b>You can find the license key for each app on the |
| <em>Services & APIs</em> page. |
| </figcaption> |
| </figure> |
| |
| <h2 id="billing-support">Where to Get Support</h2> |
| |
| <p>If you have questions or encounter problems while implementing In-app Billing, contact the |
| support resources listed in the following table (see table 2). By directing your queries to the |
| correct forum, you can get the support you need more quickly.</p> |
| |
| <p class="table-caption" id="support-table"><strong>Table 2.</strong> Developer support resources |
| for Google Play In-app Billing.</p> |
| |
| <table> |
| |
| <tr> |
| <th>Support Type</th> |
| <th>Resource</th> |
| <th>Range of Topics</th> |
| </tr> |
| <tr> |
| <td rowspan="2">Development and testing issues</td> |
| <td>Google Groups: <a |
| href="http://groups.google.com/group/android-developers">android-developers</a> </td> |
| <td rowspan="2">In-app billing integration questions, user experience ideas, handling of responses, |
| obfuscating code, IPC, test environment setup.</td> |
| </tr> |
| <tr> |
| <td>Stack Overflow: <a |
| href="http://stackoverflow.com/questions/tagged/android">http://stackoverflow.com/questions/tagged/ |
| android</a></td> |
| </tr> |
| <tr> |
| <td>Billing issue tracker</td> |
| <td><a href="http://code.google.com/p/marketbilling/issues/">Billing |
| project issue tracker</a></td> |
| <td>Bug and issue reports related specifically to In-app Billing sample code.</td> |
| </tr> |
| </table> |
| |
| <p>For general information about how to post to the groups listed above, see <a |
| href="{@docRoot}resources/community-groups.html">Developer Forums</a> document in the Resources |
| tab.</p> |