App Store Volume Purchase Program Tips

Are you an educator looking to buy apps for your school’s new iPads? With all the awesome education apps out there, prices can quickly add up in your shopping cart. We learned some great tips from Gina at #EdCampNYC on how to best utilize the App Store Volume Purchase Program (ASVPP) to get special pricing on bulk purchases and maximize your school’s tech budget!

In order to participate in the purchase program, you or someone else from your school should enroll as a Program Manager. The Program Manager can use the management tools provided by Apple to buy app codes and distribute them to the end users. End users can be students, teachers, or administrators, anyone who will be using the iPads. Program Managers can also set up Program Facilitator accounts to help distribute apps to the end user.

Some things to keep in mind:

• If you purchase 20 or more of the same app, the app becomes discounted (50% of the original purchase price!). It actually costs the same to buy 20 copies of the app as it does to buy 10. Don’t have that many iPads for the apps right now? We recommend saving the extra codes for future expansion. There’s no expiration on Volume Vouchers!
• Apps can be purchased with voucher credits or directly with a credit card or PCard. Volume Vouchers are physical cards in denominations of $100, $500, $1000, $5000, and $10,000 that are shipped to your school. They must be used at the ASVPP portal and cannot be used to buy apps directly from the App Store.
• Once you are set up as a Program Manager, you can establish your list of Program Facilitators. Facilitators need to provide Apple with valid email addresses that aren’t currently used as Apple IDs.
• You will not be charged sales tax if your institution is tax exempt

For additional details on the program, check out Apple’s education section, program FAQ, and App Store Volume Purchase Program webinar. Happy app shopping!