Affordable price with Purchasing Parity Power
Breakdown of Gumroad and Dracula UI's Purchasing Parity Power Discounting Logic
Table of Contents
So I’ve been wanting to get the Dracula UI for a while. Since I was building up my personal blog now, and I really doesn’t want to just follow the default that comes with the theme, so I decided to get the palette from it, and see if I can make it work on my blog.
Just when I’m about to hit the buying button, this lovely banner bumps into my eyes:
I honestly don’t recall seeing that before, because 51% off is a huge price gap that should have made me buy it without a doubt when I first saw it. Nevertheless, before I make my way to checkout, I thought this is a good chance to try out the VPN subscription that Iโve been paying for a while. Although switching countries is just a click away, itโs still a bit of a hassle, so after playing around with some neighboring countries, I dive deep into the code to see if thereโs anything I can facilitate. First I found an API endpoint at https://ppp.dracula.workers.dev, which is an API that responds the discount based on the clientโs IP address. Good enough, but can be better.
๐ช Automate #
Then I suddenly realize, that the API is the single source of truth of the discount, since the merchant dealing the payment does not verify the code when the user is applying the code, and the code is just a country code suffix with the fixed string of UI
, so I can just brute force the code with the ISO 3166-1 code.
Here is the results:
List of discount in different countries
Country | ISO 3166-1 | Discount |
---|---|---|
๐ฎ๐ฉ Indonesia | ID | 69% |
๐บ๐ฌ Uganda | UG | 69% |
๐ฆ๐ซ Afghanistan | AF | 68% |
๐ฉ๐ฟ Algeria | DZ | 68% |
๐ฆ๐ฟ Azerbaijan | AZ | 68% |
๐ฑ๐พ Libya | LY | 68% |
๐ธ๐ธ South Sudan | SS | 68% |
๐ธ๐ท Suriname | SR | 68% |
๐ฆ๐ด Angola | AO | 67% |
๐ง๐พ Belarus | BY | 67% |
๐ช๐ฌ Egypt | EG | 67% |
๐ฎ๐ถ Iraq | IQ | 67% |
๐ฐ๐ฌ Kyrgyzstan | KG | 67% |
๐ฒ๐ฒ Myanmar | MM | 67% |
๐ต๐ฐ Pakistan | PK | 67% |
๐ฑ๐ฐ Sri Lanka | LK | 67% |
๐น๐ฟ Tanzania, United Republic of | TZ | 66% |
๐ป๐ณ Viet Nam | VN | 66% |
๐ฐ๐ญ Cambodia | KH | 65% |
๐ฌ๐ฒ Gambia | GM | 65% |
๐ฒ๐ฌ Madagascar | MG | 65% |
๐ฒ๐ท Mauritania | MR | 65% |
๐ณ๐ฎ Nicaragua | NI | 65% |
๐ฆ๐ท Argentina | AR | 64% |
๐ฐ๐ฟ Kazakhstan | KZ | 64% |
๐ฒ๐พ Malaysia | MY | 64% |
๐ฒ๐ณ Mongolia | MN | 64% |
๐ธ๐จ Seychelles | SC | 64% |
๐น๐ฏ Tajikistan | TJ | 64% |
๐น๐ท Tรผrkiye | TR | 64% |
๐บ๐ฆ Ukraine | UA | 64% |
๐บ๐ฟ Uzbekistan | UZ | 64% |
๐ง๐น Bhutan | BT | 63% |
๐ฉ๐ด Dominican Republic | DO | 63% |
๐ธ๐ฟ Eswatini | SZ | 63% |
๐ช๐น Ethiopia | ET | 63% |
๐ฌ๐ช Georgia | GE | 63% |
๐ฌ๐ญ Ghana | GH | 63% |
๐ฎ๐ณ India | IN | 63% |
๐ฑ๐ฆ Lao People’s Democratic Republic | LA | 63% |
๐ฒ๐ผ Malawi | MW | 63% |
๐ฒ๐ฟ Mozambique | MZ | 63% |
๐ณ๐ต Nepal | NP | 63% |
๐ณ๐ฌ Nigeria | NG | 63% |
๐ท๐ผ Rwanda | RW | 63% |
๐ธ๐ฑ Sierra Leone | SL | 63% |
๐ธ๐ฉ Sudan | SD | 63% |
๐น๐ณ Tunisia | TN | 63% |
๐ฟ๐ผ Zimbabwe | ZW | 63% |
๐ง๐ซ Burkina Faso | BF | 62% |
๐น๐ฉ Chad | TD | 62% |
๐ด๐ฒ Oman | OM | 62% |
๐ต๐พ Paraguay | PY | 62% |
๐ท๐บ Russian Federation | RU | 62% |
๐ฟ๐ฒ Zambia | ZM | 62% |
๐ง๐ฏ Benin | BJ | 61% |
๐ฌ๐ณ Guinea | GN | 61% |
๐ฑ๐ธ Lesotho | LS | 61% |
๐ต๐ญ Philippines | PH | 61% |
๐ธ๐ฆ Saudi Arabia | SA | 61% |
๐ฆ๐ฒ Armenia | AM | 60% |
๐ง๐ฉ Bangladesh | BD | 60% |
๐ฒ๐ฑ Mali | ML | 60% |
๐ฒ๐ฆ Morocco | MA | 60% |
๐ฒ๐ฐ North Macedonia | MK | 60% |
๐น๐ฌ Togo | TG | 60% |
๐ง๐ณ Brunei Darussalam | BN | 59% |
๐จ๐ฒ Cameroon | CM | 59% |
๐จ๐ฌ Congo | CG | 59% |
๐จ๐ฎ Cรดte d’Ivoire | CI | 59% |
๐ณ๐ช Niger | NE | 59% |
๐น๐ญ Thailand | TH | 59% |
๐ง๐ฌ Bulgaria | BG | 58% |
๐ฒ๐บ Mauritius | MU | 58% |
๐ธ๐ณ Senegal | SN | 58% |
๐ฆ๐ฑ Albania | AL | 57% |
๐ง๐ฆ Bosnia and Herzegovina | BA | 57% |
๐ฐ๐ผ Kuwait | KW | 57% |
๐ฟ๐ฆ South Africa | ZA | 57% |
๐น๐ฒ Turkmenistan | TM | 57% |
๐ง๐ผ Botswana | BW | 56% |
๐ง๐ฎ Burundi | BI | 56% |
๐จ๐ด Colombia | CO | 56% |
๐ท๐ธ Serbia | RS | 56% |
๐ฌ๐ฆ Gabon | GA | 55% |
๐ต๐ช Peru | PE | 55% |
๐ฌ๐ถ Equatorial Guinea | GQ | 54% |
๐ฌ๐ผ Guinea-Bissau | GW | 54% |
๐ฏ๐ด Jordan | JO | 54% |
๐ฒ๐ฉ Moldova, Republic of | MD | 54% |
๐น๐ฑ Timor-Leste | TL | 54% |
๐ง๐ท Brazil | BR | 53% |
๐ญ๐บ Hungary | HU | 53% |
๐ฒ๐ฝ Mexico | MX | 53% |
๐ฒ๐ช Montenegro | ME | 53% |
๐ณ๐ฆ Namibia | NA | 53% |
๐ต๐ฑ Poland | PL | 53% |
๐ธ๐ป El Salvador | SV | 52% |
๐ฎ๐ท Iran (Islamic Republic of) | IR | 52% |
๐ท๐ด Romania | RO | 52% |
๐น๐ผ Taiwan, Province of China | TW | 51% |
๐น๐น Trinidad and Tobago | TT | 51% |
๐ง๐ด Bolivia (Plurinational State of) | BO | 50% |
๐จ๐ป Cabo Verde | CV | 50% |
๐ญ๐ณ Honduras | HN | 50% |
๐ฐ๐ช Kenya | KE | 50% |
๐ง๐ญ Bahrain | BH | 49% |
๐ฌ๐พ Guyana | GY | 49% |
๐ช๐จ Ecuador | EC | 48% |
๐ญ๐น Haiti | HT | 48% |
๐ถ๐ฆ Qatar | QA | 48% |
๐จ๐ณ China | CN | 46% |
๐ฐ๐ฒ Comoros | KM | 46% |
๐ฏ๐ฒ Jamaica | JM | 46% |
๐ฉ๐ฏ Djibouti | DJ | 45% |
๐ฌ๐น Guatemala | GT | 45% |
๐ง๐ฟ Belize | BZ | 44% |
๐จ๐ฑ Chile | CL | 44% |
๐จ๐ฉ Congo, Democratic Republic of the | CD | 44% |
๐ญ๐ท Croatia | HR | 43% |
๐ฑ๐น Lithuania | LT | 43% |
๐ธ๐ฐ Slovakia | SK | 42% |
๐บ๐พ Uruguay | UY | 41% |
๐ซ๐ฏ Fiji | FJ | 40% |
๐ฐ๐ณ Saint Kitts and Nevis | KN | 40% |
๐ต๐ฆ Panama | PA | 39% |
๐ฆ๐ช United Arab Emirates | AE | 39% |
๐จ๐ฟ Czechia | CZ | 38% |
๐ฆ๐ฌ Antigua and Barbuda | AG | 37% |
๐จ๐ซ Central African Republic | CF | 37% |
๐ฑ๐ป Latvia | LV | 37% |
๐ฑ๐ง Lebanon | LB | 37% |
๐ป๐จ Saint Vincent and the Grenadines | VC | 37% |
๐ฆ๐ผ Aruba | AW | 36% |
๐ต๐ฌ Papua New Guinea | PG | 36% |
๐ธ๐ฌ Singapore | SG | 36% |
๐จ๐ท Costa Rica | CR | 34% |
๐ฒ๐ป Maldives | MV | 33% |
๐ธ๐น Sao Tome and Principe | ST | 33% |
๐ฌ๐ฉ Grenada | GD | 32% |
๐ฉ๐ฒ Dominica | DM | 30% |
๐ฒ๐ด Macao | MO | 30% |
๐ช๐ช Estonia | EE | 29% |
๐ฒ๐น Malta | MT | 29% |
๐ฌ๐ท Greece | GR | 28% |
๐จ๐พ Cyprus | CY | 27% |
๐ณ๐ท Nauru | NR | 27% |
๐ธ๐ฎ Slovenia | SI | 27% |
๐ช๐ท Eritrea | ER | 26% |
๐ฑ๐จ Saint Lucia | LC | 26% |
๐ต๐น Portugal | PT | 25% |
๐ฐ๐ท Korea, Republic of | KR | 24% |
๐น๐ด Tonga | TO | 24% |
๐ญ๐ฐ Hong Kong | HK | 23% |
๐ต๐ท Puerto Rico | PR | 21% |
๐ผ๐ธ Samoa | WS | 21% |
๐ช๐ธ Spain | ES | 21% |
๐ฐ๐ฎ Kiribati | KI | 18% |
๐ธ๐ฒ San Marino | SM | 17% |
๐ฎ๐น Italy | IT | 12% |
๐ฆ๐ฝ ร land Islands | AX | 0% |
๐ฆ๐ธ American Samoa | AS | 0% |
๐ฆ๐ฉ Andorra | AD | 0% |
๐ฆ๐ฎ Anguilla | AI | 0% |
๐ฆ๐ถ Antarctica | AQ | 0% |
๐ฆ๐บ Australia | AU | 0% |
๐ฆ๐น Austria | AT | 0% |
๐ง๐ธ Bahamas | BS | 0% |
๐ง๐ง Barbados | BB | 0% |
๐ง๐ช Belgium | BE | 0% |
๐ง๐ฒ Bermuda | BM | 0% |
Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba | BQ | 0% |
๐ง๐ป Bouvet Island | BV | 0% |
๐ฎ๐ด British Indian Ocean Territory | IO | 0% |
๐จ๐ฆ Canada | CA | 0% |
๐ฐ๐พ Cayman Islands | KY | 0% |
๐จ๐ฝ Christmas Island | CX | 0% |
๐จ๐จ Cocos (Keeling) Islands | CC | 0% |
๐จ๐ฐ Cook Islands | CK | 0% |
๐จ๐บ Cuba | CU | 0% |
๐จ๐ผ Curaรงao | CW | 0% |
๐ฉ๐ฐ Denmark | DK | 0% |
๐ซ๐ฐ Falkland Islands (Malvinas) | FK | 0% |
๐ซ๐ด Faroe Islands | FO | 0% |
๐ซ๐ฎ Finland | FI | 0% |
๐ซ๐ท France | FR | 0% |
๐ฌ๐ซ French Guiana | GF | 0% |
๐ต๐ซ French Polynesia | PF | 0% |
๐น๐ซ French Southern Territories | TF | 0% |
๐ฉ๐ช Germany | DE | 0% |
๐ฌ๐ฎ Gibraltar | GI | 0% |
๐ฌ๐ฑ Greenland | GL | 0% |
๐ฌ๐ต Guadeloupe | GP | 0% |
๐ฌ๐บ Guam | GU | 0% |
๐ฌ๐ฌ Guernsey | GG | 0% |
๐ญ๐ฒ Heard Island and McDonald Islands | HM | 0% |
Holy See | VA | 0% |
๐ฎ๐ธ Iceland | IS | 0% |
๐ฎ๐ช Ireland | IE | 0% |
๐ฎ๐ฒ Isle of Man | IM | 0% |
๐ฎ๐ฑ Israel | IL | 0% |
๐ฏ๐ต Japan | JP | 0% |
๐ฏ๐ช Jersey | JE | 0% |
๐ฐ๐ต Korea (Democratic People’s Republic of) | KP | 0% |
๐ฑ๐ท Liberia | LR | 0% |
๐ฑ๐ฎ Liechtenstein | LI | 0% |
๐ฑ๐บ Luxembourg | LU | 0% |
๐ฒ๐ญ Marshall Islands | MH | 0% |
๐ฒ๐ถ Martinique | MQ | 0% |
๐พ๐น Mayotte | YT | 0% |
๐ซ๐ฒ Micronesia (Federated States of) | FM | 0% |
๐ฒ๐จ Monaco | MC | 0% |
๐ฒ๐ธ Montserrat | MS | 0% |
๐ณ๐ฑ Netherlands | NL | 0% |
๐ณ๐จ New Caledonia | NC | 0% |
๐ณ๐ฟ New Zealand | NZ | 0% |
๐ณ๐บ Niue | NU | 0% |
๐ณ๐ซ Norfolk Island | NF | 0% |
๐ฒ๐ต Northern Mariana Islands | MP | 0% |
๐ณ๐ด Norway | NO | 0% |
๐ต๐ผ Palau | PW | 0% |
๐ต๐ธ Palestine, State of | PS | 0% |
๐ต๐ณ Pitcairn | PN | 0% |
๐ท๐ช Rรฉunion | RE | 0% |
๐ง๐ฑ Saint Barthรฉlemy | BL | 0% |
๐ธ๐ญ Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha | SH | 0% |
๐ฒ๐ซ Saint Martin (French part) | MF | 0% |
๐ต๐ฒ Saint Pierre and Miquelon | PM | 0% |
๐ธ๐ฝ Sint Maarten (Dutch part) | SX | 0% |
๐ธ๐ง Solomon Islands | SB | 0% |
๐ธ๐ด Somalia | SO | 0% |
๐ฌ๐ธ South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands | GS | 0% |
๐ธ๐ฏ Svalbard and Jan Mayen | SJ | 0% |
๐ธ๐ช Sweden | SE | 0% |
๐จ๐ญ Switzerland | CH | 0% |
๐ธ๐พ Syrian Arab Republic | SY | 0% |
๐น๐ฐ Tokelau | TK | 0% |
๐น๐จ Turks and Caicos Islands | TC | 0% |
๐น๐ป Tuvalu | TV | 0% |
๐ฌ๐ง United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland | GB | 0% |
๐บ๐ฒ United States Minor Outlying Islands | UM | 0% |
๐บ๐ธ United States of America | US | 0% |
๐ป๐บ Vanuatu | VU | 0% |
๐ป๐ช Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of) | VE | 0% |
๐ป๐ฌ Virgin Islands (British) | VG | 0% |
๐ป๐ฎ Virgin Islands (U.S.) | VI | 0% |
๐ผ๐ซ Wallis and Futuna | WF | 0% |
๐ช๐ญ Western Sahara | EH | 0% |
๐พ๐ช Yemen | YE | 0% |
The results are rather interesting. If you compare the results with the List of countries by GDP (PPP) per Capita, you can see there are some mismatches:
- ๐ธ๐ฌ Singapore ranked with the 4th most purchasing power, but still has a 36% of discount
- Same goes with ๐ญ๐ฐ Hong Kong, ranked around 11th ~ 12th with a 23% of discount
- Many African has a high percentage of discount (e.g. ๐บ๐ฌ Uganda has 69%), but some barely have any (๐ฑ๐ท Liberia, ๐ธ๐ด Somalia). Although some might be due to the sanctions, that’s just my guess.
Conclusion #
After some Googling, I’ve also discovered that Gumroad itself had built-in support for location deals, with some customizable options. Therefore, judging from the results, the author of Dracula UI not only grants the discount based on the purchasing power, but the disproportionate discount for some countries also shows that he is probably also granting the discount to reach more users that the theme is not yet popular in.
Nevertheless, this is a good chance and opportunity for me to dig into more about the purchasing power of different countries. Moreover, this mechanism is also a good way to bring equality to the world as an individual, and I would like to see more people doing this.