How do Microsoft specialized offers convert to a standard offer?

Introduction

This article explains what a Microsoft specialized Offer is, how its Price is calculated during the promotional period, and what happens to your Subscription when that period ends. Microsoft occasionally makes discounted, prequalified Offers available to specific Sellers. These Offers appear in the Catalog like any other Product, but they carry a defined end date after which the Platform automatically moves the Subscription to the equivalent standard Offer. This article is intended for Customers and Sellers who have purchased, or are considering purchasing, a Microsoft specialized Offer.

In this article:

What is a Microsoft specialized Offer?

Microsoft occasionally creates specialized Offers for a specific, prequalified set of Sellers. Each specialized Offer is linked to an existing, regularly priced Offer (the base Offer) and is only available for a defined period.

A specialized Offer behaves like any other Microsoft Product in the Catalog: it can be purchased, configured, and managed the same way as a standard Subscription. The only difference is that it carries a temporary Discount and a defined expiration point tied to the underlying promotion.

How pricing works during the promotional period

The Price of a specialized Offer is calculated as a percentage Discount off the Price of its linked base Offer, for the Term and Billing Cycle you select at purchase. This means:

• If the Price of the base Offer changes, the Price of the specialized Offer is recalculated using the same Discount percentage.
• The Discount applies for the duration of the purchased Term. Increasing Seats during the Term keeps the same Discount for the added Seats.
• At Renewal, the same principle applies as for standard NCE promotions: the Discount only continues to apply while the specialized Offer remains active and available.

What happens when the specialized Offer ends

Every specialized Offer has an end date defined by Microsoft. Once this date passes, the Platform automatically converts the Subscription from the specialized Offer to its corresponding standard, non-promotional Offer.

This conversion:

1. Happens automatically — no action is required from the Customer or the Seller.
2. Moves the Subscription from the promotional Offer to exactly one, predetermined standard Offer configured by the Vendor.
3. Updates the Price going forward to the regular Price of the standard Offer, starting from the next applicable Billing Cycle.

Limitations

• Specialized Offers are only available to Sellers whom Microsoft has prequalified for that specific promotion; a Seller cannot request that a specialized Offer be added to their Catalog.
• The Offer that a specialized Offer converts to is determined by the Vendor's configuration and cannot be selected or changed by the Customer.
• No advance notification is currently sent before a Subscription converts from the specialized Offer to the standard Offer.

Summary

Microsoft specialized Offers are discounted, prequalified Offers tied to an existing base Offer and a defined promotional period. Pricing is calculated as a percentage off the base Offer's Price, and once the promotional period ends, the Platform automatically converts the Subscription to the equivalent standard Offer at the regular Price. No action is needed from the Customer or Seller for this conversion to happen.

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