Astoria Company New Car Finance Direct Post Integration Instructions




Astoria Company New Car Finance Direct Post Integration Instructions


Contents

IMPORTANT NOTE: PLEASE ENSURE YOU CAREFULLY FOLLOW THE TESTING INSTRUCTIONS ONCE YOU'VE COMPLETED THE INTEGRATION!



Introduction to Direct Post

New Car Finance Direct Post is a single-step integration process. Commonly, it is referred to as direct post, i.e. you send us a 'direct post' (including all PII) and we purchase the lead (we would respond with our payout) or we reject the lead.

Please review the following to complete the integration. When you believe you are ready, please follow these steps to test your integration.

Field names and acceptable values

The absence of any required field (Required) will result in an error. If you do not collect the data for a required field, please refer to the 'Suggested Default' column.
Preferred fields (Preferred) may be omitted, but doing so could reduce a lead's chances of finding a buyer.
Optional fields (Optional) can be omitted without any major impact.

Field Contents Suggested Default Required?
lead_type Determines the type of lead.
MUST be '4' for New Car Finance		 4 Required
lead_mode Determines if the lead should be treated as a test lead or a live lead.
0 = TEST LEAD
1 = LIVE LEAD
Click here for full testing instructions.		 Required
vendor_id This is the VID code you were provided by Astoria; if you do not know it, please contact us.
Please ensure you are using the correct code, otherwise your leads may be credited to another partner!		 Required
sub_id Code of your choosing for your own tracking purposes, e.g. '123-ABC'
This should enable us to distinguish your lead sources from each other, so that we can optimize lead flow to buyers.
There is a maximum length of 35 characters, and it may only contain letters, numbers, underscores and hyphens.		 Required
tcpa_optin Indicates whether or not the consumer was presented with, and accepted, unambiguous consent to be contacted via automated telephone systems pursuant to TCPA requirements.
0 = No
1 = Yes
Click here for more information.		 0 Preferred
tcpa_text Contains the TCPA language the consumer was presented with on the form where their information was submitted,
e.g. 'By submitting this form…'
Click here for more information.		 Preferred
universal_leadid Unique LeadiD as generated by LeadiD.com,
e.g. '4DA3DD12-7656-F15C-73DB-5DDA91AA9885'
 Preferred
origination_datetime Date/time when lead was submitted by consumer, in format 'YYYY-MM-DD hh:mm:ss',
e.g. '2021-01-18 04:52:19'		 Required
origination_timezone The timezone for the date/time passed in origination_datetime.
1 = EST / EDT
2 = CST / CDT
3 = MST / MDT
4 = PST / PDT		 Required
ipaddress Applicants IP address, e.g. '3.232.96.22' Preferred
user_agent The user agent string for the browser used by the applicant when their information was submitted,
e.g. 'CCBot/2.0 (https://commoncrawl.org/faq/)'		 Preferred
vendor_lead_id Your internal ID for this lead (useful if we need to contact you about a specific lead and when processing returns),
e.g. '10248168'		 Preferred
url URL of form where lead was generated, e.g. 'http://ratechecker.com/auto-insurance/' Preferred
first_name Applicants first name. Required
last_name Applicants last name. Required
email Email address Required
address Street Address Required
zip Valid 5-digit US Zip Code.
Can be used when lead_mode=0 to influence test results.
Click here for full testing instructions.		 Required
primary_phone Primary phone number, exactly 10 digits (3 For PhoneAreaCode, 3 For PhoneExchange and 4 For PhoneSuffix ) no (), -, or spaces Required
secondary_phone Secondary phone number, exactly 10 digits (3 For PhoneAreaCode, 3 For PhoneExchange and 4 For PhoneSuffix ) no (), -, or spaces Optional
work_phone Work phone number, exactly 10 digits (3 For PhoneAreaCode, 3 For PhoneExchange and 4 For PhoneSuffix ) no (), -, or spaces Required
vehicle_year The year of vehicle.
From last 30 years, i.e. between 1991 and 2021, inclusive.
Note that 2022 would be acceptable from August 1st, 2021.		 Required
vehicle_make The make of vehicle, e.g. 'Audi'
Click here to learn about our Vehicle API		 Required
vehicle_model The model of vehicle, e.g. 'A6'
Click here to learn about our Vehicle API		 Required
vehicle_subModel The sub-model (or trim) of vehicle, e.g. '3.2 Sedan' Optional
interior_color Interior color of vehicle, e.g. Black, White, Red, etc. Optional
exterior_color Exterior color of vehicle, e.g. Black, White, Red, etc. Optional
mileage Existing mileage of vehicle, e.g. 5, 7, 15, etc.
NOTE: As a New Car Finance loan, the vehicle mileage should be delivery mileage only. Any vehicle with substantial mileage should be sent via our Auto Finance vertical, not through this New Car Finance vertical.		 Required
contact_time Best time to contact applicant about thier loan application.
1 = Any Time
2 = Morning
3 = Afternoon
4 = Evening
5 = Business Hours
6 = Weekends		 1 Required
loan_type Type of loan being applied for.
1 = Lease
2 = Loan
3 = Cash
4 = Credit
5 = Other		 2 Required
transaction_type Is this a straight purchase, or a trade-in?
1 = Purchase
2 = Trade-in		 1 Required
vehicle_price The total price of the vehicle, with no commas, decimals, or dollar symbols, e.g. 25000 10000 Required
timeframe The timeframe for the purchase.
1 = Two Days
2 = One Week
3 = Two Weeks
4 = One Month
5 = More than a month		 1 Required
agree_tac Does Applicant agree to all terms and conditions?
0 = No
1 = Yes		 0 Required
optout Has Applicant opted-out from shared special offers?
0 = No
1 = Yes		 1 Required

Additional Requirements

To be considered for a loan, a customer must:

  • Reside in the United States
  • Be employed

Sending a Direct Post Request

Direct Post Request Using HTTP/1.1 POST

Our POST URL is https://api.astoriacompany.com/v2/direct/. Please do not begin posting with lead_mode=1 until we have manually verified your test data (in addition to our automatic validation process), and we've explicitly notified you that your campaign has been activated within our system. Any leads posted to the live address while your campaign is still in test mode will return an error and neither be counted nor returned.

The data in the request should be URLENCODED to ensure it is received as intended.

Example Request

URL: https://api.astoriacompany.com/v2/direct/
Content-Type: application/x-www-form-urlencoded

lead_type=4&lead_mode=0&vendor_id=76&sub_id=6&tcpa_optin=1&tcpa_text=By+submitting+this+form...&universal_leadid=4DA3DD12-7656-F15C-73DB-5DDA91AA9885&origination_datetime=2021-01-18+04%3A52%3A19&origination_timezone=1&ipaddress=3.232.96.22&user_agent=CCBot%2F2.0+%28https%3A%2F%2Fcommoncrawl.org%2Ffaq%2F%29&vendor_lead_id=10248168&url=http%3A%2F%2Fratechecker.com%2Fauto-finance%2F&zip=35222&vehicle_year=2014&vehicle_make=Audi&vehicle_model=A6&first_name=John&last_name=Smith&email=test%40test.com&address=123+High+Street&primary_phone=6105551212&work_phone=6105551212&contact_time=1&mileage=17&loan_type=2&transaction_type=1&vehicle_price=10000&timeframe=1&agree_tac=1&optout=1

Back to contents



Post Responses

This is exact text that will definitely be present.
This indicates variable data, or nodes that may or may not be present.

Accept:

NOTE: An 'Accept' response on the POST indicates we HAVE purchased the lead. The 'Response' tag will always contain 'Accepted', but the 'Confirmation' code and the 'Price' will differ for each response.

<PostResponse>
<Response>Accepted</Response>
<Confirmation>12345678901</Confirmation>
<Price>6.00</Price><Reason></Reason>
<Message></Message>
</PostResponse>

Reject:

NOTE: There are many reasons why we might reject a post - below you will see all the possible rejection responses. The 'Response' tag will always contain 'Rejected', and the 'Price' will always be '0.00'. The 'Confirmation' code will differ for each response.

For rejected responses, we also add two extra tags: 'Reason' tells you why the lead was rejected, and 'Message' gives some more descriptive text.

Also, where 'Reason' is 'Errors Detected', we add an 'Errors' section with a separate 'Error' node for each error - see the example below! This is designed to help you troubleshoot and fix any errors found.

<PostResponse>
<Response>Rejected</Response>
<Confirmation>12345678901</Confirmation>
<Price>0.00</Price>
<Reason>Unable to Monetize</Reason>
<Message>All buyers rejected this lead (IF POSSIBLE, WE WILL ATTEMPT TO EXPLAIN WHY HERE)</Message>
</PostResponse>

<PostResponse>
<Response>Rejected</Response>
<Confirmation>12345678901</Confirmation>
<Price>0.00</Price>
<Reason>Unable to Monetize</Reason>
<Message>Bids do not meet minimum_price requirement</Message>
</PostResponse>

<PostResponse>
<Response>Rejected</Response>
<Confirmation>12345678901</Confirmation>
<Price>0.00</Price>
<Reason>Maintenance Mode</Reason>
<Message>Our system is currently in maintenance mode</Message>
</PostResponse>

<PostResponse>
<Response>Rejected</Response>
<Confirmation>12345678901</Confirmation>
<Price>0.00</Price>
<Reason>Post data is empty</Reason>
<Message>Please check your integration</Message>
</PostResponse>

<PostResponse>
<Response>Rejected</Response>
<Confirmation>12345678901</Confirmation>
<Price>0.00</Price>
<Reason>Invalid lead_type</Reason>
<Message>Please pass a valid lead_type as per our specs</Message>
</PostResponse>

<PostResponse>
<Response>Rejected</Response>
<Confirmation>12345678901</Confirmation>
<Price>0.00</Price>
<Reason>Invalid lead_type for this vendor_id</Reason>
<Message>You are not currently approved to send leads of the given lead_type</Message>
</PostResponse>

<PostResponse>
<Response>Rejected</Response>
<Confirmation>12345678901</Confirmation>
<Price>0.00</Price>
<Reason>Invalid lead_mode</Reason>
<Message>Please ensure lead_mode is either '0' for TEST or '1' for LIVE</Message>
</PostResponse>

<PostResponse>
<Response>Rejected</Response>
<Confirmation>12345678901</Confirmation>
<Price>0.00</Price>
<Reason>Invalid vendor_id</Reason>
<Message>Please check the vendor_id is correct</Message>
</PostResponse>

<PostResponse>
<Response>Rejected</Response>
<Confirmation>12345678901</Confirmation>
<Price>0.00</Price>
<Reason>Provided vendor_id is in TEST MODE</Reason>
<Message>Please contact us if you believe your account should be in LIVE MODE</Message>
</PostResponse>

<PostResponse>
<Response>Rejected</Response>
<Confirmation>12345678901</Confirmation>
<Price>0.00</Price>
<Reason>Daily Cap Exhausted</Reason>
<Message>Please contact us to increase your daily cap</Message>
</PostResponse>

<PostResponse>
<Response>Rejected</Response>
<Confirmation>12345678901</Confirmation>
<Price>0.00</Price>
<Reason>Per Minute Cap Exhausted</Reason>
<Message>Please contact us to increase your per minute cap</Message>
</PostResponse>

<PostResponse>
<Response>Rejected</Response>
<Confirmation>12345678901</Confirmation>
<Price>0.00</Price>
<Reason>Errors Detected</Reason>
<Message>The following errors were detected in this lead:</Message>
<Errors>
<Error>1</Error>
<Error>2</Error>
<Error>3</Error>
</Errors>
</PostResponse>

<PostResponse>
<Response>Rejected</Response>
<Confirmation>12345678901</Confirmation>
<Price>0.00</Price>
<Reason>Duplicate Lead</Reason>
<Message>Lead was identified as a duplicate in our system</Message>
</PostResponse>

<PostResponse>
<Response>Rejected</Response>
<Confirmation>12345678901</Confirmation>
<Price>0.00</Price>
<Reason>Blacklisted Data</Reason>
<Message>The lead matches data on our internal blacklist - please investigate the lead source</Message>
</PostResponse>

Back to contents



Sample Post Code

Here is some sample PHP code to help you create your call to our API. This is simple stuff, so you should be able to readily convery it into another programming language if necessary.

$apiUrl = 'https://api.astoriacompany.com/v2/direct/';
$headers = array('Content-Type: application/x-www-form-urlencoded');

$request = 'lead_type=4&lead_mode=0&vendor_id=76&sub_id=6&tcpa_optin=1&tcpa_text=By+submitting+this+form...&universal_leadid=4DA3DD12-7656-F15C-73DB-5DDA91AA9885&origination_datetime=2021-01-18+04%3A52%3A19&origination_timezone=1&ipaddress=3.232.96.22&user_agent=CCBot%2F2.0+%28https%3A%2F%2Fcommoncrawl.org%2Ffaq%2F%29&vendor_lead_id=10248168&url=http%3A%2F%2Fratechecker.com%2Fauto-finance%2F&zip=35222&vehicle_year=2014&vehicle_make=Audi&vehicle_model=A6&first_name=John&last_name=Smith&email=test%40test.com&address=123+High+Street&primary_phone=6105551212&work_phone=6105551212&contact_time=1&mileage=17&loan_type=2&transaction_type=1&vehicle_price=10000&timeframe=1&agree_tac=1&optout=1';

$ch = curl_init();
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_URL, $apiUrl);
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_HTTPHEADER, $headers);
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER, 1);
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_SSL_VERIFYHOST, 0);
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_SSL_VERIFYPEER, 0);
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_POST, 1);
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_POSTFIELDS, $request);

$response = curl_exec($ch);
curl_close($ch);

Back to contents



Common Mistakes

  • Values must be URL encoded. For example, james.doe@example.com should be james.doe%40example.com and 4 Pennsylvania Plaza should be 4+Pennsylvania+Plaza.
  • All field names and explicitly allowed values (employment_in_month, is_rented, income_payment_type, etc.) are case-sensitive.
  • Passing unlisted values (for example: family for reference_relationship1) will result in errors. Likewise, do not pass empty fields; instead omit the fields.
  • Out-of-range or logically impossible values, like stay_in_month=100, or stay_in_year=100 when dob=1980, will fail.
  • Remember to set lead_mode=1 when you go live!

Back to contents



Testing

For testing, i.e. when lead_mode=0, please omit the 'tier' parameter (or use 'tier=ALL'), and attempt at least three different leads, each with a different zip code. One should end with and even number, one should end with an odd number, and one should end with a 0 (zero). The responses generated will vary based on the zip code used, as follows:

  • If you POST a test lead with a zip code that ends with a ZERO (e.g. 19460) or an ODD number (e.g. 19461), you will receive the 'No Coverage' response, i.e. it will be REJECTED.
  • If you POST a test lead with a zip code that ends with an EVEN number (e.g. 19462), it will be ACCEPTED.

Please email all of the post requests AND their corresponding responses to tech@astoriacompany.com so that we can verify the tests and activate your account.

Testing via a Third Party Service

If you are having issues getting the response you expect, please use hurl.it or a similar service to hit our API with the following settings (refer to this image):

  1. Go to: hurl.it
  2. Select 'POST' in the first dropdown
  3. For the URL, enter: https://api.astoriacompany.com/v2/direct/
  4. Add a Header: 'Content-Type' with a value of 'application/x-www-form-urlencoded'
  5. Paste your post request into the 'Parameters' text area
  6. Click: Launch Request

Back to contents



© 2011-2021 Astoria Company. All rights reserved.