Who is going to pay for software/app purchases of your brand new VR equipment? How does your district pay for things? Purchase orders? Do they offer petty cash options? What are the criteria and limits placed on it?
If your district is like most, fear of misused funds and audits by the state put some restrictions on how purchases are made. You spent time securing funding through budgets or grant writing to purchase VR equipment, you’ve unpacked the box, downloaded the software, and you now are ready to make your first app purchase. Credit card please. My district has a credit card, but needless to say, there’s no way they let me have access to it. I have a wish list that extends beyond their credit limit. So now what? Will your district reimburse you without a previously filed purchase order? Highly unlikely.
Here is the solution I found that works. Visa gift cards. The type you can buy at a grocery store or order off Amazon. These work, but require a simple second step if you are attempting to use it on the Oculus store. Once you have purchased the Visa gift card you need to visit the Visa website listed on the card. You will need to register an address to the card for Oculus to accept it. I use my home address. It doesn’t show up anywhere other than allowing the payment method to be verified in the Oculus store.
My district is willing to order these gift cards from Amazon for me. The only caveat is I print the email receipt of every app purchase I make in the event we are audited and need to provide proof of how these funds were used.
***Update: As of October 2019, I have had trouble using the method described above. I am able to register the Visa/Mastercard gift cards, but Oculus is balking at allowing me to use them as my payment method. I have found a workaround. I used a secondary email account to setup an “Oculus” PayPal account for my classroom. I load the Visa/Mastercard gift cards into the PayPal account. Once the funds are loaded, I make PayPal my payment method in Oculus. Problem solved.
