FAQ

Short, direct answers. Each links to the chapter with the full story.

Getting oriented

Where do I start? The mental model, then getting started, then the chapter for what you sell.

I sell several different kinds of thing. Which model do I pick? You don't pick one for the business — you pick one per thing you sell. A salon's haircut is a service; the shampoo on the shelf is retail. They coexist in one catalogue and one basket.

What's the single most important decision? The product type of each item — product, service, digital, bundle, or composite. It's set once and decides inventory, scheduling, and fulfilment behaviour.

Can I change a product's type later? Treat it as permanent. Switching it mid-life is disruptive because so much hangs off it. Decide it correctly with the decision tree.

Products, variants, and stock

When is something a variant vs. a separate product? A variant is the same product in a different form (size, colour). Separate products are different things a shopper compares. A shirt's sizes are variants; a shirt and a hoodie are separate products. See retail.

Do I have to create every size × colour combination? No. Create only the combinations you actually stock.

How does stock get deducted? Retail: one sale removes one unit (matched by SKU). Food: a recipe deducts each ingredient by amount × (1 + waste). Set it up once and it's automatic.

Can the same item be sold on its own and used in recipes? Yes — track it once as inventory stock, sell it as a one-to-one retail product, and reference it in food recipes. One stock item, two uses.

Can prices and stock differ by location? Yes. Base prices, add-on prices, and availability can all be set per location.

Food

Do I need recipes? Only if you want ingredient-level stock and cost tracking — which is what makes food food. If you sell finished items without tracking ingredients, model them as retail.

Size or add-on for milk choice? If the milk is intrinsic to the variant or swaps an ingredient at a known cost, make it a recipe-affecting axis. If it's an optional upcharge, make it an add-on.

Add-ons or build-your-own? Tweaking a set item → add-ons. Assembling the item from groups → build-your-own.

Services and bookings

Capacity number or bookable resources? A headcount with nothing to assign (a class) → capacity. Specific units you assign or take offline (rooms, tables, vehicles) → bookable resources. If you'd ever say "put them in room 3" or "room 3 is closed", you need resources.

Why does selling one room type make another show as unavailable? You modelled them as one shared count. Make each room type its own resource type with its own rooms.

Appointment or multi-day? Minutes/hours within a day → within-a-day. Nights/days/weeks → multi-day. The duration unit and the mode must match.

How do deposits, no-shows, and reschedules work? They're service policies: a deposit at checkout, a cancellation window with a fee/partial refund, a no-show fee with a grace period, and a free-reschedule count with a fee after.

How do I model a rental? A multi-day service over a bookable resource (the vehicle or gear), with pickup/return wording. There's no separate rental type.

Can a service use up materials? Yes — give it a recipe just like a food item (hair colour uses dye and developer).

Pricing

Where do I put a surcharge — variant, add-on, or field? Variant for an inherent form (Large). Add-on for an optional choice (extra shot). Custom field for something tied to information the customer provides (engraving, rush). See how a price is built.

Inclusive or exclusive tax? Match how you advertise prices. If your displayed prices already include tax → inclusive. If tax is added at checkout → exclusive. Decide before entering prices.

How do I sell something monthly or pay-over-time? A billing plan: subscription for recurring, instalment for splitting a one-off price.

For AI agents

How do I classify an item fast? Run the decision tree top to bottom; first match wins. Food vs retail tiebreaker: does selling it deduct tracked ingredients (food) or one finished unit (retail)?

What order do I create things in a bulk setup? Locations → resource types and units → products (correct type) → variants/recipes → availability rules → staff/resource requirements → prices and policies → categories/collections/channels. Dependencies before dependents.

How do I avoid the common modelling errors? Don't use a capacity number where real units exist; don't make compared products into variants; give recurring products a billing plan; mark food recipe-scaling on the right axes; and never put structural facts in notes/metadata. See mistakes to avoid.

Where's the authoritative definition of a term? The glossary.

Didn't find your question? Work it through the decision tree and the chapter for your block — the answer is almost always "model what actually moves".