Pricing & extras
How a price is built up, add-ons and custom fields that change it, tax-inclusive vs exclusive, deposits, discounts, and subscriptions and instalments.
A price on Cimplify is built up, not flat. It starts from the product's base price and accumulates from the choices the customer makes. Understanding the layers keeps pricing predictable and lets you set surcharges in the right place.
How a line price is built
line price = base price (the product)
+ the chosen variant's difference (size, colour…)
+ each selected add-on option (extra shot, toppings…)
+ each filled custom field's surcharge (gift wrap, rush…)
── then × quantityBuild-your-own products and bundles compute their own totals; everything else follows the sum above. Knowing this order tells you exactly where to put any given charge.
Base and variant price
The base price is the product's starting price. Each variant carries the difference from it — positive or negative — not the whole price restated. "Large +2.00" on a 20.00 base means 22.00. Set differences relative to the base so a base-price change flows through every variant automatically.
For food, note the separation: a size's price difference is what the customer pays more, while its recipe multiplier is how much more stock it uses. Two different settings; a Large both costs more and uses more.
For agents: base is default_price; per-variant is price_adjustment (added to base). Recipe scaling is the variant's component_multiplier and is unrelated to price.
Add-ons
Add-ons are modifier groups attached to a product — "Toppings", "Milk", "Extras". Use them when the base item is the star and the choices adjust it.
A group has rules:
- Required — at least one option must be chosen.
- Multiple allowed — more than one option can be selected.
- Minimum / maximum selections — bounds on how many.
- Exclusive — only one at a time.
Each option has a price (with optional per-location overrides) and can carry its own inventory item, so selecting it draws stock.
Common patterns:
| You want | Set the group to |
|---|---|
| Pick exactly one milk | required, exclusive |
| Up to five toppings, optional | min 0, max 5, multiple allowed |
| Add a shot (repeatable upcharge) | an option priced +0.80 |
| Choose 2–3 sides | required, min 2, max 3, multiple allowed |
If the customer is building the item rather than tweaking it, use a build-your-own product instead of a long list of add-ons.
Custom input fields
Custom fields collect information at checkout — an engraving message, a delivery note, a prescription upload, an event date, an allergy. There are 20 field types: short and long text, number, dropdown, radio, checkbox, multi-select, colour, date, time, date-and-time, date range, file, image, URL, email, phone, address, location, and signature.
Each field can:
- be required (blocks checkout until filled),
- carry validation — length limits, number ranges, a pattern, accepted file types and size, allowed countries, max selections,
- carry a surcharge added when it's filled — gift wrapping +5.00, rush handling +10.00,
- be tagged with a meaning — allergen, dietary preference, sensitivity, or consent — which promotes the answer to a visible signal on the order rather than buried text. A consent field can gate fulfilment on a signed acknowledgement.
A field's surcharge is charged when the customer fills the field, and the storefront shows it. Put per-field fees on the field itself — don't fake them as hidden add-ons.
Tax: inclusive vs. exclusive
You enter prices in one of two modes, matching local convention:
- Inclusive — the number you type is the customer-facing total with tax already in it (common where displayed prices include tax). The system works out the pre-tax base.
- Exclusive — the number you type is the pre-tax base, and tax is added on top at checkout.
Set this to how you actually advertise prices, so the figure you type is the figure you mean. Getting it wrong makes every displayed price wrong, so decide it before entering prices.
Deposits and service money rules
Service products can require a deposit — none, a fixed amount, or a percentage of the total — and define cancellation, no-show, and reschedule fees. These live with the service because they're tied to scheduling. See Services → Policies for the full set.
Discounts
Each product has a discountable flag (on by default) controlling whether sales and discount codes apply. Turn it off for items you never discount — gift cards, regulated goods, already-reduced stock.
Subscriptions and instalments
A product — most often a digital access product, but any type — can carry a billing plan:
- Subscription — a recurring charge on a frequency: weekly, biweekly, monthly, quarterly, or annually. Optionally with a free trial period. Memberships, SaaS-style access, a magazine.
- Instalment — split a one-off price across a fixed number of payments. Pay-over-time goods.
A plan can adjust the effective price with a markup (fixed or a percentage), for when the recurring price differs from a one-off price. A one-time access grant (a single download, one event ticket) needs no plan at all.
Per-location pricing
Base prices, add-on option prices, and build-your-own prices can be overridden per location, so the same product can cost differently in different shops or cities. Set a location override only where the price genuinely differs; otherwise the base applies everywhere.
Worked examples
A coffee. Base 3.00. Size Large +0.80 (variant). Oat milk +0.50 (add-on option). "Extra shot" +0.80 (add-on). A Large oat-milk latte with a shot = 3.00 + 0.80 + 0.50 + 0.80 = 5.10.
An engraved gift. Base 25.00. A required text field "Engraving" with a +5.00 surcharge. Total 30.00 when filled.
A monthly membership. Digital product, subscription plan, monthly, 7-day free trial.
A sofa paid over time. Retail product with an instalment plan over 6 payments.
Mistakes to avoid
- Wrong tax mode for your market — every price ends up wrong. Decide inclusive vs exclusive first.
- Putting build-it-yourself logic in add-ons. Use a build-your-own product.
- Hiding a field fee in an add-on. Charge it on the field itself.
- A recurring product without a billing plan (it then only charges once).
Common questions
Where do I put a surcharge — variant, add-on, or field? On the variant if it's an inherent form (Large). On an add-on if it's an optional choice the customer makes (extra shot). On a field if it's tied to information they provide (engraving, rush). Use the build-up order to decide.
Can an add-on reduce the price? Option prices are normally additions. To model "remove" choices (no cheese), use a zero or negative option, or a required exclusive group with priced alternatives.
Do deposits work on non-service products? Deposits are a service concept (tied to a booking). For goods, use an instalment plan if you want pay-over-time.
I'm an agent. How do I price a build-your-own correctly? Don't sum it yourself line by line — a build-your-own product has its own pricing mode (additive, highest-per-group, tiered, and group rules like first-N-free). Configure those and the total is computed for you.
Next: Bundles & build-your-own for packages and customisers.
Bookable resources
Rooms, tables, vehicles, courts, chairs, parking, spaces. How to model the physical thing a booking occupies — the three consumption modes, assignment timing, and when a capacity number is a trap.
Bundles & build-your-own
Selling several things as one line: fixed packages the merchant assembles (bundles) vs. let-the-customer-choose (build-your-own / composites). When to use each and how each is priced.