How to Price Print Products Online: Matrix, Breaks and Rules

What does a print price online have to cover?

A print price online has to cover every choice that changes the cost of the job: size, material or paper, quantity, printed sides, colours and finishing. Each combination of those choices needs a price the store can show at once, on the product page, before the customer designs or uploads. Online pricing turns a printer's price list into rules the store can calculate.

Three tools do that work, alone or together: a price matrix, where every combination of options is a variation with its own price; quantity breaks, where the price per item falls as the run grows; and option rules, where an option adds a fixed amount or a percentage on top of a base price. The automatic pricing calculator article explains why a print store needs prices that calculate themselves; this guide shows how to build them, with the real structure of the Printcart print shop demo store. In a Printcart full store, printing options and prices give every size, paper and quantity combination its own price.

How is the demo print shop catalogue priced?

The Printcart print shop demo store prices 27 sample print products through 129 WooCommerce variations, combinations of size, paper and quantity. Each product uses one, two or three of those options. 18 of the 27 products have a quantity option, and those are exactly the products whose price changes between variations; the other 9 have one price for every size or paper.

The product with the most variations is Standard Business Cards: one size (3.5 × 2 in, US standard), three papers (matte, glossy and uncoated) and four quantities (100, 250, 500 and 1,000), so 1 × 3 × 4 = 12 variations. Its sample prices rise from USD 19.99 for 100 cards to USD 41.99 for 1,000, the same for all three papers. The demo store marks every price as a sample; a real store sets its own.

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<a href="https://solution.printcart.com/insight/how-to-price-print-products-online"><img src="https://solution.printcart.com/insight/how-to-price-print-products-online/product-page.webp" alt="Business card product page with ① demo notice, ② price range, ③ size, paper and quantity, ④ chosen price, ⑤ Start design" width="1440" height="810"></a><br>Source: <a href="https://solution.printcart.com/insight/how-to-price-print-products-online">Printcart</a>

What is a price matrix, and when is it enough?

A price matrix is a table that gives every combination of a product's options its own price. In WooCommerce each combination is a variation with its own price, stock and image; the WooCommerce documentation describes variable products as a set of options with control over price for each variation. A matrix is enough while the options are few and each combination has a price you can write down.

The number of variations is the product of the number of choices for each option. That is easy to keep up for a business card with 12 variations. It grows fast: three sizes, four papers and six quantities make 72 variations, and adding two finishes makes 144, each with a price to set and to update when paper costs change. Two signs show that a matrix has become too large:

• Prices follow a pattern. When 72 prices are really "base price by size, plus a paper surcharge, minus a quantity discount", rules express the pattern with far fewer numbers.
• Options do not affect each other. When a finish adds the same amount to every size, it does not need its own variations.

How do quantity breaks work?

Quantity breaks are price steps by run length: the more items a customer orders, the lower the price per item. They reflect how printing costs work: set-up, such as plates, proofing and make-ready, is paid once per job, and paper and ink per sheet, so the cost per item falls as the run grows. Wikipedia describes quantity discounts as passing on such economies of scale.

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<a href="https://solution.printcart.com/insight/how-to-price-print-products-online"><img src="https://solution.printcart.com/insight/how-to-price-print-products-online/quantity-breaks.webp" alt="Bar chart: demo sample price per business card falls from 20 cents at 100 cards to 4.2 cents at 1,000" width="1440" height="810"></a><br>Source: <a href="https://solution.printcart.com/insight/how-to-price-print-products-online">Printcart</a>

Showing the price per item next to the order price helps the customer see the value of a larger run. Two choices define a set of breaks: whether customers pick from fixed quantities, as in the demo, or type any number and get the price of the break it falls in; and whether the break applies to the whole order or to each design in it. Fixed quantities are simpler to produce and to price; a free quantity suits products sold by the piece, such as stickers or apparel.

When do you need option rules instead of more variations?

You need option rules when an option changes the price the same way across many combinations: a paper finish that adds a fixed amount, a second printed side, rounded corners, a rush service. A rule states that once, instead of repeating it in every variation. Rules also handle options that do not fit a matrix, such as a percentage discount above a quantity.

In a WooCommerce store with the Printcart plugin, option rules are made under Printcart Store > Printing Options: an option set with a field, such as Paper finish, choices with an extra price, and quantity breaks for bulk discounts. Once the set is applied to a product, the product page shows the choices, a price summary and a pricing table; the www.printcart.com tutorial on printing options and quantity discounts walks through an example with a paper finish and two bulk discounts. Behind it, the Printcart Pricing Options engine serves the same price to the designer, the product page and the checkout, on WooCommerce, Shopify, Wix or a custom storefront through the API.

How do you set up prices for a print product?

Set up prices for a print product in six steps: list the options, decide which ones change the price, choose the pricing tool for each, enter the prices, check every combination on the product page, and review the prices when your costs change. The steps below follow that order and work on any store; the notes say where a Printcart store does part of the work.

When is an instant price the wrong choice?

An instant price is the wrong choice when the cost depends on information the customer cannot pick from a list: a custom die-cut shape, an unusual size, a large-format job that needs a site survey, or packaging with its own structure. For those products a quote request, or an instant price for the standard part and a quote for the rest, avoids a wrong price on the page.

The comparison of instant price, price matrix and request a quote maps each product type to the model that fits it, and the cost article shows the handling time an instant price saves on the products where it works. Business cards, the most standard of print products, are the clearest case for instant prices; the business card printing store prices five cards by size, paper and quantity.