Configuring volume pricing discounts

Volume pricing discounts offer buyers the chance to purchase multiple items from your eBay Store, where the more items they purchase, the larger the percentage-off-item discount they receive on the items they purchase.

You can set up volume pricing discounts for purchases of 2, 3 or 4 items and the discount can apply to multiple quantities of the same item from the seller's store, or it can be on any items in the seller's store.

Like other threshold discounts, volume pricing discounts depend on a trigger, and that trigger can be the purchase of 2, 3, or 4 items in the discount.

Setting up the discount

Configure volume pricing discounts with createItemPromotion.

In the createItemPromotion request, configure the following fields:

• startDate, endDate – Define the time span in which the discount runs.
• marketplaceId – Set the marketplace on which the discount runs.
• promotionStatus – Set to SCHEDULED if you want the discount to activate on the dates described.
• promotionType – Set to VOLUME_DISCOUNT.
• applyDiscountToSingleItemOnly – Set to true or false, depending on whether or not the discount applies to one item listing only, or to multiple item listings.
• inventoryCriterion – Configure this container according to how you want to identify the listings that partake in the discount.
• discountRules – Set as outlined below.

Configuring discountRules for volume pricing discounts

Like all promotions created with a createItemPromotion request, volume pricing discounts must have a discountRules container that configures both discountSpecification and discountBenefit containers.

However, special to volume pricing discounts is that you must specify multiple sets of both discountSpecification and discountBenefit containers in the discountRules container.

While you can supply just two sets of discountSpecification and discountBenefit containers, this would be akin to setting up a normal threshold discount . With this, volume pricing discounts should contain either three or four sets of discountSpecification and discountBenefit containers.

When configuring the sets of discountSpecification and discountBenefit containers, the first set must have minQuantity set to 1, percentageOffOrder set to 0, and ruleOrder set to 1.

In the second set of discountSpecification and discountBenefit containers, set minQuantity to 2, set percentageOffOrder to a value between 5 and 79, and set ruleOrder set to 2.

In the third set of containers, set minQuantity set to 3, set percentageOffOrder to a value between 6 and 80 (it must be higher than the value set in ruleset 2), and set ruleOrder set to 3.

If you configure a fourth set of discountSpecification and discountBenefit containers, set minQuantity set to 4, set percentageOffOrder to a value that is higher than ruleset 3, and set ruleOrder set to 4.

The examples below detail how this works in a createItemPromotion request body.

Setting up a discount for all items in a store

The following volume pricing discount gives discounts for any two, three, or four items purchased from the seller's store. With each additional item purchased, the buyer receives a higher discount on the items purchased.

{
    "name": "Volume Pricing promotion",
    "startDate": "2019-05-20T01:00:00.000Z",
    "endDate": "2019-07-30T08:00:00.000Z",
    "marketplaceId": "EBAY_US",
    "promotionStatus": "SCHEDULED",
    "promotionType": "VOLUME_DISCOUNT", 
    "applyDiscountToSingleItemOnly": false,
    "inventoryCriterion": {
        "inventoryCriterionType": "INVENTORY_ANY"
    },
    "discountRules": [
        {
            "discountSpecification": {
                "minQuantity": 1
            },
            "discountBenefit": {
                "percentageOffOrder": "0"
            },
            "ruleOrder": 1
        },
        {
            "discountSpecification": {
                "minQuantity": 2
            },
            "discountBenefit": {
                "percentageOffOrder": "5"
            },
            "ruleOrder": 2
        },
        {
            "discountSpecification": {
                "minQuantity": 3
            },
            "discountBenefit": {
                "percentageOffOrder": "15"
            },
            "ruleOrder": 3
        },
        {
            "discountSpecification": {
                "minQuantity": 4
            },
            "discountBenefit": {
                "percentageOffOrder": "20"
            },
            "ruleOrder": 4
        }
    ]
}

Setting up a discount for a single item

The following volume pricing discounts gives the buyer a discount when they purchase two of the same item, and a larger discount on the items if they purchase three of the same item:

{
    "name": "Volume Pricing promotion",
    "startDate": "2019-05-20T01:00:00.000Z",
    "endDate": "2019-07-30T08:00:00.000Z",
    "marketplaceId": "EBAY_US",
    "promotionStatus": "SCHEDULED",
    "promotionType": "VOLUME_DISCOUNT",
    "applyDiscountToSingleItemOnly": true,
    "inventoryCriterion": {
        "inventoryCriterionType": "INVENTORY_BY_VALUE",
        "listingIds": [270008373949]
    },
    "discountRules": [
        {
            "discountSpecification": {
                "minQuantity": 1
            },
            "discountBenefit": {
               "percentageOffOrder": "0"
            },
            "ruleOrder": 1
        },
        {
            "discountSpecification": {
                "minQuantity": 2
            },
            "discountBenefit": {
                "percentageOffOrder": "10"
            },
            "ruleOrder": 2
        },
        {
            "discountSpecification": {
                "minQuantity": 3
            },
            "discountBenefit": {
                "percentageOffOrder": "20"
            },
            "ruleOrder": 3
        }
    ]
}