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Promo codes and add-ons

Offer promo codes, returning-customer discounts, surcharges and opt-in add-ons at checkout. Stock limits, price rules and a live running total are built in.

Discounts and extras at checkout

Chobble Tickets handles price changes as "modifiers". A modifier is a rule that changes the total - a discount, a surcharge, or an optional add-on the buyer can pick.

You can create:

  • Promo codes - buyers enter a code at checkout to get a discount
  • Discount codes - code-triggered discounts that reduce the total
  • Surcharge codes - code-triggered charges that add to the total
  • Opt-in add-ons - the buyer picks a quantity, like "add a meal for £5" or "add a parking pass"
  • Automatic discounts - a discount that applies to every order, with an optional minimum spend
  • Returning-customer discounts - require a minimum number of earlier bookings without making attendees create an account
  • Tiered pricing - link a discount or surcharge to a custom question answer, so picking "VIP upgrade" changes the price automatically

How pricing works

Each modifier uses one of three calculation types:

  • Fixed amount - a flat amount added to or taken off the total
  • Percentage - a percentage of the relevant items
  • Multiplier - scales the price by a factor, useful for surge pricing or member discounts

Modifiers can be scoped to the whole order, to specific events, or to specific groups. A minimum-spend threshold can be set, so a discount only applies above a certain total.

Returning-customer rules

A modifier can require a set number of previous bookings. Chobble Tickets recognises the email address or phone number through an irreversible index rather than an attendee account or a readable contact index.

The organiser sets the booking threshold and the price change. The same modifier can also be limited to selected listings or groups.

Promo codes

When you create a promo code, Chobble stores the code encrypted and matches it to the buyer's input by a blind index. The database stores the encrypted code and the blind index, not the readable code.

The checkout form shows a promo-code field only when a code modifier exists. When the buyer enters a code, the order summary updates to show the discount as a named line item, like "10% off -£1.00". Promo-code usage is logged to the activity log when a payment completes.

Opt-in add-ons

Add-ons let the buyer choose a quantity. You can cap an add-on's stock, and its availability is rechecked when payment confirmation arrives. If a paid order can no longer be fulfilled, it is refunded automatically. An add-on can be scoped to the whole order, to specific events, or to groups.

Common uses include meals, parking, merchandise, workshops add-ons, or optional extras on a ticket.

An add-on can also be marked as something people may buy on its own. It then gets its own page and its own place in the list of what is for sale, where it is not described as an add-on, and it is still offered alongside the thing it goes with.

A screenshot of a public list of everything for sale, showing a Chair and a Cover, each with its own Book now link
An add-on marked as sellable on its own is listed like anything else, with its own booking link. (src)

Answer-triggered pricing

A modifier can be linked to a custom question answer. When the buyer picks that answer, the modifier applies automatically. This lets you offer pricing tiers, such as VIP upgrades, meal add-ons, or concessions, directly from the question.

The answer-triggered modifier uses the same pricing engine as promo codes and add-ons, so stock limits, scoping, and the live running total all work the same way.

Live running total

The booking form updates the running total as the buyer changes quantities, picks answers, or enters a promo code. Without JavaScript, the form submits to a summary that opens in a new tab. With JavaScript, the summary updates inline on every change.

Discounts show as named line items before the total is finalised, so the buyer can see what each code or add-on did to the price.

Verified server-side

Every modifier total is re-checked on the server when the payment is confirmed. The server re-derives the expected total from the stored modifier rules, never trusting the figures the browser sent. If the total does not match, the booking is refunded and the buyer is told.