In this guide 6 sections
Fixed pricing shows one tag price that holds until you change it, which keeps carts, offers and invoices simple but leaves you exposed when the metal rate moves. Live pricing rebuilds each price from the day’s gold or silver rate, the weight and the making charge. It tracks the market but moves under the shopper.
What goes into a jewellery price
A gold ring is priced in parts. Each part follows its own schedule, and only one of them, the metal rate, changes every day while the rest wait for an edit.
Net metal weight times the day’s rate for that purity gives the metal value, and a making charge, either per gram or flat per piece, pays for the craft. Stones carry their own weight and grade. Tax and hallmarking fees follow your country’s rules.
That split is what makes both methods possible. One method freezes the metal part of the price for a while, and the other recalculates that part every time a page loads or a cart opens.
- Net weight of the metal, after stones are deducted
- Purity of the metal
- Rate per gram for that metal and purity on the day
- Making charge, per gram or flat
- Stone or diamond value, priced separately
- Tax and fees under local rules
How fixed prices behave in the cart
A fixed price is just a number. The cart reads it, a coupon subtracts from it and the invoice repeats it, so nothing changes between the product page and payment. That predictability is the appeal.
The risk is yours. If the metal rate climbs on a Tuesday, a ring tagged on Monday sells at a thinner margin until someone reprices it. If the rate falls instead, your tag looks overpriced beside a rival who has already updated, and any shopper comparing two tabs will notice.
Trust a rule, not memory. A weekly review may be enough for light pieces, while heavy ones deserve an alert whenever the rate moves past a limit you have set.
How live rate prices behave in the cart
Live pricing is a calculation. The system reads the rate, multiplies by weight, adds the making charge and the stones, and shows the result each time the page loads.
That raises cart questions. If the rate ticks while a shopper is on the payment page, the total must not jump, so the usual fix is a short price hold during checkout. After the hold, refresh it.
Offers need a rule too. A coupon on the whole price cuts into metal value, which you cannot recover, while a coupon on the making charge alone protects the part you control.
- Where the rate comes from: a market feed or a figure you enter each morning
- How often the page refreshes the rate
- How long a price is held during checkout
- Whether coupons apply to the making charge only
- What the cart shows when the rate feed fails
What the shopper sees and trusts
Shoppers compare prices constantly. They look at your tag in the shop, a rival’s site and the news on gold, and a price that moves without explanation feels like a trick.
A breakup table answers most of that. Show metal weight, rate, making charge, stone value and tax as separate lines, stamped with the date the rate was set, and do the same for fixed prices.
Keep the rate used on the order record, so the invoice, the refund and any buyback quote point to one number. Decide whether a refund uses the rate at purchase or the rate on the day of return, and print that choice beside the price before anyone pays. Local rules on refunds differ, so check yours.
Choose by piece and by how the rate moves
Light pieces, such as studs, thin chains and silver anklets, can carry fixed prices because metal is a small part of the tag. Heavy pieces, such as bangles, coins and bars, follow every move in the rate, so they gain most from live pricing.
Metals differ as well. Gold and silver can move by different amounts in the same week, so each metal needs its own repricing rule and its own refresh timing.
Test before you commit. Take ten pieces, price each both ways with last month’s daily rates, and count the days a fixed tag would have been wrong.
Pricing method test sheet
One page, one row per piece. Columns cover net weight, purity, making charge, stone value, fixed price and live price, and a second block lists thirty days of rates beside the gap between methods. A last box holds your decision.
Open a blank worksheet to printQuestions owners ask
How often should the metal rate update?
Start with a refresh at opening and another after any sharp move, then tighten the schedule if your rate feed supports it and your metal moves a lot. Always show when the rate was last set.
Can I run coupons on live-priced items?
Yes, on the making charge. Limit the discount to that charge, or set a floor so that the discounted price never falls below the metal value plus a margin.
Which rate does a refund use?
Pick one rule, whether the rate at purchase or the rate on the day of return, and write it where the shopper reads it before paying. Store the purchase rate on the order record. Consumer rules differ by country, so check yours.
Can one store mix fixed and live prices?
Yes. Add a pricing mode field to each product, either fixed or rate-based, and let the cart read that field before it calculates a total. Keep the breakup table identical.