Rhythm prices each order line using the product settings, the buyer and recipient, and the choices made at checkout. This article explains how Rhythm calculates a line’s final price and the amount due at checkout.
Member Pricing
Rhythm charges the member price on every line when the buyer is a member or joins in the same order. If the membership is not currently active, Rhythm charges the list price unless a reinstatement rule applies to a membership product. When a special price also applies to the line, Rhythm uses the special price instead of the member price.
For merchandise, the portal store can show both member and non-member prices while the buyer browses. An eligible signed-in member can still see the member-specific price on the product page. Rhythm checks the price again at checkout, so the browsing price does not always match the final line price.
Warning
The product listing or detail page can sometimes show the non-member price for a signed-in, active member. If that happens, continue to checkout to see the price actually charged. Checkout can still apply the correct member price even when the browsing page showed the wrong one.
Merchandise Variant and Modifier Pricing
For merchandise with variants, Rhythm uses the selected variant’s price when that variant has its own price. If the variant does not have its own price, Rhythm uses the product’s base price. Only merchandise uses variant pricing this way.
If the product offers personalization choices, each choice can adjust the line price based on the product’s rules. A rule can raise, lower, or multiply the price based on what the buyer selected. If the choice does not match any trigger value for the rule, the price stays the same.
Bulk Quantity Discounts
When a product has bulk pricing tiers, Rhythm lowers the unit price once the order buys enough of that product. Rhythm checks tiers in the order they are defined, so the first matching tier is used when ranges overlap. This changes the unit price itself; it is not a lump-sum override of the line total or a separate discount added on top of the regular price.
A fixed-amount tier applies to each item, not once to the whole line. If a quantity falls in a range with a $2 fixed discount, each unit in that range is reduced by $2, and the line total reflects those discounted units. A discount amount larger than the unit price can reduce that unit’s price to $0.
This pricing logic applies during order creation. It does not apply when a transaction is created as a direct invoice instead of an order.
Warning
You must enter bulk pricing tiers on each product individually. There is no way to update bulk pricing across many products in one mass operation. If you plan to change bulk pricing across many products, first identify the products involved, such as by exporting their item IDs, and decide which discount ranges you want. You will need to apply the change to each product.
Special Recipient Pricing
A special price can apply automatically when the recipient of a line meets its criteria. Rhythm checks the recipient on that line, which is the party the item ships to, not the party paying for the order. If the payer qualifies for a special price but the recipient does not, Rhythm charges list price. The reverse is also true.
Foreign Currency
Rhythm can price an order in a currency other than the product’s home currency when a conversion rate exists for that currency. If a buyer requests a currency your Rhythm account has not enabled, Rhythm prices the order in the base currency instead. Currency-specific pricing options, such as a CAD price on a product, appear in setup only after multicurrency is enabled for your Rhythm account.
A product’s price is stored in its base currency, such as USD. Portal and console displays convert that stored price into the currency a buyer or staff member selects, using the current exchange rate. In portal checkout, the amount shown in the selected currency is the amount charged in that currency. If checkout shows 500 CAD, the customer is charged 500 CAD. Your organization absorbs any exchange-rate fluctuation between the stored price and the charged amount instead of passing it on to the customer.
If special pricing for a non-default currency shows the wrong currency code on the setup screen, the issue can be display-only rather than a sign that the price saved incorrectly. To set a fixed price in another currency more safely, keep the product in your main business unit and enter its price directly in the target currency there instead of creating a separate product only in a currency-specific business unit.
Installment Plans
When a product allows installment plans, the buyer can spread its cost over time. If the buyer chooses an allowed plan, Rhythm adds the plan’s surcharge to the line. An order on an installment schedule can be fulfilled when it is processed, before all installments have been paid. See How Fulfillment Is Triggered for when that applies more generally.
Card Processing Fees
When your checkout settings enable a card processing fee, Rhythm calculates it as a percentage of the whole order, not just the portion paid by card. This includes any portion covered by store credit. The fee is calculated on the order’s full total before the credit is applied, not on the reduced amount charged to the card. Rhythm adds the fee after tax is calculated, so the fee itself is not taxed. If your settings exempt debit cards from the fee, a buyer paying by debit card is not charged it. This fee can apply to orders purchased through your stores, but it is not available for every sale type.
Fee setup is not the same in every sales flow. Store product purchases use your store’s checkout settings. Event registrations may use store-based registration packages or their own per-event setup. Manual invoicing does not automatically add the fee at all. Rhythm does not add a checkout notice warning buyers that a card fee applies. If you want to disclose it, add that language yourself to the Order Details page on each order form where you want it shown.
Changes made to line items during checkout, such as cart discounts, are included in the order total before Rhythm calculates the fee. This means the fee is based on the adjusted total. If you override or change a line’s price directly after that, such as while processing an order in the console, the fee is not guaranteed to recalculate from the new price.
Tip
There is no automatic fee for check payments, and there is no built-in way to charge a card fee on just one item instead of the whole order. To charge either kind of fee, add a miscellaneous product for it and include that product as its own line item on the order. Enabling a revenue split lets the merchandise amount and the fee post to separate accounts in your finance records.
Bundles
Rhythm expands a bundle into a separate line for each product it contains, with each component’s price split from the bundle’s own price. Some bundled components display inline, folded into the parent line instead of listed separately. A report or export that shows inline components shows at most two of them, even when a bundle has more. An inline component still exists as its own order line behind the parent line, so it continues to work with revenue splits, deferred revenue recognition, and cash-accounting general ledger entries even though the buyer never sees it listed separately.
Once an order has been processed and moved into payment, Rhythm does not recalculate its pricing again. Deselecting a bundled item or leaving part of an order unpaid after that point does not trigger another pricing pass.
Billing a Parent Organization
An order billed to a branch organization can be billed to that branch’s immediate parent organization when the order specifically asks for it and the branch has a parent on record. Rhythm only goes up one level, so a branch’s parent can be billed this way, but its grandparent cannot. This setting is configured separately for each workflow and storefront. Parent-organization billing can be available in one purchase flow and missing from another until it is configured there too, so a missing option in one place does not necessarily mean the feature is unsupported.
Sending a Line to a Different Recipient
A single order can buy an item for someone other than the person or organization paying for it. Rhythm prices that line and checks eligibility based on the recipient, not the payer. For example, an item bought for a non-member employee on a company’s order still prices at list on that line, even if the company would otherwise qualify for member pricing. The recipient does not pay the invoice; the bill-to party does.
Filling In Missing Addresses and the Order Date
If a buyer or staff member leaves the billing address blank, Rhythm fills it in from the shipping address before pricing. This lets Rhythm calculate tax using an address that was entered only for shipping. An order with no usable address skips tax calculation, and a shippable order without a shipping address is refused because it cannot be shipped.
Donations and Gift Amounts
A donation, gift, or similar add-on line lets the buyer enter an amount instead of charging a fixed price. Rhythm does not enforce a minimum or maximum amount. This kind of line always has a quantity of one, no matter what quantity is requested, and a coupon cannot be applied to it afterward. If the gift includes a fundraising premium, such as a thank-you item, the matching merchandise is given at no charge. It still ships and still draws down stock, even though the buyer is not charged for it.
During checkout, the order’s displayed amount due updates immediately to match the donation amount the buyer selects or enters. It does not stay at the product’s default amount.
The Amount Due at Checkout
The amount a buyer must pay at checkout starts from the order totals, then adjusts for anything due now rather than later. Only the up-front part of an installment line is due immediately, and any open credits assigned to the order reduce the amount due below the order’s full total.
Warning
Checkout and payment review screens can display an amount without its trailing zero when the cents end in zero, such as showing $10.10 as 10.1 USD. This has been seen in both course registration and storefront order flows. Check the exact figure before assuming a price is wrong. The final confirmation page before an order and its payment are processed shows the payment amount with a currency code and no thousands separators, such as 5500 USD rather than $5,500. That formatting is expected on that screen.
An organization’s open credits apply this way only when the order is flagged to use organization credits and the order is billed to that organization. Without both, its open credits are not loaded onto the order.