Tiered pricing
Concepts
Tiered pricing rewards high-volume customers by lowering the unit cost for specific portions of their usage. This model ensures that as a customer’s consumption grows, they automatically access "bulk discounts" for the additional volume they send through the system.
The logic of dimensions
Tiered pricing is a 1-Dimensional model. It depends on a single factor: Quantity (Dimension 1).
Unlike a simple per-unit price, tiered pricing uses price brackets. You can think of this like a staircase: each step represents a "bucket" of usage with its own unique rate. As usage increases, it fills up the first bucket at the initial rate before "spilling over" into the next bucket at a lower rate.
SaaS example: Cloud log storage
A monitoring platform charges based on the volume of logs ingested. In this graduated model, the bill is calculated by adding up the costs across each tier the customer reaches.
| Usage (Dimension 1) | Unit price |
|---|---|
| 0 – 500 GB | $2.00 / GB |
| 501 – 2,000 GB | $1.50 / GB |
| 2,001+ GB | $1.00 / GB |
Scenario: 1,500 GB of Total Usage
| Tier range | Usage in tier | Unit price | Tier total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0 – 500 GB | 500 GB | $2.00 / GB | $1,000 |
| 501 – 2,000 GB | 1,000 GB | $1.50 / GB | $1,500 |
| 2,001+ GB | 0 GB | $1.00 / GB | $0 |
| Total Bill | 1,500 GB | — | $2,500 |
Get started: Configure your tiered product
This tutorial walks you through building a global tiered template in your Product Library.
- Navigate to the Library: Go to Contracts > Products. This is your central hub for defining reusable pricing blueprints.
- Create a Standalone Product: Click + CREATE NEWand choose Standalone Product from the dropdown. The Create Standalone Product page will appear. Fill in the required details and click Save & Proceed at the bottom right.
- Open Price Details: You will be redirected to the Price Details page. Click + Add Price to configure pricing for the product.
- Select Tiered Pricing Model: In the Pricing Model dropdown, select Tiered Pricing.
- Configure Tiers and Save: Click + Add Tier to create pricing brackets. Define the from and to ranges and enter the unit price for each tier. Continue adding tiers as needed. Once complete, click Save, then click Done on the Price Details page to finalize the setup.
How-to: Add tiered product to a contract
1. Via Contracts
- Open the target contract in Contracts > Contracts.
- In the Summary tab, click + ADD PRODUCT V3.
- Search for and select your configured tiered product.
- Review Brackets: Briefly confirm the price brackets match the customer's specific agreement.
- Click ADD PRODUCT. You will be redirected to the Summary page. Click Publish.
2. Via Customer
- Open the target customer in Customers.
- Go to Contracts and click + CREATE CONTRACT.
- In the Summary tab, click + ADD PRODUCT V3.
- Search for and select your configured tiered product.
- Click ADD PRODUCT. You will be redirected to the Summary page. Click Publish.
Reference
Technical specifications
Attribute | Specification |
|---|---|
Dimensionality | 1-Dimensional (Univariate) |
Math formula | P = (r₁ × q₁) + (r₂ × q₂) + ... + (rₙ × qₙ) where:
|
Logic type | Graduated piecewise function: The final price is the sum of costs across all applicable brackets. |
Boundary behavior | Lower-inclusive: A value exactly at a threshold belongs to the tier starting at that value. Example: 500 GB is in Tier 1 (0–500), while 501 GB begins Tier 2 (501–2,000). |
Calculation engine | Bucket-based scaling: The engine fills each tier "bucket" to capacity before moving the remainder of usage $x$ to the next tier. |
Data object |
|
Tiered vs. volume pricing
Both models use usage brackets, but they calculate costs differently:
| Aspect | Tiered (Graduated) | Volume |
|---|---|---|
| Calculation method | Each tier range billed at its respective rate | All units billed at the single rate of the tier reached |
| Formula | P = (r₁ × q₁) + (r₂ × q₂) + ... + (rₙ × qₙ) | P = rₙ × q |
| Cost progression | Always increases with usage | Can decrease if discount overcomes volume increase |
| Use case | Reward incremental volume with progressive discounts | Apply bulk pricing to entire purchase |
Example: 1,500 GB with same tier structure
| Tier | Rate | Tiered calculation | Volume calculation |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0–500 GB | $2.00/GB | 500 GB × $2.00 = $1,000 | — |
| 501–2,000 GB | $1.50/GB | 1,000 GB × $1.50 = $1,500 | 1,500 GB × $1.50 = $2,250 |
| 2,001+ GB | $1.00/GB | 0 GB × $1.00 = $0 | — |
| Total | $2,500 | $2,250 |
Hierarchical relationship between entities
In Zenskar, the tiered pricing model is governed by a hierarchical relationship between entities:
- Contract: The legal agreement between you and your customer.
- Phase: A specific time-bound period (e.g., Q1, Implementation Phase) within that contract.
- Product: The actual service or software module being sold.
- Pricing model: The specific logic (tiered pricing) that defines how that product is billed.
flowchart LR
CONTRACT[Contract] ---|"has one or more"| PHASE[Phase]
PHASE ---|"has one or more"| PRODUCT[Product]
PRODUCT ---|"has exactly one active"| PRICINGMODEL[Pricing model]
style PRICINGMODEL fill:#90ee90
Updated about 15 hours ago
