Bundle pricing: how to price and build product bundles

What bundle pricing is and when it works

Bundle pricing is one price for a group of products sold together. The buyer gets a set that would cost more item by item, and you get a larger order with one round of packing and shipping. Shopify describes a bundle as a set of two or more related products, commonly offered at a discount.

Bundles work best when the items belong together: a candle with a matching wick trimmer, a soap trio in three scents, a print with its frame. They also help when a slow product sits next to a popular one, because the bundle moves both. They work poorly when the set is random or when one item in it is something most buyers do not want.

The table lists the common types of product bundles and what each one is good for.

Bundle pricing strategy: setting the price

A bundle price has a floor and a ceiling. The floor is the combined cost of the items plus the margin you need to keep. The ceiling is the sum of the separate prices, because a bundle that costs the same as buying each item gives the buyer no reason to choose it. The right price sits between the two.

Work it out on the whole set, not item by item. Add the cost of each item, the packaging the set needs and any insert or ribbon. Then add the fees on one order. Per-order fees are paid once on a bundle, where three separate orders would pay them three times.

Example assumptions: three candles a shop already sells, bought together at $62 instead of $70. The bundle earns less margin than three separate full-price sales, but more than one single-candle order, and it ships as one parcel.

A few rules hold for most small shops. Show the separate total next to the bundle price so the saving is visible. Keep the discount modest, usually enough to notice but not so deep that the bundle undercuts your single items. Round the bundle price the same way you round single items, which our guide to psychological pricing covers. Recheck the bundle price whenever a component's price changes, because on Shopify the bundle price does not update when a bundled product's price changes.

How to create bundles on Shopify with Shopify Bundles

Shopify Bundles is free and available on all Shopify plans. Shopify notes that a bundles app must be installed to create product bundles, so install it from the Shopify App Store first. Create the single products before you start, because a bundle is built from products that already exist.

1. Open the app

   In your Shopify admin, go to Apps, then Bundles, and click Create bundle. Enter a title for the bundle, such as the name of the gift set.

2. Select the products

   Click Select products and choose the items in the set. A fixed bundle can hold up to 30 components, with up to 2000 units per component.

3. Set quantities and variants

   Raise the quantity of a product to make a multipack, or use Duplicate product. Click a variant name to include or leave out a size or colour. A bundle allows a maximum of 3 options and 100 variants per bundle.

4. Combine matching options

   If every item in the set comes in the same sizes, select Combine options with matching names so the buyer picks the size once for the whole bundle.

5. Add product details and the price

   Click Save and continue, then add photos, a description and the bundle price on the product page. Write the separate total in the description so the buyer sees the saving.

6. Set the bundle to Active

   A new bundle's status is Draft until you set it to Active. Change the status to Active, check the sales channels and click Save.

Shopify Bundles limits to know before you price

The free app covers fixed bundles and multipacks. It has limits that affect how you price and sell the bundle, listed in Shopify's own help page.

Discounts work on bundles, with two details. A product or collection discount needs the bundle itself selected: a product discount applies only if it includes the parent bundle product. When a discount applies, it is allocated to the component products by weighted price, so each item's share of the discount follows its share of the bundle price.

On Shopify, the number of bundles you can sell follows the stock of the single products: set by the component with the lowest inventory level. If you need a buyer-built box, which Shopify calls a mix-and-match bundle, the free app does not make it. Shopify points to third-party bundle apps from the Shopify App Store.

How to bundle products on Etsy with variations

Etsy has no separate bundle tool. The usual workaround is one listing with a variation called Set or Pack, where each option is a different bundle size at its own price. Etsy allows variations on up to 3 item attributes, and they are not supported for digital item listings.

1. Create or open the listing

   Open the listing for the single item from your Listings page. The bundle options will sit on the same listing, so the reviews and sales history stay in one place.

2. Add a custom variation

   Under Item options, choose Add variation, then Create your own. Name it Set or Pack, and add options such as Single, Set of 3 and Gift set.

3. Turn on varying price and quantity

   Toggle on the options to vary the price and quantity. An Etsy variation can change price, quantity, processing profile or SKU, which lets each set track its own stock.

4. Enter the full price of each set

   On Etsy, the price of each option is the total price for that version, not an added cost. Enter the whole bundle price for the set option, not the extra amount over a single item.

5. Link a photo to each option

   Turn on Link photos to this variation and pick a photo of each set. Etsy allows photos for up to 20 options, which is more than a bundle listing needs.

Etsy bundle limits and fees

Etsy caps how far variations go. A listing with three variation types can have up to 2,500 option combinations, and you can set your own price, SKU and quantity on up to 400 option combinations. A Set variation with a handful of options stays far inside both limits.

Fees fall on the bundle as one sale. Etsy charges $0.20 per listing for the listing and a 6.5% transaction fee on the item price plus shipping and gift wrapping. A shop with a US bank account also pays 3% + $0.25 per order for payment processing, so a bundle pays the fixed part of that fee once, where three separate orders would pay it three times.

If buyers choose what goes into the set, such as three scents of their choice, add a personalization field instead of a long list of variation options. Etsy allows up to 5 fields per listing.

Building gift sets that sell

A gift set is a fixed bundle that someone buys for another person, so the buyer cares about presentation and an easy choice more than the per-item saving.

• Pick one theme per set: a relaxing evening, a new home, a coffee lover. The theme becomes the product name.
• Price gift sets at round, giftable amounts and include the packaging cost in the price.
• Photograph the set packed as the recipient will see it, and a second shot with the items laid out so the buyer sees what is inside.
• Offer two or three sizes at most, such as a small set and a full set. More choice slows the decision.
• Plan stock ahead of holidays. A gift set uses up single items you could also sell alone, so count expected gift-set orders against the stock of each item.

Where Nation fits

Questions about bundle pricing and product bundles