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Advanced Resource Pricing: Fixed Rates, Discounts and Price Caps
Advanced Resource Pricing: Fixed Rates, Discounts and Price Caps

Customize how members use your Cobot Resources by applying Fixed Rates, Discounts or Price Caps.

Amanda avatar
Written by Amanda
Updated in the last hour

Cobot allows you to add custom rates to your Resources. By default, hourly rates apply to all bookings. Activating Fixed Rates, Discounts, or Price Caps will enable you to apply advance pricing for half and full-day prices and reduced rates for longer bookings.


Fixed Rates

Fixed Rates allow you to add one price regardless of booking duration. This is particularly helpful if you wish to apply a fixed half or full-day booking price to resources.

For example, suppose you set a cap of $50 for a maximum duration of 4 hours. In that case, anyone booking that resource for any amount of time up to 4 hours will be locked in at the $50 rate. Here is how these would be applied:

1 hour

Fixed rate price

$50

2 hours

Fixed rate price

$50

3 hours

Fixed rate price

$50

4 hours

Fixed rate price

$50

To turn this on, go to Resources » 'Edit' » scroll down to the 'Pricing' box » Flip the switch for 'Fixed Rate' » Enter the rate and maximum duration it is to be applied to » Scroll to the bottom of the page and 'Update Resource.'

Screenshot of the "Pricing" section in Cobot, showing a fixed rate option enabled. It displays a booking duration of 4 hours with a total price of 50 USD. There is an option to remove this rate or add additional fixed rates.

You can apply different price customizations for visitors/non-members by using the External Bookings feature and clicking on 'Customize for Public Resource' below the advance pricing box.

Multiple Fixed Rates

You can add as many Fixed Rates as you like. Bookings will then be charged the price up to that booking limit. This feature is useful when members are limited to booking only half-day and full-day prices.

For example, suppose you set a cap of $50 for a maximum duration of 4 hours. In that case, anyone booking that resource for any amount of time up to 4 hours will be locked in at the $50 rate.

If you set an additional cap of $100 for a maximum duration of 8 hours, all bookings made from 4 hours and 5 minutes or more will be charged at the $100 rate, up to 8 hours.

1 hour

4 hour Fixed Rate price

$50

2 hours

4 hour Fixed Rate price

$50

3 hours

4 hour Fixed Rate price

$50

4 hours

4 hour Fixed Rate price

$50

5 hours

8 hour Fixed Rate price

$100

6 hours

8 hour Fixed Rate price

$100

7 hours

8 hour Fixed Rate price

$100

8 hours

8 hour Fixed Rate price

$100

You can set multiple fixed rates by going to Resources » 'Edit' » scroll down to the 'Pricing' box » Flip the switch for 'Fixed Rate' » '+ Add Fixed Rate' » Scroll to the bottom of the page and 'Update Resource.'

A screenshot of the "Pricing" section in Cobot with fixed rates enabled. Two booking durations are listed: 4 hours for 50 USD and 8 hours for 100 USD. Each rate has a "Remove" option, and a "+ Add Fixed Rate" button is highlighted below to add more rates.

IMPORTANT NOTES

Limiting Book-ability:

  • Members can create bookings of any length unless you apply 'Available Booking Times' or 'Booking Duration' limits.' These can be customized within each resource.

A screenshot of the "Availability" section in Cobot, showing fields for setting minimum booking duration (0 hours) and maximum booking duration (8 hours). The "Available booking times" field is set to "9am - 5pm," with an example below explaining how to specify availability. Options to customize settings for public resources are also provided.

  • If you DO NOT apply an 'Available Booking Times' or 'Booking Duration' limits' range, then any bookings made beyond your maximum Fixed Rate range will revert back to the lowest Fixed Rate price.

    • For example, if your maximum duration is 8 hours for $100 and a member books for 9 hours, they will be charged $150 as the lowest price cap rate is $50 ($100 + $50 = $150).


Fixed Rates and Booking Credits:

Booking credits allow you to offer your members free access to your resources. Typically, these credits are applied to every booking a member makes for that resource.

When fixed rates are used, booking credits work differently. In this case, credits function like "building blocks."

  • For example, If you provide a member with 5 hours of credits for a meeting room with a fixed rate of 4 hours, the credits will only apply to a 4-hour booking.

  • Credits won't apply to bookings shorter or longer than the fixed rate.

If you'd prefer credits to be applied to all bookings, using discounts with a minimum booking time may be a better option.

Alternatively, you can provide monetary booking credits. Click here to learn more about how this works.

If you would like your members to book at the hourly rate and then have a reduced rate after a certain number of hours, then apply Discounts instead.


Discounts

Discounts enable you to give members who make longer bookings a reduced rate. Unlike Fixed Rates, once enabled, members will be charged the hourly rate up until they reach the discount rate. Any bookings after that will have the discounted rate applied.

For example, if you have set your resource to have a $10 per hour rate, but a discounted rate of $8 per hour when 4 or more hours are booked, here is how these prices would be applied:

1 hour

Price/hour rate

$10

2 hours

Price/hour rate

$20

3 hours

Price/hour rate

$30

4 hours

Discount Price/hour rate

$32

5 hours

Discount Price/hour rate

$40

And so on. To activate this, go to Resources » 'Edit' » scroll down to the 'Pricing' box » Flip the switch for 'Discounts' » Enter discount rate and minimum duration it is to be applied to » Scroll to the bottom of the page and 'Update Resource.'

A screenshot of the "Pricing" section in Cobot, showing an hourly rate set at 10 USD. Discounts are enabled, offering a reduced hourly rate of 8 USD for bookings with a minimum duration of 4 hours. There is an option to remove the discount or add additional ones. Fixed rates are disabled.

You can apply different price customizations for visitors/non-members by using the External Bookings feature and clicking on 'Customize for Public Resource' below the advance pricing box.

Multiple Discounts

You can add as many discounts as you like. When multiple are populated, the new discount will be applied once the minimum hour is reached. This is helpful for when you want to encourage your members to make longer bookings in a resource.

For example, if you have set your resource to have a $10 per hour rate, but a discounted rate of $8 per hour when 4 or more hours are booked, and a further discount rate of $6 per hour when 8 or more hours are booked here is how these prices would be applied:

1 hour

Price/hour rate

$10

2 hours

Price/hour rate

$20

3 hours

Price/hour rate

$30

4 hours

1st Discount Price/hour rate ($8)

$32

5 hours

1st Discount Price/hour rate ($8)

$40

6 hours

1st Discount Price/hour rate ($8)

$48

7 hours

1st Discount Price/hour rate ($8)

$56

8 hours

2nd Discount Price/hour rate ($6)

$48

9 hours

2nd Discount Price/hour rate ($6)

$54

And so on.

To activate this, go to Resources » 'Edit' » scroll down to the 'Pricing' box » Flip the switch for 'Discounts' » '+ Add Discount' » Scroll to the bottom of the page and 'Update Resource.'

A screenshot of the "Pricing" section in Cobot, showing an hourly rate of 10 USD with discounts enabled. Two discount options are listed: 8 USD per hour for bookings of at least 4 hours and 6 USD per hour for bookings of at least 8 hours. A "+ Add Discount" button is highlighted for adding more discounts, and fixed rates are disabled.


Price Caps

A Price Cap allows members to create a booking for an hourly rate up to a set number of hours. Once that cap is reached, the member only pays that fixed rate for any duration after that.

Think of it as a parking garage; you pay a few Euro an hour and then a day rate if you leave your car for more than 8 hours.

For example, a member can book a meeting room for $10 per hour for 5 hours. The total charge for this booking would be $50, at which point a Price Cap is applied. This means the member can continue to make bookings for 6 hours or more but will never be charged more than the Price Cap rate of $50.

You only need to add a single Price Cap, and your member will get that price regardless of the number of hours they book.

1 hour

Hourly rate applies

$10

2 hours

Hourly rate applies

$20

3 hours

Hourly rate applies

$30

4 hours

Hourly rate applies

$40

5 hours

Hourly rate applies

$50

6 hours

Price cap rate

$50

7 hours +

Price cap rate

$50

To activate this, go to Resources » 'Edit' » scroll down to the 'Pricing' box » Flip the switch for 'Price Cap' » Enter the duration of time the member should not be charged after » Scroll to the bottom of the page and 'Update Resource.'

A screenshot of the "Pricing" section in Cobot, showing an hourly rate of 10 USD. Discounts are disabled, but a "Price Cap" option is enabled, stopping charges after 5 hours of booking. Fixed rates are also disabled.

IMPORTANT NOTES

Limiting Book-ability:

  • Members can create bookings of any length unless you apply 'Available Booking Times' or 'Booking Duration' limits' to the Resource.

A screenshot of the "Availability" section in Cobot, showing a minimum booking duration of 0 hours and a maximum of 8 hours. Available booking times are set to "9am - 5pm," with a note explaining how to customize availability or make the resource available 24/7. Customization options for public resources are also included.

  • Price Caps are limited to one per Resource.

  • If you want to limit your members to book a half or full day for a single price, you should apply Fixed Rates instead.

  • If you would like your members to book at the hourly rate and then have a reduced rate after a certain number of hours, then apply Discounts instead.


Questions? Reach out to our support team here.

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