This guide includes screenshots from a previous user interface and experience of the SamCart platform. For a tour through all of the exciting new updates to your marketplace and dashboard, please reference this guide here: Get To Know Your Marketplace
If you're selling creative work, looking to accept donations, or want to let your customers decide what your product is worth to them, SamCart's Pay What You Want (PWYW) feature is going to be one of your favorite tools.
Give your customers control over what they pay for your product can help build trust with your audience. You're signaling that you genuinely want them to have your product, and you understand if they can't pay as much as others might be able to.
Ready to give it a try? Follow along to see how it works:
Create A 'Pay What You Want Product
Start by clicking the + New Product button on your Products page:
In the New Product window, select a product type. (View the Create Your First Product Page article for more information on Product Types) Then toggle "On" if you would like your product to be a Pay What You Want product.
Next, enter a Minimum suggested contribution. This is the minimum allowable price a customer can pay for your Product. If you'd like to leave the pricing entirely up to your customers and allow them to potentially access your Product for free, enter $0. This can be edited later on after the product has been created!
In the below example, the Minimum suggested contribution is $25. Customers will be able to pay $25 or more for this product:
If this is a recurring contribution, meaning you would like to charge customers their entered contribution at regular intervals for Product type choose (1) Digital Subscriptions or Physical Subscription. (View the Create Your First Product Page article for more information on Digital or Physical Subscriptions) (2) Then select whether it will be a Recurring or Limited Subscription. (3) Select how often you would like to bill the contribution amount. (4) Then toggle "On" if you would like your product to be a Pay What You Want product. (5) Enter a minimum suggested contribution.
Click Create Product and you're done!
Customize Your PWYW Settings
There will be a few optional Pay What You Want settings in your Product Details tab. These settings can be left blank.
- Suggested Price (1): This price will show below the Name Your Price field and is a great way to display your product's estimated value.
- Name Your Own Price Text (2): This is the text that appears next to the price entry input on your checkout page. If you leave this blank, the default text is "Name Your Price."
How PWYW Looks On Your Checkout
Here's what the settings pictured above would look like on a live checkout page:
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: What happens if a customer enters a price lower than my Minimum suggested contribution?
A: When a customer enters less than the minimum price you set, an error will appear. It will ask the customer to enter a price that is greater than or equal to your minimum price.
Q: Can I add a Pay What You Want product as a Payment Option?
A: Yes! If a customer selects the PWYW payment option, the 'Name Your Price' field will appear above checkout:
Learn more about Payment Options here.
Q: Can I add a Pay What You Want product as an Upsell?
A: The Pay What You Want feature can only be used on the primary product or as a payment option at this time. There is no way to connect a Pay What You Want product as an Upsell.