Frequently Asked Questions
Everything you need to know about setting up and using TierForge bundle pricing.
Getting Started
Setting up a bundle takes just a few steps:
- Click "Create Bundle" from the main dashboard
- Name your bundle — something descriptive like "Car Freshener Bundle"
- Select a Shopify collection — all products in this collection will be eligible for bundle pricing
- Add your pricing tiers — for example, 2 items for $7, 3 items for $10, 4 items for $13
- Choose a discount strategy — Best Tier, Stack Tiers, or Best Per Item
- Save and activate
That's it! TierForge automatically tags the products and creates the discount. No theme modifications needed.
No. TierForge works entirely through Shopify Functions, which means:
- No theme modifications required
- No Liquid code to add
- No app blocks to configure
- No JavaScript snippets
Simply install the app, create your bundles, and discounts are automatically applied at checkout. TierForge works with any Shopify theme out of the box.
When customers add qualifying items to their cart and proceed to checkout, they'll see the bundle discount applied automatically. The discount appears as a line item showing the savings.
Example: If a customer adds 3 car fresheners ($4 each = $12) and you have a "3 for $10" tier, they'll see a $2.00 discount applied at checkout with a message like "Buy 3, 10% off".
Because TierForge uses native Shopify Functions, the discount is calculated server-side and appears in the real checkout — not just a cart display that might change.
A few things to check:
- Cart vs. checkout: The discount only appears on the Shopify checkout page, not in the cart view. Make sure you've clicked "Checkout" and reached the actual checkout flow.
- Product tagging: After creating a bundle, TierForge automatically applies a
bundle-eligibletag to all products. This can take a few minutes — for large catalogs, allow up to 30 minutes after initial setup. - Quantity threshold: Make sure the cart contains enough items to meet your lowest pricing tier.
- Force a sync: Try clicking the Sync button on your bundle to trigger an immediate refresh.
💡 Tip: TierForge discounts are applied by Shopify's own checkout infrastructure — they're reliable once products are tagged. If it's not showing, it's almost always a tagging timing issue right after initial setup.
Bundles & Collections
TierForge automatically syncs with your Shopify collections:
- New products added to a bundle collection are automatically included within 15 minutes
- Removed products are automatically excluded from the bundle
- Duplicated products that inherit the bundle tag are detected and added
You can also click the Sync button on any bundle to force an immediate sync.
💡 Tip: Use Shopify's automated collections (based on tags, vendor, etc.) and TierForge will automatically include new products that match your collection rules.
Yes! You can create separate bundle groups for different product categories, each with their own pricing tiers.
- Free plan: 1 bundle group, 2 pricing tiers
- Basic plan ($4.99/mo): 5 bundle groups, unlimited tiers per bundle
- Unlimited plan ($9.99/mo): Unlimited bundle groups and tiers
Example: You might have a "Car Fresheners" bundle with 2/$7, 3/$10, 4/$13 tiers, and a separate "Stickers" bundle with 5/$5, 10/$8 tiers.
Yes! That's the whole point of TierForge. Customers can mix and match any products within a bundle collection.
Example: If your "Car Fresheners" collection has 24 different scents, a customer can pick any 3 different scents and get the "3 for $10" price. They don't need to buy 3 of the same item.
This is perfect for:
- Car air fresheners and coasters
- Stickers and decals
- Cosmetics and beauty products
- Candles and home fragrances
- Food items and snacks
- Any "pick your own" bundle scenario
Variants & Exclusions
Yes! You can include or exclude specific variants while keeping the product in the bundle.
To manage variants:
- Click the ⚙️ settings icon next to any product in your bundle
- A modal will show all variants for that product
- Toggle each variant to Include or Exclude
- Excluded variants won't receive bundle discounts at checkout
Example: Your "Alabama Car Coaster" has 4 variants: "1x coaster" ($4), "2x set" ($7), "1+1 bundle" ($6.50), and "2+1 bundle" ($9.50). You only want the single "1x coaster" in your bundle pricing — exclude the others since they're already discounted sets.
Products with some variants excluded show a "Partial" badge in your admin.
Common reasons to exclude variants:
- Pre-bundled variants: If you sell "2-packs" or "3-packs" as variants, you probably don't want those to also get bundle discounts
- Premium variants: Higher-end versions you want to sell at full price
- Limited editions: Special variants you don't want discounted
- Different product types: Accessories that don't fit the bundle concept
💡 Tip: If a product has variants that are already multi-packs (like "2x" or "3x"), exclude those to prevent double-discounting.
Large Catalogs & High-Volume Stores
Yes. TierForge is built to handle catalogs of any size, including stores with 50,000–100,000+ products in a single bundle.
For bundles with more than 1,000 products, TierForge automatically switches to tag-only mode: instead of sending the full product list to Shopify's discount function, it relies entirely on the bundle-eligible tag that's already applied to every eligible product. This keeps the discount configuration tiny — a few hundred bytes — regardless of catalog size.
You don't need to configure anything. Tag-only mode activates automatically and the discount function works identically whether you have 10 products or 100,000.
💡 Note: This is why TierForge tags your products. The bundle-eligible tag is not just for display — it's the signal Shopify's checkout infrastructure reads in real time when a customer places an order.
bundle-eligible tag and why is it on my products?
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TierForge applies a bundle-eligible tag to every product included in your bundles. Shopify's discount function reads this tag at checkout to determine which items qualify for bundle pricing.
- Added automatically when products sync into a bundle
- Removed if a product is manually excluded
- For large catalogs, it is the only eligibility signal used — the full product list is not sent to the function
⚠️ Do not manually remove this tag — it will prevent those products from receiving a bundle discount at checkout. If tags are accidentally removed, re-sync the bundle to restore them.
If you uninstall TierForge, the tags remain on your products. You can bulk-remove them via Shopify's bulk editor if desired.
This was a known limitation in early versions of TierForge. Shopify Functions have a hard limit on how much data can be passed to the discount function at checkout. When a bundle contained a very large number of products, the configuration could exceed this limit. Shopify would silently pass no data to the function, which would then apply no discounts — no visible error, just no discount at checkout.
This is fully resolved. TierForge now uses tag-only mode for large bundles, which has no size constraints. The fix applies automatically the next time your bundle syncs.
💡 If you experienced this: Click the Sync button on your bundle to force an immediate update, then test at checkout.
Inventory & Sold-Out Products
TierForge runs a daily inventory scan at 6:00 AM UTC. When a product has zero inventory and is configured to deny out-of-stock purchases, it is automatically excluded from the bundle discount.
- Sold-out products are removed from the active discount configuration
- They remain in your bundle admin — not deleted, just flagged as sold out
- The product still exists in your Shopify store normally
This is especially important for unique-item stores — thrift shops, vintage sellers, handmade goods — where each product is one-of-a-kind and should not be promoted after it sells.
Yes. TierForge detects restocks in two ways:
- Instant detection: When Shopify sends a product update webhook (which fires whenever inventory changes), TierForge checks the new quantity and immediately re-enables the product in the bundle — typically within seconds of the restock.
- Daily scan: The 6:00 AM UTC scan also checks all previously sold-out products and restores any that now have inventory.
No manual action required. Restocked products re-enter the bundle automatically.
TierForge works especially well for unique-item stores. A few features that matter for this use case:
- Automatic sold-out exclusion: Items are removed from bundle pricing when they sell. Daily scan plus instant webhook detection keeps the discount accurate without any manual work.
- Large catalog support: Handles 50,000–100,000+ unique products with no performance issues.
- Mix & match bundles: Perfect for "any 4 items for 10% off" promotions across a large inventory where customers pick freely.
- Percentage-based tiers: Use percent-off tiers so the discount applies fairly regardless of each item's individual price.
Example: A vintage clothing store with 70,000 unique items runs "buy any 4, get 10% off" across their entire catalog. Sold items clean up overnight, and restocks are detected instantly via Shopify's inventory webhooks.
Pricing & Calculations
TierForge handles mixed prices using proportional discount distribution. The total discount is split based on each item's relative price.
Example: You have a "2 for $7" tier. Customer buys:
- Item A: $3.00 (37.5% of total)
- Item B: $5.00 (62.5% of total)
Original total: $8.00 → Bundle price: $7.00 → Discount: $1.00
Item A gets $0.375 off | Item B gets $0.625 off
This ensures fair distribution across mixed-price carts, which also matters for accurate reporting and potential returns.
TierForge offers three discount strategies:
1. Best Tier (Default)
Applies the single best qualifying tier to the first N items in the cart.
Tiers: 2 for $7, 3 for $10 | Customer buys 5 → "3 for $10" on 3 items, 2 items at full price
2. Stack Tiers
Combines multiple tier applications for maximum savings.
Tiers: 2 for $7, 3 for $10 | Customer buys 5 → "3 for $10" on 3 + "2 for $7" on 2
3. Best Per Item
Finds the best per-item rate from any qualifying tier and applies it to all eligible items.
Tiers: 2 for $7 ($3.50/ea), 3 for $10 ($3.33/ea) | Customer buys 5 → all 5 get $3.33/ea
TierForge creates discounts through Shopify's native discount system. How it interacts with other discounts depends on your Shopify combination settings.
By default, Shopify allows one product discount per order. TierForge discounts are product discounts. If you have other automatic product discounts active, Shopify applies the better one based on your priority settings.
💡 Tip: Check Shopify Settings → Discounts → Combinations to configure how multiple discounts interact.
Analytics & Reporting
TierForge automatically tracks when customers use bundle discounts. In your dashboard you can see:
- Total savings generated — how much customers have saved
- Number of orders — how many orders included bundle discounts
- Items discounted — total items sold through bundles
- Average discount per order — typical savings amount
TierForge collects minimal data needed to provide the service:
- Store configuration: Bundle settings, selected collections, pricing tiers
- Product info: Product IDs, titles, prices (for display and calculations)
- Order analytics: Order ID, discount amount, items discounted (no customer PII)
We do NOT collect: customer names, emails, addresses, payment info, or browsing behavior.
See our Privacy Policy for complete details.
Technical
Shopify Functions are a way for apps to extend Shopify's backend logic. Unlike traditional apps that rely on JavaScript or theme modifications, Functions run directly on Shopify's servers at the moment a customer places an order.
- Reliable: Discounts are calculated server-side, not in the browser
- Fast: No extra API calls or page load delays
- Secure: Cannot be bypassed or manipulated by customers
- Theme-independent: Works with any Shopify theme without modifications
This is the same technology Shopify uses for their own native discounts.
When you uninstall TierForge:
- Immediately: Bundle discounts stop applying to new checkouts
- Within 48 hours: All your data is permanently deleted from our servers
- Product tags: The
bundle-eligibletags remain on your products (bulk-remove via Shopify's bulk editor if desired)
If you reinstall later, you'll start fresh with no previous configuration.
TierForge is managed entirely through the admin interface. We don't offer a public API for external integrations.
TierForge does use Shopify webhooks internally to:
- Sync product and inventory changes automatically
- Track order analytics when bundles are used
- Handle app uninstallation and data cleanup
For specific integration needs, contact us at support@ittle.co.
Billing & Plans
The free plan includes:
- 1 bundle group
- 2 pricing tiers
- Unlimited products in the bundle
- All discount strategies
- Auto-sync from collections
- Basic analytics
It's a great way to test TierForge with a single product category before upgrading.
TierForge uses Shopify's built-in billing system:
- Charges appear on your regular Shopify invoice
- Billed monthly based on your plan
- No separate payment method needed
- Cancel anytime from the app or Shopify admin
Plan changes take effect immediately, with prorated charges or credits applied automatically.
Yes! Both paid plans include a 7-day free trial. You can test all features before being charged.
- Full access to all plan features
- No credit card required upfront (Shopify handles billing)
- Cancel anytime before trial ends to avoid charges