Community pricing for WooCommerce means the live product price follows eligible community sales. Paid shoppers who bought higher can be equalized at campaign end (Store Credit or a payment-gateway partial refund — where supported). This chapter defines the model so the rest of the manual stays unambiguous.
1.1 Mode A (canonical pricing model)
PRO defaults to Mode A:
- Live product price = function of eligible community sales only.
- Cart / timeline = projection (amber “in your cart”) — FOMO/preview, not the live price.
- Checkout amount = current live price (not a cart-only unlocked tier).
- After campaign = paid overpayers may receive Store Credit or gateway partial refund (shop setting).
- Unpaid mid-campaign = line can update to the new live price; unpaid orders never move thresholds.
Non-promise (v1): adding items to the cart alone does not change the live catalog price. Merchants who want stronger language can add their own terms — defaults stay Mode A.
1.2 Why equalization exists
Community pricing is a promise of fairness, not a one-shot discount badge. Shoppers buy at today’s live price. If the community later unlocks a lower tier, earlier paid buyers should not be left worse off than late buyers — PRO can finish that job automatically. FREE (when used) can calculate what is owed; PRO can issue it.
1.3 Operational flow (merchant)
- Configure — Global rules (Chapter 2), then per-product campaign (Chapter 3).
- Run — Monitor Hub / Global Log; shoppers see progress + trust messaging.
- Close — Natural end, Early Closure (with compensation), or End Without Compensation (no rewards — different tool).
- Compensate — Automatic, Safety Guard delay, or Manual Dispatch (dropshipping-safe).
1.4 Glossary (use these terms)
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Live price | Catalog/product price after eligible sales hit a threshold. |
| Cart projection | Preview that cart qty would help unlock; does not set live price. |
| Eligible sales / units | Orders in merchant-configured eligible statuses. |
| Threshold / tier | Volume trigger for a discount level. |
| Community saving / unlocked price | Prefer on FOMO UI; reserve “refund” for post-campaign compensation. |
| Unpaid order | Does not count toward thresholds; the line may update to a lower live price before payment. |
| Paid order | Counts toward thresholds; keeps the paid price; may receive equalization later. |
| Store Credit | Default compensation (coupon-style store credit). |
| Partial refund | Alternate compensation via payment gateway where supported. |
| Safety Guard | Wait days before processing rewards. |
| Manual Dispatch | Human unlock of compensations (dropshipping-safe). |
| Early Closure | Close at max target with compensation flow. |
| End Without Compensation | Admin close → no reward — not the same as Early Closure. |
| My Rewards | Customer reward status hub. |
| Consumer Trust | Transparency panel + [wccp_consumer_trust] shortcode. |
| Personal Advantage | What completing this cart would mean vs list price — still not live price from cart alone. |
| Global Log | Auditable admin event stream (+ in-UI legend). |
1.5 Where to go next
- Chapter 0 — Installation
- Chapter 2 — Global rules & automation
- How it works (marketing overview)
- What’s New in 2.9