How can i include different pricing for Product Options...

Hi there, Im trying to get my head around the following:

I have a products split into categories. Each product will have product options. and for each category there will be different options compared to other categories. for example:

Category Individual Charms:
--Product: Large Daisy Charm:
----Option: Name on Charm [input box]
----Option: Pandora Charm Carrier [YES/NO] (+£10)
----Option: Date on reverse [input box] (+£5)

Category Bracelets:
--Product: Ball Bracelet
----Option: Charm Type1 [list of type] - some will have different price increases
----Option: Charm Name1 [input box]
----Option: Charm Type2 [list of type] - some will have different price increases
----Option: Charm Name2 [input box]
----Option: Date on reverse [input box] (+£5)

So as you can see from the above example, different products will have different options and some will have "list" options (which include added price) and some options will require for the customer to store either a name or a date of birth for their charm.

My question is the "eCommerce mySQL Database" thats available from your website, can it handle such a complex option-base. Or do i need to come up with a different approach (Im thinking also how the Admin when creating new products be able to pick and chose witch options and option lists they want for each new product they add.

I just want to find out this first before going deeper into coding then finding out its not possible with the db structure you provide?

regards

Chris

yes, the eCommerce database can accommodate options that effect price and options that do not effect price.

this is done by using the base price in the products table, and OptionPriceIncrement column of the productoptions table.


see the "Product Options with eCart" tutorial on the eCart support page for details:
ecart/

Hi Jason, I have already read up on the ecart product options tutorial before I posted my question. But at first glance, I couldnt see how the tutorial would relate to my initial question (is related to "set" options"). I want the Admin owner of the website to create a product, and then create a product option thats specific to that product (so it may or may not have an additional option price and it may or may not have certain fields on a drop down list).

Also in the ecommerce sample database the `OptionPriceIncrement` is under "Product Options" - now if this is a "linking" table, then how come OptionPriceIncrement is in this table and not in OPTIONS table (for what I want to achieve in my first post, wouldnt it make sense to have a "Price" field in the same table as "OptionName" because this is where the data for any type of drop down list is stored and since each item in a list could have a price or not then it would make sense to store it here, surely? Is my logic right? or am I missing something in my way of thinking?

regards
(and hope you enjoyed your presidents holiday)

Chris

the eCommervce database works like this:

OptionsGroups - use this table to set the type of options you will offer. Color, Size etc.

Options - Use this table to define the options that belong to the different groups. Small, medium, large for the Size optiongroup and red, yellow green for the color options groups

productoptions - use this table to assign options to a product.

the price is set in the productoptions table so that different products can have different increments for the same option.

For product 1, it may only cost 1 dollar more for the large size, but product 2 may charge 3 dollars more for the large option.


by using the productoption table to define price increment amount, the price increment is dependant on the product and not the option itself, giving greater flexibility.

I see so the downloadable database from your website has been created to do exactly what I need (as described in first post) without having to mess around with the database structure. I just want to get this sorted in my head before I start out coding my ecart and then realising it wouldnt be possible with the method im using.

with this same topic, How woudl I go about structuring a "additional options" on the Admin creation screen...for example an Admin logs in, creates a "new product", so then they would need to assign some product options...now what would be the best approach..would they then be taken to a second screen where they can create new product options because previous product options could have been created and these are already stored in a database, so it would be silly to re-create the same options (but then again a product may include 8 out of 10 additional items in a product option.

Its quite frustrating working out the best approach. I think my head will explode in 10 seconds.

What woul dyou suggest as a workflow for the Admin screen so that my client can create a new product and then either assign or create a new product options listing? (im only asking on this forum since im using the Web Assist database) :)

Chris

this thread has details on setting up the product insert admin pages:
showthread.php?t=23505