Tiered pricing and volume discounts for wholesale brands

Updated 3 November 2026 · DELLI

Tiered pricing means the price per unit drops as the order gets bigger: for example, £4.20 a bottle for 1 to 5 cases, £4.05 for 6 to 11 cases and £3.95 for 12 cases or more. In wholesale it rewards shops for ordering in larger amounts, and it works when the savings on packing and delivery pay for the discount. This guide explains tiered pricing and volume discounts, shows how to work out tiers that don't cost you money, gives tiered pricing examples for sauce, candles and skincare, and shows how to set them out on a price list.

1. What tiered pricing means in wholesale

With tiered pricing, you set two or three price levels, each starting at an order size. The buyer pays the price for the tier their order reaches. You can count the tier in one of three ways:

Decide too whether a tier applies to the whole order or only to the units above the breakpoint. In wholesale, applying the tier price to the whole order is the easier one to explain: a buyer who orders 6 cases pays the 6-case price on all six. Charging the lower price only on units above the breakpoint makes every quote a calculation, and buyers have to work out what they'll pay.

Volume discount vs tiered pricing

A volume discount is usually a single reward for ordering above a threshold, such as 5% off orders over £300. Tiered pricing is a ladder of two or more prices. A single volume discount is tiered pricing with two tiers, so the same checks apply to both.

2. Volume discount pricing: where the discount comes from

A discount is only worth giving if bigger orders cost you less per unit to fulfil, or if the extra volume is worth the lower margin. Work out which, with your own numbers, before you print a tier.

Going from 2 cases to 6 saves Wildfire 82p a bottle in packing and delivery. Giving 15p of that back as a tier 2 discount still leaves it far better off on the larger order. Going from 6 cases to 12 saves nothing per bottle, because it's two full boxes instead of one. A tier 3 discount at 12 cases comes straight out of margin, so it has to be justified by the extra volume and checked against the lowest price Wildfire will accept.

Wildfire's sauce costs £2.56 a bottle to make, and it wants to keep at least 35% of the trade price, which puts its lowest acceptable price at £3.94. The tier 3 price of £3.95 sits 1p above it, so there's no room for a fourth tier or a show offer on top. Our guide to wholesale and retail prices shows how to work out this price floor for your own products.

3. Tiered pricing examples for three brands

These tiered pricing examples show the three ways of counting a tier. Each brand has checked every tier against its own price floor.

Wildfire Chilli Co: tiers by total cases

Any mix of flavours counts towards the total, so a deli can reach 6 cases across three sauces.

Ember & Wick: tiers by cases of each scent

Ember & Wick, a candle maker, sells its 200g candle at £6.75 trade and won't go below £5.83. A few gift shops order one scent in bulk for Christmas, so its tiers count cases of a single scent.

Kindred Skin: tiers by order value

Kindred Skin, a skincare brand in Leeds, sells products from £2.60 to £10.20, so counting cases would treat a case of lip balm the same as a case of face oil. It uses order value instead.

The tier is worked out on the list-price total, so the discount can't push an order back below its own threshold.

4. A tiered pricing strategy that stays simple

Tiers only change how shops order if buyers can see at a glance what they'd save. Keep the structure small and check it before you print it.

1. Start from how you pack. Set breakpoints at whole cases and at a full box or pallet, because those are the points where your costs change.
2. Look at your current orders. If most orders are 4 or 5 cases, a tier starting at 6 gives buyers a reason to add one more. A tier starting at 20 cases, when nobody orders more than 8, changes nothing.
3. Stop at three tiers. Each extra tier is another price to keep current on your price list, order form and website, and another number for a buyer to compare.
4. Check every tier against your price floor. The bottom tier is the one that matters. If it's below your floor, raise it or remove it.
5. Use round prices. £4.05 is easier to read and check than £4.07.
6. Use the same breakpoints across the range. One rule, "6 cases any mix", is easier to remember than a different breakpoint for each product.
7. Decide what stacks. Write down whether a trade show offer or a free delivery threshold applies on top of a tier. If both apply, check the combined price against the floor.
8. Count each order on its own. Tiers based on a buyer's total for the year need tracking and arguments at the end of it. Tiers per order are settled the moment the order arrives.

When not to use tiers

If you make in small batches and often run short, tiers can pull stock towards a few large accounts and leave smaller stockists waiting. And if your price is already close to your floor, a tier gives away margin you need. A lower minimum or free delivery over a threshold may do more for order size in those cases.

5. How to show tiered pricing on a price list

Put the tiers in columns next to each product, so the buyer reads across from the product to the price for their order size:

Then add one line under the table that answers the questions buyers ask:

Show the same tiers on your order form, so the buyer can see the price change as they fill it in, and on your order confirmation, so they can see which tier they reached. When you confirm an order that's close to the next tier, say so in one line:

Checking that each order is charged at the right tier is part of the price check in our guide to wholesale order management, and the reorder emails in our guide to wholesale reorders are a natural place to remind stockists of the tiers.

Questions about tiered pricing

← All DELLI AI articles