Event Pricing: Create Tiered Pricing by Dates (Super-Early → Early → Standard)

You can build time-based pricing tiers for any event using the built-in Regular Price, Early-bird Pricing, and Latecomer Pricing. With a small bit of configuration, this covers 2–3 tiers (and more, using the “latecomer” field creatively as described below).

Contents

• Where to set this up
• Common tier patterns
  • A) Early → Standard (2 tiers)
  • B) Super-Early → Early → Standard (3 tiers)
  • C) Early → Standard → Late (last-minute surcharge)
• Tips, guardrails, and gotchas
• Quick reference

Where to set this up

Events → New Event (or open an existing event) → Pricing Information.

You’ll see:

• Regular Price
• Add Early-bird Pricing (checkbox)
• Add Latecomer Pricing (checkbox)

Common tier patterns (recipes)

A) Early → Standard (2 tiers)

1. Set Regular Price = your standard price.
2. Check Add Early-bird Pricing and set:
   • Early-bird Cut-off = last date to receive the discount (11:59 PM local time).
   • Early-bird Price = discounted price.
3. Leave Latecomer Pricing unchecked.

Result:

• Before the cut-off: early-bird price.
• On/after cut-off: standard price (Regular Price).

B) Super-Early → Early → Standard (3 tiers)

1. Set Regular Price = your early price (the second early price).
2. Check Add Early-bird Pricing and use it for your super early window:
   • Early-bird Cut-off = super early window end date.
   • Early-bird Price = your super early price.
3. Check Add Latecomer Pricing and use it for the standard window (the simple “hack”):
   • Applied after = the early window end date.
   • Latecomer Price = your standard price.

Result timeline example

• Through Aug 31: Super-early (use early bird price).
• Sep 1–Sep 30: Early (Regular price setting).
• Oct 1+: Standard (Latecomer setting; equals Regular Price).

Why this works: “Early-bird” defines the earliest window; “Latecomer” defines the final window. Using Regular Price in between lets you stack three tiers cleanly.

C) Early → Standard → Late (surcharge for last-minute)

1. Regular Price = standard price.
2. Early-bird = discounted price with cut-off.
3. Latecomer = higher than standard price with start date.

Tips, guardrails, and gotchas

• Cut-off vs. “Applied after”
  • Early-bird applies through the cut-off date.
  • Latecomer applies after the specified date (i.e., starting at 12:00 AM the next day).
• Time zone & timing
  Prices change based on your organization’s local time zone. Set dates accordingly; if timing to the hour matters, change prices at the start or end of day.
• Show the value
  Mention deadlines and savings on the event page and confirmation emails to encourage timely registration.
• Combining with discount codes
  Tiered pricing stacks with discount codes. Discounts apply to whatever tier is active at checkout.
• Payment plans
  If payment plans are enabled, the active tier at registration determines the total price used for deposits/splits.
• Testing
  Create a test event or temporarily set near-term dates to preview each tier before going live.

Quick reference

• 2 tiers → Regular + Early-bird.
• 3 tiers → Use Regular for early, Early-bird for super early, Latecomer for standard (or surcharge).
• Announce deadlines wherever you share the registration link to maximize conversions.