Frequently asked questions

Once versus repeat: buy 3 get 1 free with 9 items, how many are free?

Once applies the deal a single time, so 1 item is free. Repeat re-applies it for every full set. With the recommended margin-safe set basis (where a set is the 3 bought plus 1 free), 9 items give 2 free. If you switch to "discount within the group", 9 items give 3 free. Watch the live example in the builder to confirm before you save.

Which item goes free, and what about ties?

When several items could be the free or discounted item, the deal picks based on your allocation setting: cheapest first by default (which protects your margin and matches Shopify’s own Buy X Get Y), or most expensive first if you prefer to favour the shopper. If two candidates have the exact same price, the tie is broken in a fixed, repeatable order, so the result is always consistent. If a shopper has 2 of the get item but the deal gives 1, exactly one is free and the other is charged.

What is "set basis" and why does it matter so much?

Set basis decides how a complete deal is counted when the same items are both bought and given. "Add on top" (recommended) means a "buy 3 get 1 free" set is 4 items, and the free one does not count toward earning the next free one; this matches Shopify and protects your margin. "Discount within the group" makes every Nth item free out of the qualifying items, so "buy 1 get 1" would make the entire cart free. It changes the math dramatically, so always read the live example before saving.

How do I build "spend $100, get product X free"?

Choose the Free Gift campaign type, set the spend threshold to 100, and pick the gift product or variant. When a shopper’s qualifying cart total reaches the threshold, the gift is added to the cart and discounted 100 percent, and it is removed automatically if the cart drops back below the threshold. It is triggered by spend, not quantity. Note that a shopper using express checkout straight from a product page never touches the cart and will not receive the gift.

If two of my product discounts hit one item, do they multiply?

No. Each discount is calculated from the item’s original price and the results are combined, not multiplied. So 50 percent off and 80 percent off the same $100 item is not $10 (which multiplying would give); it is $50 plus $80, which exceeds the price, so the item simply becomes free. An item is never discounted below zero.

Is the 25-discount limit per app or per store?

Per store, and it counts automatic discounts only: the 25 are shared store-wide across Shopify’s own automatic discounts and every discount app you have installed, not 25 for each app. Each live or scheduled automatic Stackable campaign uses one slot, which is why Stackable’s plans cap how many run live at once; pause ones you are not using to free slots. Campaigns published with the Discount code method do not use a slot at all, so they never count against the 25.

If I set an end date but no time, when does the campaign end?

At 23:59 in your store’s timezone, so it runs through the whole final day. That single moment applies to every shopper worldwide; someone in another timezone sees it end at the equivalent local time. If you accidentally set an end at or before the start, the builder blocks it with "The end must be after the start", and a campaign whose end has already passed cannot be published.

If I turn auto-join off, does membership freeze?

No. Membership is always evaluated live at checkout. Turning auto-join off does not freeze it; a product that later matches your collection or tag still gets the discount, just like Shopify’s own collection discounts. What changes is that the app flags the new match on your dashboard so you can decide. If you want a fixed set of products, target specific products or variants instead of a collection or tag.

Do shoppers see the campaign name?

No. The campaign name is internal and seeds the discount title in your Shopify admin. Shoppers see the label you set on the Display step, not the name. Names do not have to be unique, and Shopify allows that too.