Pricing calculator
A few questions, and a price that updates as they are answered.
What it is for
Answering “what would this cost” on the page, for a business where the answer depends on two or three things. The figures come from formulas you write in the editor and are worked out in the visitor's own browser, so nothing is sent anywhere while somebody is moving a slider, and nothing about what they entered is stored unless the widget also asks them to send it.
When to use one
When the price is a formula rather than a list. Team size times a rate, floor area times a cost, hours plus materials. Somebody who has seen a number is a better enquiry than somebody who filled in a form to get one, because the ones who then get in touch are asking about a figure they have already accepted.
When not to use one
When the honest answer is that it depends. A number you cannot stand behind will be quoted back at you, and the version of this widget that says “from £X” mostly teaches people that your prices are not real. If the job genuinely needs a conversation, ask for the conversation instead.
Questions
- Where is the arithmetic done?
- In the visitor's browser, by the same file that draws the widget. There is no request to us as somebody changes a number, so it stays instant even on a slow connection.
- Can it collect the answer as well as show it?
- Yes. Add an email field and the figures come through with the address, so an enquiry arrives with the numbers that produced it attached.
- Can I set the currency and rounding?
- Yes — the symbol, the number of decimals and the thousands separator are all part of how a computed figure is formatted.
- Is what somebody types stored?
- Only if they submit it. Numbers moved around and never sent go nowhere and are kept nowhere.