# How Entry Math Works

Understanding how entries are calculated helps you design better promotions and answer customer questions. Giveaway Gator uses a layered system — each step builds on the previous one.

## Step 1: Base Entries

Every promotion has a **Dollar Per Entry** setting. This is the base conversion rate. For example, if you set $1 = 1 entry, a customer who spends $50 earns 50 base entries.

Each item in the order is calculated individually: item price x quantity, divided by the Dollar Per Entry rate, rounded down.

## Step 2: Product Bonuses (Multipliers & Flat Bonuses)

You can set bonus multipliers or flat bonus entries on specific products. The system uses a priority hierarchy — only the highest-priority bonus applies per product:

1. **Product Bonus Periods** (highest priority) — Time-limited bonuses on specific products within a promotion. If active, these override everything below.
2. **Super Bonuses** (medium priority) — Shop-wide product bonuses set from the Shopify product admin page. Apply across all promotions.
3. **Promotion Default Multiplier** (lowest priority) — A baseline multiplier for all products in the promotion, used when no specific product bonus applies.

**Important:** These don't stack. If a product has a Product Bonus Period active, the Super Bonus and Default Multiplier are ignored for that product.

## Step 3: Bonus Period Multiplier

If a **Bonus Period** is active at the time of the order, entries for products *without* a specific product bonus are multiplied. For example, during a 3X bonus period, a product with 50 base entries earns 150 entries.

Products that already have a product-specific bonus (from Step 2) are NOT affected by the bonus period multiplier — they use their own multiplier instead.

## Step 4: Order Bonuses (Spending Thresholds)

Order bonuses reward customers for spending more. You set dollar thresholds with bonus entry amounts. For example: "Spend $100+, earn 50 bonus entries." These are flat bonus entries added on top.

Order bonuses also have priority:
- **Time-Period Order Bonuses** (higher priority) — Active during specific time windows.
- **Promotion-Wide Order Bonuses** (lower priority) — Apply throughout the entire promotion.

## Step 5: Discount Code Bonuses

If a customer uses a discount code that has bonus entries configured, those entries are added as a flat bonus.

## Step 6: Checkout Bonuses (Unlimited Pro · requires Shopify Plus)

A time-limited bonus displayed during checkout. If the customer completes their purchase within the countdown, they receive extra entries. The Checkout Bonus is part of the Unlimited Pro plan and, because it shows inside checkout, requires your store to be on Shopify Plus (checkout extensions are a Shopify Plus feature).

## Step 7: Order Multiplier Products (Final Multiplier)

These are virtual Shopify products that customers can purchase to multiply their entries. There are two types:
- **Upgrade Multiplier** — Replaces all other multipliers. If a customer buys a 100X upgrade, their entire order uses 100X instead of whatever the current multiplier is.
- **Super Multiplier** — Multiplies the final entry count *after* all other calculations. For example, if an order earned 250 entries and the customer bought a 10X Super Multiplier, they get 2,500 entries.

See [Order Multiplier Products](order-multipliers.md) for setup instructions and detailed examples.

## Final Result

After all layers are applied, the total is rounded down to a whole number. That's the customer's final entry count.

## Example Calculation

A customer places a $120 order during a 3X bonus period, with a $100+ order bonus of 50 entries, using discount code "VIP10" worth 25 bonus entries:

| Step | Calculation | Result |
|------|-------------|--------|
| 1. Base entries | $120 / $1 per entry | 120 entries |
| 2. Product bonuses | No product-specific bonuses → skip | 120 entries |
| 3. Bonus period | 3X active → 120 x 3 | 360 entries |
| 4. Order bonus | $120 meets the $100 threshold → +50 | 410 entries |
| 5. Discount code | VIP10 → +25 | 435 entries |
| 6. Checkout bonus | None | 435 entries |
| 7. Order multiplier products | None | 435 entries |
| **Final total** |  | **435 entries** |