PromoStandards Made Simple
Promotional Products
Discount Codes Explained
The complete guide to ABC and PQR discount codes — plus how to automate discount pricing with a single API call instead of manual lookups.
What Are Promotional Products Discount Codes?
Discount codes are essential in the promotional products industry. They allow distributors to receive products at reduced prices based on bulk orders or special offers. Prices are tiered — the more you purchase, the greater the discount.
Instead of listing every possible price, suppliers assign discount codes that map to specific discount percentages. This coded system (ABC or PQR) simplifies communication between suppliers and distributors across the entire industry.
ABC & PQR Discount Code Reference
Two parallel systems are used. ABC codes start with A, PQR codes start with P. Both map to the same discount percentages:
| Code (ABC / PQR) | Discount % | You Pay |
|---|---|---|
| — / L | 70% | 30% |
| — / M | 65% | 35% |
| — / N | 60% | 40% |
| — / O | 55% | 45% |
| A / P | 50% | 50% |
| B / Q | 45% | 55% |
| C / R | 40% | 60% |
| D / S | 35% | 65% |
| E / T | 30% | 70% |
| F / U | 25% | 75% |
| G / V | 20% | 80% |
| H / W | 15% | 85% |
| I / X | 10% | 90% |
| J / Y | 5% | 95% |
| X / Z | 0% | 100% |
How Discount Codes Work in Practice
Suppliers assign different discount codes to different quantity breaks. The more units you order, the deeper the discount:
| Quantity | Discount Code | Discount | Price on $10 item |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1–99 | X | 0% | $10.00 |
| 100–499 | C | 40% | $6.00 |
| 500+ | A | 50% | $5.00 |
To calculate manually: Base Price × (1 − Discount%) = Your Price. For code C on a $10 item: $10 × 0.60 = $6.00.
Discount Code Calculator
Enter a base price and select a discount code to see the net cost.
Your Net Price
$
Tired of Manual Discount Lookups?
Manually decoding discount codes, building spreadsheets, and updating prices across catalogs takes hours. PSRESTful gives you a single REST API that returns decoded pricing from 70+ PromoStandards suppliers — discount codes already resolved.
Instant Price Lookups
Get net prices with a single API call. No more manual code-to-percentage conversions.
Always Up to Date
Prices update automatically as suppliers change their discount tiers. No stale spreadsheets.
70+ Suppliers, One API
Access product data, pricing, inventory, and media from all major suppliers through one endpoint.
Free plan includes 10 API calls/day. Set up in under 2 minutes.
When Are Discount Codes Used?
Trade Shows & Promotions
Distributors frequently use discount codes during special promotions, trade shows, or holiday campaigns to offer time-limited pricing to their customers.
Pricing APIs & Automation
Discount codes are integrated into PromoStandards pricing APIs, enabling automatic price updates as tiers shift. PSRESTful handles this decoding for you.
Bulk & Volume Orders
Higher quantities unlock deeper discount codes. Codes help standardize pricing across thousands of products without listing individual prices.
Catalog & E-commerce Integration
When syncing supplier catalogs to your store, discount codes must be resolved to actual prices. PSRESTful does this automatically for Shopify and other platforms.
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