What is an open priced item?

Point of Sale (POS) Glossary

An open priced item has no preset price and requires the cashier to enter one at the sale time. Open priced items are also known as variable priced items.

An open priced item may be used for market-priced, miscellaneous inventory, special, or custom made items. A restaurant may have items that vary significantly based on market value, such as crab. They may need the flexibility to set the price on customer-requested meals, not on the regular menu. Craftspeople may use open priced item functionality to accommodate charging for a custom product’s build time and materials. If a store gets many one-off items, the open priced item allows them a way to sell them on the fly.

A point of sale system could be configured to allow the cashier to input the price for these open priced items. Depending on the store’s policies and procedures, the POS could also be set to get manager approval, dual cashier approval, or another type of double-checking before accepting the price.