Buy 2 Get 1 Free on Shopify: Setup and Margin Guide

Buy 2 get 1 free (B2G1) is 33.3% off three items of the same price. On Shopify, you can run it with a native Buy X get Y discount, where shoppers add all three items themselves. Or you can use a bundle app that shows the deal on the product page and adds the three items in one click.

This guide covers what B2G1 costs you, both setups, and the details that trip merchants up: which item ends up free and what happens with six items in the cart. For a deeper look at the two-item version, see our guide to buy one get one free on Shopify. For how both fit next to quantity breaks and fixed bundles, see the product bundles guide.

What does buy 2 get 1 free really cost you?

When all three items cost the same, the customer pays for two and gets three. That is a real discount of 33.3%, less than the 50% of buy one get one free.

Here is a quick rule to check your margin. Compared with a single-item order, a B2G1 order earns more profit only when your cost per unit is less than half your price. The math: one sale earns price minus cost. A B2G1 order earns two prices minus three costs. The second beats the first only when price is more than twice the cost.

An example with made-up numbers. A candle sells for $30:

Use your full cost per unit: product, packaging and any per-item fulfillment fees. Shipping is often charged once per order, so a bigger order can spread that cost. Our post on bulk discount margin math shows how to count those savings.

If the rule fails for your product, B2G1 can still make sense. It just has to bring orders you would not get otherwise, or clear stock you would discount anyway.

What happens when the items have different prices?

The free item is usually the cheapest one, so the real discount drops. Say a customer picks candles at $40, $30 and $20 from a collection. If the $20 candle is free, they pay $70 for $90 of goods. That is 22.2% off, not 33.3%.

That works in your favor, but it can surprise shoppers who expected the $40 candle free. Say “cheapest item free” in your banner if the deal covers products with different prices.

How does B2G1 compare with other “3 for 2” offers?

Buy 2 get 1 free, “3 for the price of 2” and 33% off three items all cost you about the same on one product. The difference is how the discount looks and where it lands.

“Free” is easy to grasp at a glance. A spread-out discount makes partial returns simpler, because each item carries its own lower price. With B2G1, decide your return rule up front: if a customer returns one paid item, do they keep the free one?

If you want the spread-out version, our guide to quantity breaks on Shopify covers it. The bundle pricing strategy guide has the formula for any buy X get Y deal.

How do you set up buy 2 get 1 free on Shopify without an app?

Create a native Buy X get Y discount. These steps follow Shopify’s help center:

1. In your Shopify admin, go to Discounts and click Create discount.
2. Choose Buy X get Y, then pick a discount code or an automatic discount.
3. Under Customer buys, choose Minimum quantity of items, enter 2, and pick the products or collections that qualify.
4. Under Customer gets, enter 1, pick the same products or collections, and choose Free under At a discounted value.
5. Decide on Set the maximum number of uses per order (see below).
6. Set eligibility, usage limits, combinations and active dates, then click Save.

Does the deal repeat when a customer buys six items?

It can. Shopify says discount usage per order is “unlimited by default”. If you want one free item per order, no matter how many are in the cart, tick Set the maximum number of uses per order and enter 1.

Pick on purpose. Letting it repeat rewards stock-up orders. Capping it protects your margin on large carts.

What are the limits of the native setup?

• The free item isn’t added for the shopper. Shopify notes that the “get” item is “never automatically added to the cart”. A customer who adds two items pays for two and gets nothing free.
• Nothing shows on the product page. You need a banner, a line in the description or theme work to explain the deal.
• Sold-out items block the deal. If the free product’s inventory hits zero, the discount can’t be used.
• The cheaper item is the free one. In Shopify’s steps for automatic discounts, when both sides use the same products or collections, “the lower-priced item that the customer chooses” gets the discount.

How do you set up buy 2 get 1 free with Sam Bundles?

Sam Bundles, our bundle app, puts B2G1 next to the add to cart button. Shoppers pick the deal and all three items go to the cart at once. The steps below are specific to B2G1. The BOGO guide walks through every screen.

Step 1: Turn on the app and start from the template

Install the app and turn on the app embed, as shown in the install guide. Then go to Offers, click Create new offer and choose Buy X, get Y (BXGY) deal.

Step 2: Change the first bar to buy 2 get 1

The template starts with buy 1 get 1 free, buy 2 get 3 free and buy 3 get 6 free. Open the first bar and set:

• Buy: 2, at Full price.
• Get: 1, with Percentage off at 100. That makes the third item free.

Delete the other two bars, or change them. Buy 2 get 3 free is 60% off and buy 3 get 6 free is 66.7% off, so don’t leave them in by accident.

Step 3: Add a bar for bigger orders

Each bar gives the number of free items you set. A customer who picks the buy 2 get 1 bar gets one free item. To reward bigger orders, click Add bar and set Buy 4 and Get 2. Tick Selected by default on the bar you want shoppers to see first.

Step 4: Choose the products and check the preview

Under Products, apply the offer to all products, selected products or selected collections, and use Select exceptions to leave items out. The free items are more of the product the shopper is viewing. On the storefront, shoppers choose a variant for each of the three items, so “two blue, one green” works.

The Preview shows what the customer pays and saves. The default bar title uses {{product_buy}} and {{product_get}}, so it reads “Buy 2, get 1 free” after your change.

Step 5: Set the end date, combinations and save

Under Schedule, set a start date and tick Set end date for a limited sale. Under Advanced, choose whether the offer can combine with product, order and shipping discounts, and which customers can use it. The offer settings guide covers both. Click Save to publish.

Customers don’t need a code. The free item gets its discount automatically in the cart and at checkout. The full field list is in set up a buy X, get Y offer.

Should the free item be the same product or a different one?

Same product suits things people use up or buy in sets: socks, candles, coffee, skincare refills. The customer gets more of what they already want.

A different free product works when you want to introduce something new, like a free travel size with two full-size bottles. A native Buy X get Y discount lets you set a different product on the get side. In Sam Bundles, the BXGY template gives more of the same product. For a different free product, use Quantity breaks with a free gift: set a bar to Quantity 2 and click Add free gift. The quantity breaks guide shows where it is.

How should you word a buy 2 get 1 free offer?

Keep it short, and put the condition in the same line as the offer:

• “Buy 2, get 1 free”
• “Buy any 2, get the cheapest free” (for mixed-price collections)
• “3 for the price of 2, ends Sunday” (only with a real end date)

Charge your normal price on the paid items, and don’t run “free” deals all year. Our BOGO guide sums up what the FTC’s guide on the word “free” says about both. That is general information, not legal advice.

What should you test before you launch?

Place test orders that match how real shoppers behave:

1. Add exactly two items. With a native discount, nothing should be free. Make sure your banner explains the third item.
2. Add three items at one price. One should show at $0 in the cart and at checkout.
3. Add three items at different prices. Check which one is free and that your banner says so.
4. Add six items. Check whether you get one or two free, and that it matches what you chose.
5. Try a discount code on top. It should stack, or not, as you set it.
6. Check the order in your admin. Your team should see all three items to pick and pack.

How do you know your B2G1 deal worked?

Compare the sale period with a normal period of the same length. Look at orders, units per order, average order value and profit per order with your real costs.

In Sam Bundles, the app home shows additional revenue, orders, AOV increase and conversion rate, with a results row for each offer. If shoppers pick the B2G1 bar but profit per order falls, try buy 2 get 1 at 50% off, or a smaller volume discount, next time.