I know using choices is the most confusing part of Hyena Cart Standard, so I'm hoping a short tutorial will make them more understandable. Let's start with a basic explanation of the different options (this is the same text you'll find on your "Stocking with instructions" page). I should also add one *warning*. If you use choices with qty greater than one, it is possible to oversell your listing. If you anticipate a high-degree of stalking, you should make separate listings for each item.

The most important thing to remember is, if you're using choices with quantity less than 999, you need to enter the *full* price of your item in the choice table. Anything you enter in the other price field will be ignored. If you use 999 or 1000+ options, then the price is added to the main price field, so only the add-on price of the item is entered in the choice table.

Regular choices: At it's most basic, the choice options are designed to be used for in-stock items which are mostly the same, but have a slight difference (for example, color or pattern). So if you had five pocket diapers, 3 red and 2 blue for $10 each, you would enter "red", "3", "10"; and "blue", "2", "10". If you also had one frog print to offer for $12, you could also add "frog", "1", "12". In this case, after you hit submit, the stockpage would automatically sum all your choices to get the main item qty (the one that shows in your store table). Take note, that means if you enter 12 in the main qty field (at the top of the stocking page), then enter some choices with numbers that add up to 6, your 12 will be automatically overwritten by the number 6. Hope that makes sense. On the item page, the customer would see a drop down menu with the choices 0 to the number of that item still available. The items would be inventoried and decrease as customers purchase them. This allows you to sell more than one item at a time. If your customer tries to make a purchase with all the drop downs still showing 0, they will get an error message telling them to enter a quantity greater than 0.

999 (yes/no) choices: Now let's say you have an add-on feature that costs extra. For example, snaps on a diaper. You want the customer to be able to choose whether or not to have snaps and also for the total price to reflect the add-on. Basically, you'd like a choice that shows yes or no in the drop-down menu. That's when you enter a choice qty of 999. So, for example, if you enter, "Snaps", "999", "0.50"; an extra 50 cent charge will be added to each diaper your customer purchases if they click "yes". Note that choices with qty of 999 don't add to the total item qty. In fact, if all your choices have 999 for a qty, then the main qty you enter for your item will not be altered.

1000+ (add-on) choices: Finally, let's say you have add-ons you'd like to offer your customer and they don't have a limited inventory. For example, doublers, t-shirts, wool soap, etc. For this type of item, you would enter 1000 plus the max number of this add-on you would like to offer. Say you're selling an AIO shell and would like to offer up to 6 extra snap-ins at $3.00 each. Then you would enter "Snap-ins","1006","3". The customer will see a drop-down menu offering 0 to 6 add-on snap-ins and can choose to add those to their purchase. These types of add-on options are *not* inventoried. That means of customer 1 comes in and gets an AIO with 6 snap-ins, the item page will still show a drop-down offering 0-6 snap-ins for the next customer. If you have a very limited quantity of something, then using the 1000+ add-on option is not the way to go. However, if you have 20 bars of wool soap, for example, then you're totally safe offering up to 5 bars of soap with each of your 4 in-stock soakers. Like the 999 option, 1000+ options don't add anything to the main qty.

Shipping: The additional shipping per item field only applies to regular choices, not 999 or 1000+ choices. If any of your add-ons will add significant weight to your customer's package, you should include that additional charge in your choice price.

Multiple inventoried items: There's one last way to use your choices, but it's a little unconventional. Let's say you had 24 prefolds ($2.50 each), and 3 pink snappis and 4 blue snappis ($1.50 each) to sell, and you want your customers to be able to purchase all of those items at one time. You could enter "Prefolds", "24", "2.50"; "Pink snappis", "3", "1.50"; "Blue snappis", "4", "1.50". All of these items will have separate inventories and won't oversell, but on your main store page, in the table, the Main Qty will show as 31 (24 + 3 + 4). That may or may not be confusing, but it would work. Note that in that case, you'd have to sort of average your additional shipping charge as each prefold and each snappi would add the same shipping charge to the total.
Case 1: I am stocking skeins of yarn and I want my customer to be able to buy more than one skein at a time.
How-to: This falls under the category of "Regular Choice." You have more than one of a certain item, and you want to be able to sell more than one at a time. Let's say you have 3 skeins of yarn to sell for $12 each. Then enter this into your choice table:
Choice Qty Price
Additional shipping (per item):

Here's what will happen: On your listing, your customer will see a drop-down menu with the number of available skeins listed. She can choose 1, 2, or 3 and the quantity will be subtracted from the total number of skeins you have in-stock. Note also, that anything you enter into the "Main Qty" field will be ignored because that field will be automatically calculated based on what you enter in the choice fields. Also, the price you enter into the "Price" field (under "Stock Type") will show up on your main store table, but won't actually be used in the calculation when your customer checks out. It's the price in your choice table that will be used to calculate the final total.

In addition, the 0.50 in the "Additional shipping (per item)" will add 50 cents for each skein above a quantity of 1. So in this case, if your customer buys two skeins, she'll be charged 2*$12 for the yarn, and $1.00 + $.50 if she chooses First Class shipping.

This is what the listing will look like: Multiple Skeins of Yarn.

Case 2: I am stocking skeins of yarn in different colors and I want my customer to be able to buy more than one skein and color at a time.
How-to: Again, this falls under the category of "Regular Choice." You have more than one of a certain item, and you want to be able to sell more than one at a time. Let's say you have yarn in several different colors. Then enter this into your choice table:
Choice Qty Price
Additional shipping (per item):

Here's what will happen: On your listing, your customer will see a drop-down menus for each color with the number of available skeins listed. She can choose 1, 2, or 3 of each one and the quantity will be subtracted from the skeins you have in-stock. Note also, that anything you enter into the "Main Qty" field will be ignored because that field will be automatically calculated based on what you enter in the choice fields. Also, the price you enter into the "Price" field (under "Stock Type") will show up on your main store table, but won't actually be used in the calculation when your customer checks out. It's the price in your choice table that will be used to calculate the final total.

In addition, the 0.50 in the "Additional shipping (per item)" will add 50 cents for each skein above a quantity of 1. So in this case, if your customer buys two skeins, she'll be charged 2*$12 for the yarn, and $1.00 + $.50 if she chooses First Class shipping.

This is what the listing will look like: Multiple Skeins of Yarn w/ Different colors.

Case 3: I am stocking a one-of-a-kind item, and I want the customer to be able to choose to add on some options
How-to: This falls into the 999 choice category. 999 options are yes/no options like including a drawstring with a soaker, or upgrading to snaps on a diaper. For example, if you enter this into your choice table,
Choice Qty Price
Additional shipping (per item):

Here's what will happen: On your listing, your customer will see drop-down menus for each option that have a choice of "yes" or "no." She will only be able to buy one item at a time, and your stock will be based on the number you enter in "Main Qty." In contrast to the Regular Choices, the price of a 999 option adds to the price you enter into the "Price" field (under "Stock Type").

This is what the listing will look like: OOAK item with options.

Case 3: I'm selling a wool-in-one and I'd like the customer to be able to choose a number of snap-in inserts, up to 6.
How-to: This falls into the 1000+ choice category. These choices allow the customer to choose a quantity on an option, without affecting the value in the "Main Qty" field. These choices are also not inventoried.
Choice Qty Price
Additional shipping (per item):

Here's what will happen: On your listing, your customer will see drop-down menus for the snap-in inserts. She can choose from 0-6. The total price calculated will be the main price plus the choice price.

This is what the listing will look like: WIO with inserts.

Case 4: I have a huge inventory of prefolds, snappi, and covers, and I'd like the customer to be able to check out with a combination of all of these items at the same time.
How-to: This again falls into the 1000+ choice category.
Choice Qty Price
Additional shipping (per item):

Here's what will happen: On your listing, your customer will see drop-down menus in front of each option that will allow her to choose the number of prefolds, snappis and covers she'd like to buy. She can purchase any combination of these three items and check out all at once.

This is what the listing will look like: Prefolds and Snappis.

Case 5: I want to sell one item, but I want to let the customer choose which size, and each size has a different price.
How-to: The easiest way to do this is with yes/no choices.
Choice Qty Price
Additional shipping (per item):

Here's what will happen: Like Case 3, on your listing, your customer will see drop-down menus for each option that have a choice of "yes" or "no." She will only be able to buy one item at a time, and your stock will be based on the number you enter in "Main Qty." In contrast to the Regular Choices, the price of a 999 option adds to the price you enter into the "Price" field (under "Stock Type"). In other words, you should set newborn as your base price, and each size option should be priced at the additional charge over and above the newborn base price.

This is what the listing will look like: Different size pricing, single purchase.

Case 6: I want to sell more than one item, but I want to let the customer choose which sizes, and each size has a different price.
How-to: This case is similar to Case 4. You want the customer to be able to check out with more than one item at a time, and each item has a different price.
Choice Qty Price
Additional shipping (per item):

Here's what will happen: Like Case 4, on your listing, your customer will see drop-down menus for each option that allow her to choose how many of each item she would like to buy. Because these are regular choices, the choice of each option should reflect it's full amount since the price entered in the main price field (below Stock Type) will be ignored in the final price calculation.

This is what the listing will look like: Different size pricing, multiple purchase.

Case 7: I want to sell some custom diapers with different option that add to the final price.
How-to: Here's a case where you can mix regular and yes/no options. Note that as soon as you add a regular option, the pricing is completely determined by the choice price values, and the main price value is ignored (you will probably still want to enter the main price as the base price so it shows up correctly in your store table).
Choice Qty Price
Additional shipping (per item):

Here's what will happen: Your customer will see several drop down menus which will allow her to choose which fabric, closure, and inner material she would like for her diapers. Her choice of closure and inner material will apply to all the diapers she purchases.

This is what the listing will look like: Custom Diaper.

Case 8: I want to sell yarn that can be left natural or custom dyed. I also want the customer to be able to buy more than one skein at a time.
How-to: This is similar to Case 7. It's a mix of regular and yes/no choices.
Choice Qty Price
Additional shipping (per item):

Here's what will happen: Your customer will see several drop down menus which will allow her to choose how many skeins of yarn she would like to buy. Her choice of the yarn being custom dyed and including a t-shirt will be applied to every skein if yarn in this purchase.

This is what the listing will look like: Custom Dyed Yarn.

Another similar case is selling wipes with multiple options: Wipes.

In this case, the choice table looks like:

Choice Qty Price