Reservation pricing is set using a table configured in the Resource agent. Only your Merkato administrator can make changes to this table. The illustration shows the reservation price table.
The following values are configurable:
In general, sellers offer the highest price for short reservations and for small quantities of bandwidth. They offer the lowest price for large quantities of bandwidth over long periods of time.
When a buyer requests a reservation, Merkato calculates a price based on the requested amount of bandwidth and the duration of the reservation. The reservation prices are automatically scaled between price points to prevent abrupt jumps when buyers select quantities just above or below the price point.
Your Merkato administrator can increase the number of rows or columns in the rate sheet to accommodate more price points.
In addition to the unit price for bandwidth, you may specify a cancellation fee. This fee is expressed as a percentage. It represents the percentage of the value of the cancelled portion of the contract that is charged to the buyer. For example, if the cancellation fee is 50% and the buyer cancels at the mid point of the contract, the buyer owes 50% of the original contract price (the remaining portion of the contract) times 50% (the cancellation fee), or 25% of the original contract, on cancellation. Buyers are informed of this fee in a pop-up confirmation window when they cancel an existing reservation.