API / Decisioning & equivalence
What it costs to own, not to buy. Consumables, subscriptions and refills over a horizon — the number that reverses the ranking in printers, coffee machines and razors.
GET /v1/products/{id}/total-cost
| Name | Type | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| horizon_months | int | Default 24. |
| usage | object | Category-specific: pages_per_month, cups_per_day, loads_per_week. |
GET /v1/products/prd_9c31dK/total-cost?horizon_months=24&usage.pages_per_month=300
→ 200
{ "purchase_minor": 12900,
"consumables": [
{ "product_id": "prd_ink_44", "title": "Ink cartridge XL",
"unit_minor": 3499, "units_over_horizon": 8, "subtotal_minor": 27992 } ],
"subscriptions": [],
"total_minor": 40892,
"monthly_equivalent_minor": 1704,
"note": "Consumables are 68% of 24-month cost. The cheaper printer at $89 uses standard-yield cartridges and totals $512 over the same horizon." }This is where sticker-price comparison misleads most badly. A printer, a coffee machine and a razor are all sold at a loss against the consumable stream behind them.
Consumable linkage is derived from compatibility attributes, not from the seller's cross-sell — which is optimised for attachment rate, not for accuracy.