A 640-message overshoot costs one 10 SAR top-up
Topping up wallet messages for a busy barbershop month is cheap: a shop that runs over its plan's monthly allowance buys 500 extra messages for 5 SAR, 1,000 for 10 SAR, or unlimited for 20 SAR from the in-app Store, and the worked example below shows exactly when that becomes worth doing versus simply moving up a plan tier.
The scenario: a three-chair barbershop on Growth (85 SAR/mo, 5,000 messages) with 320 enrolled clients runs its usual welcome, stamp, reward, and 14-day win-back triggers, then adds two extra broadcast campaigns during Ramadan and Eid — one reminding clients of evening hours, one wishing them a happy Eid with a bonus-stamp offer. That combination pushes the month's total to roughly 5,640 messages, about 640 over the 5,000 allowance.
The worked numbers
Building the month from its parts shows where the overage actually comes from, rather than treating 5,640 as a single mystery number.
| Item | Volume | Running total |
|---|---|---|
| Standard triggers (welcome, stamp, reward, win-back) | ≈3,900 | 3,900 |
| Regular monthly broadcast | 320 | 4,220 |
| Ramadan evening-hours campaign | 320 | 4,540 |
| Eid bonus-stamp campaign | 320 | 4,860 |
| Buffer for late enrollments and re-sends | ≈780 | 5,640 |
Which top-up size actually covers the gap
A 500-message top-up (5 SAR) doesn't quite close a 640-message gap, so this particular month needs the 1,000-message top-up at 10 SAR — the extra 360 messages just carry over unused rather than being wasted, since the balance is a shared monthly pool for triggers and campaigns alike.
That brings the month's total spend to 95 SAR: 85 SAR for the Growth plan plus a 10 SAR top-up. Compare that to Premium at 149 SAR a month with unlimited messages — for a single busy month, staying on Growth and topping up is the cheaper choice by 54 SAR.
- 500 messages for 5 SAR — covers small, one-off overages
- 1,000 messages for 10 SAR — the right size for the Ramadan/Eid scenario above
- Unlimited for 20 SAR — cheaper than the 1,000-message top-up if a shop expects more than one busy campaign that month
- Premium at 149 SAR/mo — worth comparing once top-ups become a near-monthly habit rather than a seasonal spike
When a repeated top-up means it's time to upgrade
One seasonal top-up a year, timed to Ramadan or Eid, is normal and cheap — 10 SAR is a rounding error against a month of extra bookings from a well-timed campaign. The pattern worth watching is a shop that needs a top-up most months, not just during the two predictable seasonal peaks.
At that point, run the comparison directly: Growth at 85 SAR plus a recurring 10 SAR top-up is 95 SAR a month, only 54 SAR under Premium's 149 SAR — and Premium also removes the branch cap (unlimited vs Growth's 3) and the card cap (unlimited vs Growth's 10), which matters more the longer the shop keeps growing.
Working out your own top-up size
Run the same four steps against your own client count and campaign calendar rather than the 320-client Ramadan example above.
- Step 1: total your standard trigger volume
Add up welcome, stamp, reward, and win-back sends for a typical month from the dashboard, not an estimate.
- Step 2: add every planned campaign for the month
Count each broadcast separately — a Ramadan hours message and an Eid offer are two sends, not one.
- Step 3: compare the total to your plan's allowance
Check against Free's 100, Growth's 5,000, or Premium's unlimited messages a month.
- Step 4: round the shortfall up to the nearest top-up size
Choose 500, 1,000, or unlimited for 5, 10, or 20 SAR based on the gap, not the smallest available option.
- Step 5: flag repeated top-ups for a plan review
If the same month needs a top-up two years running, or most months need one, compare the running cost to Premium directly.
What top-ups don't fix
A message top-up only buys volume — it doesn't change how scheduled campaigns respect the shop's working hours, so a Ramadan evening campaign queued after closing still waits for the next open slot regardless of how many messages are left in the balance. It also doesn't touch geofence messages, which cost zero message quota at any plan tier since they aren't wallet-message sends.
One limit worth stating plainly: there's no SMS channel to fall back on if a shop genuinely runs dry mid-campaign — every message here, trigger or broadcast, is a wallet lock-screen push to Apple Wallet or Google Wallet, and Waya has no POS or till integration, so the stamp-triggered messages in the table above only fire when a barber has actually scanned the card.
Frequently asked questions
How much does it cost to top up wallet messages for a barbershop?
500 messages cost 5 SAR, 1,000 messages cost 10 SAR, and unlimited for the month costs 20 SAR, bought from the in-app Store whenever a shop's plan allowance runs short.
Why would a 320-client Growth-plan shop need a top-up?
Standard triggers plus two seasonal campaigns during Ramadan and Eid can push a month to roughly 5,640 messages, about 640 over Growth's 5,000 allowance — a 1,000-message top-up for 10 SAR covers the gap.
Is it cheaper to top up or move to Premium?
For one busy month, Growth plus a 10 SAR top-up (95 SAR total) is cheaper than Premium's 149 SAR. Once top-ups become a near-monthly habit rather than a seasonal spike, the 54 SAR gap narrows enough that Premium's unlimited messages, branches, and cards are worth comparing directly.
Do geofence messages count toward the amount a shop needs to top up?
No. Geofence messages, delivered to the customer's lock screen when they're near the branch, cost zero message quota and never contribute to a plan's usage total.
What happens if a shop runs out of messages and doesn't top up?
Sends simply pause until the next monthly reset or a top-up is purchased. There's no SMS fallback — Waya has no SMS channel at any plan tier, so a paused balance means no wallet messages go out until it's refilled.