Since Magento does not use the simple product’s (child’s) real price but rather the value set as price difference to the parent product, you can’t use the normal getPrice() method to determine the price of the child product. Well we got the correct prices on the detail page of the products, so they have to be retrievable somehow.
<?php
class Outsourcing4work_catalog_helper_data extends Mage_Core_Helper_Data
{
public function shouldDisplayMinimalPrice($product)
{
if (Mage::registry('product')) {
return false;
}
if (!$product->isConfigurable()) {
return false;
}
$item = Mage::getResourceModel('catalog/product_type_configurable_attribute_collection')
->setProductFilter($product)->getFirstItem();
$prices = array();
foreach ($item->getPrices() as $price) {
$prices[] = $price['pricing_value'];
}
return (count(array_unique($prices)) > 1);
}
}
Furthermore, the helper returns false if the product is not configurable at all or the customer is currently visiting a detail page – assuming you’re using the helper in the price template and don’t want to display the label there. If you do, just remove this check or add a flag as the second parameter.
Finally, to use the helper, simply call it anywhere in your Magento code, for instance in a template:
<?php if (Mage::helper('Outsourcing4work_catalog')->shouldDisplayMinimalPrice($product)) : ?>
<!-- Print label etc. -->
<?php endif; ?>
