Digital scale overload protection

A method, comprising:

• identifying a state of a terminal;
• instructing a lift apparatus on a scale to raise or lower a top tray of the scale off of or onto weight sensors under the top tray responsive to determining that the state of the terminal is an idle terminal state;
• instructing the lift apparatus to lower the top tray onto the weight sensors responsive to determining that the state of the terminal is a transaction state;
• instructing the lift apparatus to raise the top tray off of the weight sensors during the transaction state for the terminal when an expected weight of a scanned item at the terminal exceeds a first threshold weight and instructing the lift apparatus to lower the top tray back onto the weight sensors after the scanned item is placed on the top tray;
• and
• instructing the lift apparatus to raise the top tray off the weight sensors during the transaction state for the terminal when the expected weight of the scanned item in combination with a current weight of items on the top tray exceeds a second threshold weight and, one of:
• i) instructing a customer associated with a current transaction at the terminal to clear current items off the top tray in order to continue the current transaction on the terminal or ii) instructing the customer to pay for the current items and complete the current transaction at the terminal, remove the current items from the top tray, and start a new transaction by rescanning the scanned item after payment is made to complete the current transaction.