Using Compare at Price on Shopify

Shopify has this field called "Compare at price" sitting right next to the regular price field on every product. Most store owners either ignore it completely or use it wrong. Both are missed opportunities.

When used correctly, Compare at Price creates a visual strike-through effect on your product pages and collection pages. Customers see the original price crossed out with the sale price next to it. Simple psychology: crossed-out prices trigger the perception of a deal. That perception drives conversions.

But there's a right way and a wrong way to use this. Let me show you both.

What Compare at Price Actually Does

In Shopify, every product variant has two price fields:

Price: The actual amount the customer pays at checkout.

Compare at price: The reference price that Shopify displays as a strikethrough next to the current price. This field is optional. If you leave it blank, only the regular price shows.

When you fill in Compare at Price with a value higher than the Price field, most Shopify themes will automatically:

1. Show the Compare at Price with a line through it
2. Show the current Price in a sale color (usually red or a highlight color)
3. Display a "Sale" badge on the product card in collection pages
4. Sometimes calculate and display the percentage discount

All of this happens automatically based on your theme. No custom code needed for the basic functionality.

When to Use It

Legitimate Sales and Promotions

The most straightforward use case. You're running a site-wide sale, a seasonal promotion, or a clearance event. Set your regular selling price as the Compare at Price, and the sale price as the Price.

Before the sale: Price is $59. Compare at Price is blank. During the sale: Price is $47. Compare at Price is $59.

After the sale, you reset: Price back to $59. Compare at Price back to blank.

This is clean, honest, and effective.

Permanent "Value" Pricing

Some brands use Compare at Price as a permanent reference to show value. "This $80 product is always $59 on our site." The Compare at Price of $80 acts as an anchor.

This is common in DTC brands that want to position against retail pricing. "In stores: $80. Direct from us: $59." The Compare at Price reinforces the value proposition.

A word of caution: if you ALWAYS show a Compare at Price and the product is NEVER sold at the higher price, you're in legally questionable territory in some jurisdictions. The FTC has guidelines about reference pricing. The compare price should represent a genuine price the product has been sold at, whether on your site, at retail, or by an MSRP.

Variant-Level Pricing

Compare at Price works at the variant level, which means different sizes, colors, or configurations can have different discount amounts.

Example: A supplement brand with 30-count and 90-count bottles. The 90-count is a better deal:

• 30-count: Price $29, Compare at Price blank (no discount)
• 90-count: Price $69, Compare at Price $87 (saves $18, incentivizing the larger size)

This nudges customers toward higher-AOV variants without forcing the discount across all options.

Setting It Up Right

Individual Products

Go to Products in your Shopify admin. Click the product. In the pricing section, you'll see both fields side by side. Enter the Compare at Price, making sure it's higher than the Price. Save. Done.

For products with variants, you need to set Compare at Price on each variant individually. Click into the variant to see its pricing fields.

Bulk Editing

If you're running a site-wide sale, editing products one by one is painful. Use the bulk editor:

1. Go to Products in Shopify admin
2. Select the products you want to edit (or select all)
3. Click "Bulk edit"
4. Make sure "Compare at price" is visible as a column
5. Enter your values

For larger catalogs (100+ products), use a CSV export/import:

1. Export your products as CSV
2. Open in Excel or Google Sheets
3. Fill in the "Variant Compare At Price" column
4. Import the updated CSV back into Shopify

Or use an app like Bulk Price Editor that lets you apply percentage discounts across products or collections.

Using Shopify Scripts or Discounts

Here's an important distinction: Shopify's native discount system (automatic discounts and discount codes) is SEPARATE from Compare at Price. They can stack in confusing ways.

If a product has a Compare at Price of $80, a Price of $59, AND a customer applies a 10% discount code, the customer pays $53.10. But the display might show the Compare at Price of $80 next to $53.10, which looks like a 34% discount. Or it might show the original $59 with the code discount applied. This depends on your theme.

Test how your specific theme handles the interaction between Compare at Price and discount codes. If it looks confusing, choose one approach: either use Compare at Price for sales pricing or use discount codes, but be careful about combining them.

The Psychology Behind Crossed-Out Prices

Anchoring is one of the most powerful cognitive biases in pricing. When people see a higher number first (the Compare at Price), their brain uses it as a reference point. Everything after that feels like a deal relative to the anchor.

Research consistently shows:

• Products with a reference price sell 10-30% better than identical products without one
• The larger the gap between reference and sale price, the stronger the perception of value (up to a point)
• Showing the dollar amount saved or percentage saved amplifies the effect

But there's a ceiling. If the gap is too large, it triggers suspicion rather than excitement. A $200 product on "sale" for $39 doesn't feel like a deal. It feels fake. Keep your discounts in the 15-40% range for maximum credibility.

Theme Considerations

Not all Shopify themes display Compare at Price the same way. Here's what to check:

Sale badge. Does your theme automatically add a "Sale" or "On Sale" badge to product cards? Most do, but some require you to enable it in theme settings.

Color coding. Typically, the current price displays in red and the Compare at Price shows in gray with a strikethrough. If your brand colors conflict with red sale pricing, you may need to customize the theme CSS.

Percentage savings. Some themes calculate and display "Save 20%" automatically. Others just show the two prices. If your theme doesn't show the percentage, you can add it with a simple theme code modification.

Collection pages vs. product pages. Verify that Compare at Price displays correctly in both locations. Some themes show it on product pages but not on collection cards (or vice versa).

Mobile display. Always check mobile. If the two prices are on the same line and your product titles are long, the pricing might wrap awkwardly. Ensure it's readable on a phone screen.

Common Mistakes

Leaving Compare at Price After a Sale Ends

This happens all the time. You run a weekend sale, set Compare at Prices across your catalog, and forget to remove them on Monday. Now your "sale" has been running for three weeks and customers who bought at "full price" before the sale might feel cheated. Plus, a permanent "sale" loses its urgency.

Set a calendar reminder. Or better yet, use a Shopify app that lets you schedule sales with automatic start and end dates.

Setting Compare at Price Lower Than Price

If Compare at Price is lower than Price, most themes will display it incorrectly or ignore it. Some themes will show it as a "was cheaper, now more expensive" which is confusing. Always make sure Compare at Price is higher than Price.

Inconsistent Discounting

If your collection page shows some products at 10% off, some at 23% off, and some at 41% off, it looks random and unprofessional. For site-wide sales, use consistent discount tiers (20% off everything, or 15% off category A and 25% off category B).

Forgetting About Feeds

If you run Google Shopping or Meta catalog ads, Compare at Price data flows into your product feeds. Google Shopping will show the sale price with a "Sale" annotation. This is usually good (higher click-through rate on sale items), but make sure the sale is genuine. Google has policies against inflated compare prices.

Tax Complications

If your prices include tax (common in Europe and Australia), make sure both Price and Compare at Price use the same tax treatment. A Compare at Price that's tax-inclusive next to a Price that's tax-exclusive creates misleading discount calculations.

Strategic Applications

The "New Price" Reframe

Instead of "Sale," some brands use Compare at Price to communicate permanent price reductions: "Was $89, Now $69." This works well when you've genuinely lowered your pricing (maybe your production costs dropped or you want to be more competitive). It's a one-time anchoring play that drives a burst of purchases from customers who were on the fence at the old price.

Bundle Pricing Visual

If you sell bundles alongside individual products, use Compare at Price on the bundle to show the total value of buying items individually. Bundle contains products worth $120 individually. Bundle price is $89. Compare at Price: $120.

Seasonal Clearance

End-of-season clearance is the most honest and effective use of Compare at Price. You're genuinely trying to move inventory. The discounts are real. Customers know it's seasonal. There's no trust issue.

Making It Work With Your Email and Ad Strategy

When you run sales with Compare at Price, coordinate across channels:

• Your email campaigns should reference the same discount amounts shown on site
• Your Meta and Google ads should pull the sale pricing from your catalog feed
• Your Klaviyo flows should be updated if you have conditional content based on pricing

Nothing kills trust faster than an email saying "25% off everything" but the product page shows 18% off because you calculated the Compare at Price differently.

The Bottom Line

Compare at Price is a simple field with real conversion impact. Use it honestly, use it strategically, and keep it consistent across your store and marketing channels.

Need help building a pricing and promotion strategy that moves product without gutting your margins? Book a call with us. We'll show you how to use every tool Shopify gives you — including the ones you're probably ignoring.