What is compare-at price?

The “was” price. Set it properly and a discount looks like a discount; forget it and your whole catalog looks permanently on sale.

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Compare-at price is a per-variant field holding the price a product is being compared against. When it is higher than the actual price, most themes strike it through and show a sale badge.

How it behaves

  • It is a variant field, so each variant carries its own.
  • It does nothing on its own — it only affects display, not what the customer is charged.
  • Themes generally show a discount only when compare-at is higher than price.
  • It stays until you clear it, which is how catalogs end up permanently “on sale”.

The correct promotion pattern

  1. Before discounting: set compare-at price to the current price.
  2. Then reduce the price itself.
  3. When the promotion ends: restore price from compare-at, then clear compare-at.

Doing the first two steps in one task is what keeps the reference price honest, because it is copied from the real price rather than typed from memory.

Where it gets people in trouble

Inflating compare-at price to manufacture a discount is regulated in many markets — a reference price is supposed to be a price you actually charged. Snapshotting the current price before a genuine reduction keeps you on the right side of that.

Bulk Product Edit by MITS edits this field in bulk across a filtered part of your catalog, with a log and a one-click revert.

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Related reading

Bulk edit compare-at price on Shopify

Set, derive or clear the compare-at price so discounts display — and stop displaying — on time.

Read more

Bulk discount products on Shopify

Apply a storefront discount across a range and restore prices afterwards.

Read more

What is profit margin?

Margin versus markup, with the table that prevents the expensive mistake.

Read more

Ready to edit your Shopify catalog in bulk?

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