Compare at price meaning: what the crossed-out price claims

What compare at price means

The compare-at price is the reference price a store shows next to the selling price, usually with a line through it. When a product page shows a higher price crossed out and a lower price beside it, the crossed-out number is the compare-at price. The buyer reads it as a claim: this item normally sells for the higher amount, and today it costs less.

That claim is what makes the compare-at price useful and what makes it risky. If the higher price is real, the buyer gets an honest picture of the saving. If the higher price was never charged, or was charged only for a few days so a sale could follow, the saving is invented. The FTC guides call that a fictitious former price.

Stores use the term in slightly different ways. Most of the time it means one of three things, and each one is judged against a different benchmark.

• Your own former price: the price you charged for this item before the sale. Shopify's help page tells you to set the compare-at field to the original price of the product.
• A price elsewhere: what other stores in your area charge for the same item.
• A comparable value or list price: what similar items sell for, or the price a manufacturer suggests.

Whichever one you mean, the label should say so. Without a label, buyers are likely to read a crossed-out number as your own former price.

FTC pricing guidelines for compare-at prices

The Federal Trade Commission's Guides Against Deceptive Pricing date from 1967. They rest on the FTC Act (15 U.S.C. 45, 46) and describe how the FTC reads bargain claims. The guides cover each kind of comparison separately. The table sums up the test for each one, in the guides' own terms.

One point in the guides helps small sellers: a former price is not necessarily fictitious merely because no sales at the advertised price were made. You do not need sales at the old price to use it as an asking price. You do need to have offered it openly and in good faith, for long enough that it was the real price.

What makes a sale price fake

The FTC guides give their own example of a fake sale. A retailer who normally sells a pen at the lower price raises it for a few days, sells almost none, then cuts it back and advertises "Were $10, Now Only $7.50". The guides call that a false claim, because the lower price is just the regular price.

The guides also warn about savings that are too small to mean anything. Their example is an item "“Reduced to $9.99,” when the former price was $10". A sale has to be large enough that a buyer who knew the numbers would see a real saving.

• A compare-at price you never charged.
• A compare-at price you charged only briefly, then cut so you could advertise a sale.
• A compare-at price from long ago, shown without saying when it applied.
• A permanent sale: the crossed-out price stays up month after month and nobody ever pays it.
• A countdown or "today only" message on a price that does not change when the timer ends.
• A manufacturer's list price that stores in your area do not actually charge.

Any of these can turn a compare-at price into deceptive pricing, even when the selling price itself is fair.

California's former price rule

California's Business and Professions Code Section 17501 adds its own test to the FTC guides. It defines the value of an advertised item as the prevailing market price in the place where the ad runs. A price can be advertised as a former price only if it was that prevailing market price within the three months immediately before the ad, unless the date when the alleged former price did prevail is clearly, exactly and conspicuously stated in the ad.

In practice that means two things for a store that sells to California buyers. The compare-at price should be the market price, not only a price you once listed. And it should be recent. If your compare-at price is older than the look-back window, either update it or show the date it applied.

Other states have their own false advertising and consumer protection laws. Rules vary by state and sometimes by city. This page is general information, not legal advice. If your store runs frequent sales or ships to many states, ask a lawyer who handles advertising law to review your pricing.

How to set a compare at price in Shopify

Shopify calls the field Compare-at price. Shopify's own help example sets Price $10 USD, Compare-at price $30 USD. These steps follow Shopify's help page for the desktop admin.

1. Open the product

   In your Shopify admin, go to Products and click the product you want to edit. To change one variant, open the Variants section and choose the variant.

2. Enter the compare-at price

   In the Price section, click Compare at and enter the original price. Shopify shows the sale only when the compare-at price is higher than the value in the Price field.

3. Enter the selling price

   Put the price the buyer will pay in the Price field, then click Save. On product and collection pages both prices can show, but only the sale price is displayed at checkout.

4. Check how your theme shows it

   Whether and where the crossed-out price appears depends on your theme. Open the product page and a collection page to see the badge and the strikethrough.

5. Keep variants consistent

   If some variants have a compare-at price and others are empty or different, the collection page won't display the product as being on sale. Give every variant the same treatment.

6. Remove it when the sale ends

   Clear the Compare-at price field when the price goes back up. A compare-at price left in place turns a short sale into a permanent one.

Compare-at price and Shopify discounts

A compare-at price is separate from a Shopify discount. Shopify says savings from automatic discounts and discount codes are always displayed with a crossed-out price at checkout. To show a crossed-out price for a discount on product and collection pages, Shopify says you need a third-party discount app or a custom build.

If you sell in several countries with Shopify Markets, note that Fixed prices will override prices and compare-at prices set in your admin. Check the compare-at price in each market catalog, not only in the main product record.

How to set an honest compare-at price

Example: a candle you sold at $28 for the past four months goes on sale at $22. The steps show what to check before you put $28 in the compare-at field.

1. Use a price you really charged

   The compare-at price should be the price the item was offered to the public on a regular basis for a reasonably substantial period of time. In the example, $28 qualifies because the candle sat at that price for months.

2. Check how recent it is

   For California buyers the former price should have been the market price within the three months before the sale. If it is older, show the date or drop it.

3. Keep records

   Save the dates and prices for each product, for example screenshots or a price history export. Records are how you show the former price was real if anyone asks.

4. Make the saving meaningful

   Avoid token cuts. The FTC guides treat a claim like "“Reduced to $9.99,” when the former price was $10" as misleading.

5. Label any other comparison

   If the higher price is a price elsewhere or a list price, say so in words next to it, and make sure it matches what stores actually charge.

6. End the sale

   Set an end date, then take the compare-at price down. A crossed-out price that never changes is no longer a price you recently charged.

Where Nation fits

Questions about compare-at prices