What is compare-at price?
In Shopify, the "compare-at price" is the original or reference price that appears with a strikethrough next to the actual selling price. When customers see a product priced at $29.99 with a compare-at price of $39.99 crossed out, it creates a sense of value and urgency. This is a standard Shopify feature used by many stores to highlight discounts and promotions.
Repricing.app lets you automate this compare-at price as part of your Shopify strategy, so you don't have to manage it manually for every product.
Compare price modes
The compare-at price setting appears in the Pricing step of the strategy wizard when you create or edit a Shopify strategy. There are four options:
Disabled
No compare-at price is sent to Shopify. Your products show just the selling price with no strikethrough. This is the default.
Auto (previous price)
The system automatically uses the product's previous price as the compare-at price. When the repricer lowers a product's price, the old price becomes the strikethrough price. This creates an organic "was/now" pricing display without any manual work.
For example, if a product was priced at $49.99 and the repricer lowers it to $39.99, Shopify shows "$39.99" with "$49.99" crossed out.
Markup from selling price
Set the compare-at price as a fixed or percentage markup above the selling price. This gives you precise control over how big the "discount" appears to customers:
- Percentage markup. For example, "20% above selling price." If the selling price is $40.00, the compare-at price would be $48.00.
- Fixed amount markup. For example, "$10.00 above selling price." If the selling price is $40.00, the compare-at price would be $50.00.
The compare-at price updates automatically whenever the selling price changes. So if the repricer adjusts the selling price from $40.00 to $35.00 (with a 20% markup), the compare-at price automatically changes from $48.00 to $42.00.
Set manually
Use the compare-at price that's already set on each product in your Shopify store (or uploaded via the Import module). The repricer doesn't modify the compare-at price, it only adjusts the selling price. Useful when you have specific promotional prices or MSRP values set as your compare-at prices and want to keep them exactly as they are.
Best practices
- Don't overdo the discount appearance. A compare-at price that's 50% higher than the actual price can look suspicious to customers. A 10% to 25% difference tends to feel natural and trustworthy.
- Use "Auto" for dynamic pricing. If your prices change frequently, the auto mode keeps the strikethrough honest and up to date without any manual maintenance.
- Use "Markup" for consistent presentation. If you want every product to show the same percentage discount (like "always 15% off"), markup mode is the cleanest approach.
- Check your store's theme. Make sure your Shopify theme actually displays compare-at prices. Most themes do, but some custom themes may not show strikethrough pricing by default.