How to Mark Items on Sale on Shopify

Table of Contents

1. Introduction
2. The Technical Foundations: How to Put Items on Sale
3. Bulk Editing: Scaling Your Sale Events
4. The Psychology of the "Compare-At Price"
5. Leveraging Collections for Automated Sales
6. Strategic Timing: When Should You Mark Items on Sale?
7. The Digital Advantage: Sales without Shipping Costs
8. Best Practices for a Successful Sale Event
9. Beyond the Discount: Building Brand Loyalty
10. Managing Margins and Profitability
11. Advanced Strategy: The "Teaser" Course
12. Common Mistakes to Avoid
13. Conclusion: Turning Sales into Growth
14. FAQ

Introduction

Did you know that nearly 93% of shoppers use a discount code or look for sale items at some point during their online shopping journey? Price is often the single most significant factor influencing a conversion, yet many merchants treat "on-sale" strategies as a simple math problem rather than a psychological lever. Whether you are clearing out last season’s physical inventory or launching a limited-time promotion for a digital masterclass, the way you present your discounts can be the difference between a high-converting event and a quiet storefront.

At Tevello, our mission is to turn any Shopify store into a digital learning powerhouse. We have seen firsthand how the most successful merchants don't just sell products; they create ecosystems where physical goods and digital knowledge thrive together. When you learn how to mark items on sale on Shopify, you aren't just changing a number in a database—you are communicating value, creating urgency, and rewarding customer loyalty.

In this guide, we will provide a comprehensive walkthrough of the technical steps required to discount your products, from manual price adjustments to bulk editing and automated collections. We will also explore the strategic "why" behind sales, specifically how to leverage discounts to increase Customer Lifetime Value (LTV). We’ll discuss how to use sale events to bridge the gap between physical merchandise and digital products, ensuring your brand remains the central destination for your customers. By the end of this article, you will have a robust framework for managing sales that drives revenue without eroding your brand’s perceived value.

The Technical Foundations: How to Put Items on Sale

Before we dive into the advanced strategies of inventory management and psychological anchoring, it is essential to master the basic mechanics of the Shopify admin panel. Shopify provides several native ways to adjust prices, ensuring that your customers see a clear "before and after" price comparison.

Individual Product Price Adjustments

The most straightforward method for marking an item on sale is through the individual product page. This is ideal for small stores or for testing the performance of a specific promotion on a flagship product.

1. Navigate to Products: Log into your Shopify admin and click on the "Products" tab in the left-hand sidebar.
2. Select Your Item: Click the name of the product you wish to discount.
3. Locate the Pricing Section: Scroll down until you see the "Pricing" card.
4. Edit the Price Fields: To show a sale price, you must understand two fields: "Price" and "Compare-at price."
   • Price: This is the new, lower amount the customer will actually pay.
   • Compare-at price: This is the original, higher price.
5. Save Changes: Once you enter these values, Shopify will automatically strike through the old price and highlight the new sale price on your storefront.

For merchants using Tevello to offer educational content, this process is identical. If you are running a flash sale on a certification course, you simply adjust the price in the Shopify product menu, and our native Shopify integration ensures that the discount is reflected immediately at checkout without any complex synchronization issues.

Handling Product Variants

If your product has multiple variants—such as different sizes, colors, or levels of a digital membership—you must adjust the pricing for each variant individually. In the product editor, scroll down to the "Variants" section. You can click "Edit" on a specific variant to access the price and compare-at price fields for that specific SKU. This allows you to run targeted sales on specific inventory levels, such as discounting only the "Small" size of a t-shirt while keeping the "Large" at full price.

Bulk Editing: Scaling Your Sale Events

Manually updating fifty or a hundred products is not only tedious but also prone to human error. Shopify’s bulk editor is a powerful tool for launching store-wide sales or seasonal promotions efficiently.

Using the Shopify Bulk Editor

To update prices across multiple items at once:

1. Select Multiple Products: In the "Products" list, use the checkboxes to select the items you want to include in the sale.
2. Enter Bulk Edit Mode: Click the "Bulk edit" button that appears in the floating action bar.
3. Customize Columns: Ensure both "Price" and "Compare-at price" columns are visible. If they aren't, click "Columns" in the top right and check those boxes.
4. Batch Update: You can now click through the cells like a spreadsheet. Type in the new prices and the original comparison prices.
5. Save: Click "Save" at the top right to push these changes live across your entire store simultaneously.

This efficiency is crucial when managing a diverse catalog. For instance, a merchant selling photography gear might want to put all tripods on sale to celebrate a new camera launch. At the same time, they could use Tevello to bundle a "Photography Masterclass" at a discounted rate for those who buy the hardware. We believe that your digital products that live directly alongside physical stock should be just as easy to manage as your physical inventory.

Importing Sales via CSV

For massive inventories, some merchants prefer working in Excel or Google Sheets. You can export your product list as a CSV file, update the pricing columns offline, and then re-import the file to Shopify. When importing, ensure you check the box that says "Overwrite any current products that have the same handle." This ensures your pricing updates are applied correctly to existing listings rather than creating duplicates.

The Psychology of the "Compare-At Price"

Why does Shopify use a "Compare-at price" instead of just letting you change the price? The answer lies in the psychological principle of anchoring.

Anchoring is a cognitive bias where the first piece of information offered (the "anchor") sets the standard for all subsequent judgments. When a customer sees a $100 price tag struck out next to a $60 price, the $100 acts as the anchor. The $60 price is no longer just a cost; it is perceived as a $40 gain.

If you only change the "Price" field to $60 and leave the "Compare-at price" empty, the customer has no reference point. They might wonder if the item was always $60. By showing the original price, you validate the quality of the item while simultaneously highlighting the opportunity of the discount.

This transparency builds trust, which is a core value at Tevello. We believe merchants should own their brand experience. By keeping customers on your own URL and using Shopify’s native pricing structures, you maintain professional consistency that third-party course platforms often lack. If unifying your stack is a priority, start by a simple, all-in-one price for unlimited courses.

Leveraging Collections for Automated Sales

Once you have marked your items on sale, you need a way to help customers find them. One of the most effective methods is creating a dedicated "Sale" or "Clearance" collection.

Creating an Automated "On Sale" Collection

Shopify allows you to create "Automated Collections" based on specific conditions. This means any time you mark an item with a "Compare-at price," it will automatically be added to your sale page without manual intervention.

1. Go to Products > Collections: Click "Create collection."
2. Title Your Collection: Use something clear like "Current Offers" or "Special Deals."
3. Select "Automated": In the collection type, choose "Automated."
4. Set the Rule: Under "Conditions," select:
   • Product property: "Compare-at price"
   • Operator: "is greater than"
   • Value: "0"
5. Save: Now, every product in your store that has a compare-at price will automatically populate in this collection.

This automation is a massive time-saver for growing brands. It ensures that your promotional pages are always up-to-date, reflecting your current inventory status in real-time.

Strategic Timing: When Should You Mark Items on Sale?

Running a sale "just because" can sometimes hurt your brand. If customers expect a sale every week, they will stop buying at full price. Instead, tie your sales to specific business goals or external events.

Seasonal and Holiday Sales

Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and seasonal shifts are the most common times for sales. These are periods when consumer intent is at an all-time high. However, don't just limit yourself to the big holidays. Look for dates that resonate with your specific niche.

For a merchant selling garden seeds and supplies, a "Late Summer Harvest Sale" makes perfect sense. This is a great time to sell remaining physical stock while upselling a digital course on "Preserving Your Harvest" using Tevello. We have seen many examples of successful content monetization on Shopify where merchants use seasonal physical sales as a gateway to recurring digital revenue.

Slow Periods and Inventory Movement

Every business has cycles. If you notice a dip in traffic during a particular month, a well-timed "Flash Sale" can inject necessary cash flow. Similarly, if you have items that have been sitting in the warehouse for over six months, discounting them to "break even" is often smarter than letting them take up space. Liquidating old physical stock frees up capital that you can reinvest into high-margin digital products or new inventory.

Recovering Abandoned Carts

Sometimes, a customer is interested but hesitant because of the price. You can use Shopify's automated marketing tools to send a discount code or a "sale notification" to customers who left items in their cart. Even a modest 10% discount can be the nudge needed to turn a lost lead into a lifelong customer.

The Digital Advantage: Sales without Shipping Costs

While marking physical items on sale requires careful consideration of shipping costs and warehouse margins, digital products offered through Tevello provide a different kind of flexibility. Because there is no incremental cost to "shipping" a video lesson or a PDF guide, your margins remain high even during deep discount events.

Imagine a fitness brand selling yoga mats. If they put the mats on sale at 30% off, their profit margin might become very thin once shipping and manufacturing are accounted for. However, if they bundle that sale with a "30-Day Yoga Challenge" hosted on Tevello, the digital portion of the sale has a 100% margin.

This hybrid model is why we offer a flat-rate plan that supports unlimited members. Whether you have 10 students or 10,000 students joining your sale, your costs stay predictable. We don't believe in penalizing your success, which is why we charge $0 in transaction fees. You keep every cent of the revenue you generate from your sales.

Best Practices for a Successful Sale Event

To ensure your sale drives maximum engagement, follow these industry best practices:

1. Notify Your Audience Early

A sale is only effective if people know about it. Use your email list, SMS marketing, and social media channels to build anticipation. A "Coming Soon" teaser for a sale can generate as much buzz as the sale itself.

2. Use Urgency and Scarcity

Humans are wired to avoid loss. Adding a countdown timer to your Shopify store or stating that "quantities are limited" encourages immediate action. If a customer knows the sale ends at midnight, they are much less likely to procrastinate.

3. Maintain Quality Visuals

Just because an item is on sale doesn't mean it should look "cheap." Ensure your product photography is top-notch. For digital products, use high-quality thumbnails and professional lesson titles. You can see how merchants are earning six figures by maintaining a high-end brand aesthetic even during promotional periods.

4. Optimize for Mobile

The majority of Shopify traffic now comes from mobile devices. Ensure your sale banners and "Compare-at" prices are easily readable on a small screen. A cluttered mobile experience will lead to high bounce rates, regardless of how good the discount is.

Beyond the Discount: Building Brand Loyalty

While marking items on sale is a great way to acquire new customers, the ultimate goal should be retention. A sale should be the start of a relationship, not just a one-off transaction.

By using Tevello, you can offer a "Community" aspect to your sales. Perhaps everyone who purchases a sale item gets invited to a private community group for 30 days. This creates a sense of belonging and gives you a platform to demonstrate your expertise. Merchants have found great success generating over €243,000 by upselling existing customers into premium digital memberships after an initial purchase.

When customers feel they are getting more than just a "cheap product," they become brand advocates. This transition from a "discount hunter" to a "loyal fan" is where true business stability lies.

Managing Margins and Profitability

One trap many Shopify owners fall into is focusing on revenue while ignoring profit. Before you mark an item on sale, you must understand your "Break-Even" point.

Calculating the "Safe" Discount

Take the total cost of your product (Manufacturing + Shipping + Marketing + Transaction Fees). If your product costs $20 and you sell it for $50, your margin is $30. If you offer a 50% discount, your new price is $25, leaving only $5 in profit. If your shipping costs increase or you have high ad spend, you might actually lose money on every sale.

This is why predictable pricing without hidden transaction fees is so important for your digital offerings. When you know exactly what your platform costs are, you can calculate your sale margins with 100% accuracy.

Using Sales to Increase LTV

Instead of just looking at the profit of a single sale, look at the Customer Lifetime Value. If a 20% discount on a physical starter kit brings in a customer who later subscribes to a $30/month digital membership, the initial "loss" of margin is a brilliant investment. This is the core of retention strategies that drive repeat digital purchases.

Advanced Strategy: The "Teaser" Course

A powerful way to use the Shopify sale feature is to offer a "Teaser" or "Mini-course" at a significant discount. For example, if you sell high-end kitchenware, you could mark a "30-Minute Knife Skills" video course down from $29 to $5.

This low-friction entry point allows the customer to experience your teaching style and the quality of your content. Once they are inside your Tevello ecosystem, you can use drip content and community features to guide them toward your full-priced masterclasses. This is one of all the key features for courses and communities that makes our app a strategic asset for Shopify merchants.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

1. Over-Discounting: If you are always on sale, your "regular" price becomes a lie. Customers will wait for the next discount rather than buying now.
2. Neglecting the Checkout Experience: If your discount code doesn't work or the sale price isn't reflected in the cart, you will lose the customer's trust instantly. Always test your sale prices in a "private" or "incognito" browser window before announcing them.
3. Ignoring Customer Support: Large sales often lead to an influx of questions. Ensure your support team (even if it's just you!) is ready to handle queries about shipping, digital access, or product details.

To minimize support friction, Tevello offers a streamlined experience. By seeing how the app natively integrates with Shopify, you ensure that when a customer buys a sale course, they get instant access using the same account they used for their physical purchase. This unified login reduces the "where is my course?" emails that plague many third-party platforms.

Conclusion: Turning Sales into Growth

Marking items on sale on Shopify is a fundamental skill for any e-commerce entrepreneur. It is a versatile tool that can help you manage inventory, attract new buyers, and reward your most loyal fans. However, the most successful brands look beyond the simple price cut. They use sales as a strategic entry point into a larger brand ecosystem—one that combines the tangible value of physical products with the scalability of digital learning.

By mastering the "Compare-at price" logic, utilizing bulk editing, and automating your collections, you can run professional, high-impact promotions with minimal effort. And when you pair those physical sales with digital courses and communities powered by Tevello, you create a business that is not just profitable during the holidays, but sustainable year-round.

We invite you to explore how our platform can help you diversify your revenue. With our Unlimited Plan, you get everything you need to grow—unlimited courses, unlimited students, and unlimited video hosting—for one transparent price. Best of all, we never take a cut of your hard-earned sales.

To build your community without leaving Shopify, start by reviewing the Shopify App Store listing merchants install from. You can start your 14-day free trial and build your first course now, allowing you to see exactly how your new digital products will look alongside your on-sale physical items before you ever pay a cent. Let’s turn your store into a digital learning powerhouse today.

FAQ

How do I schedule a sale to start and end automatically on Shopify?

While Shopify's basic "Compare-at price" must be changed manually, you can use Shopify's "Discounts" section to create discount codes or automatic discounts with specific start and end dates. For more advanced automated price changes on the product page itself, many merchants use scheduled task apps from the Shopify App Store.

Will marking an item on sale affect my SEO?

Generally, no. In fact, it can help! Sale items often see higher click-through rates (CTR) from search results, which can signal to search engines that your page is relevant. Just ensure you don't change the product URL (handle) when you change the price, as that would break existing search links.

Can I show a sale price for digital courses sold through Tevello?

Absolutely. Since Tevello is natively integrated with Shopify, any price changes you make in the Shopify Admin (using the "Price" and "Compare-at price" fields) will immediately reflect on your course sales pages. This makes it easy to run flash sales on your educational content.

What is the best discount percentage to offer?

There is no one-size-fits-all answer, but studies suggest that discounts below 15% often fail to move the needle for new customers. A 20% to 30% discount is usually the "sweet spot" for generating significant movement without completely destroying your profit margins. For clearance items, 50% or more is often necessary.