How to Put Sale Price on Shopify for Maximum Sales

Table of Contents

1. Introduction
2. The Psychology of the "Compare-At" Price
3. How to Put Sale Price on Shopify: Individual Products
4. Managing Sales for Product Variants
5. How to Put Sale Price on Shopify in Bulk
6. Using Collections to Automate Sale Visibility
7. Strategic Upselling: Combining Physical and Digital Products
8. Leveraging Sale Prices for Membership and Recurring Revenue
9. Best Practices for Running a Successful Sale
10. Avoiding Common Pitfalls
11. The Tevello Advantage: Scaling Your Business Without Fees
12. Case Study Insights: The Power of Native Integration
13. Technical Deep Dive: Liquid and Sale Prices
14. Promoting Your Sale with Tevello Community Features
15. Conclusion
16. FAQ

Introduction

Did you know that according to consumer psychology studies, nearly 93% of shoppers use a discount code or look for a sale at some point during the year? In the competitive world of e-commerce, the visual of a "slashed" price is more than just a markdown; it is a powerful psychological trigger that signals value, urgency, and an opportunity that shouldn't be missed. For Shopify merchants, mastering the mechanics of how to put sale price on Shopify is not merely a technical checkbox—it is a foundational skill for driving conversions, clearing inventory, and building long-term customer loyalty.

The purpose of this guide is to provide a comprehensive, step-by-step roadmap for managing sale prices on your Shopify store. We will move beyond the basic button clicks to explore the strategic "why" behind different pricing models. Whether you are selling physical goods, digital downloads, or high-value online courses, understanding how to manipulate your pricing fields—specifically the "Price" and "Compare-at price" attributes—is essential. We will also dive into how to leverage these discounts to grow a "digital learning powerhouse" by integrating courses and memberships into your existing product mix.

By the end of this article, you will have a deep understanding of Shopify’s pricing architecture, the best practices for running promotional events, and how to avoid the common pitfalls that can erode your profit margins. Our mission at Tevello is to help you own your brand experience, and that starts with having full control over how you present value to your customers.

The Psychology of the "Compare-At" Price

Before we jump into the technical steps, it is vital to understand the concept of "anchoring." In pricing strategy, the first price a customer sees sets the "anchor" for what they believe the product is worth. When you show a original price of $100 crossed out next to a new price of $70, the $100 remains the anchor. The $30 difference is perceived as immediate "profit" or savings for the consumer.

On Shopify, this is achieved through the "Compare-at price" field. If you only change the "Price" field without filling in the "Compare-at" field, your customers will only see the lower price. They won’t know it’s a sale. They will simply think that is the standard cost. To trigger that psychological "win" for the customer, you must use both fields correctly. This transparency builds trust and highlights the specific value proposition of your current promotion.

How to Put Sale Price on Shopify: Individual Products

For many merchants, the most common way to initiate a sale is on a per-product basis. This is ideal for seasonal clearances, introductory offers for new products, or "Deal of the Week" features.

Step 1: Accessing the Product Admin

Log in to your Shopify admin dashboard and navigate to the Products section on the left-hand sidebar. This will open your full catalog. Click on the title of the specific product you wish to discount.

Step 2: Modifying the Pricing Section

Scroll down until you find the Pricing card. Here, you will see two primary fields:

1. Price: This is the price the customer will actually pay at checkout.
2. Compare-at price: This is the original, higher price you want to show as "crossed out."

To set a sale, you would enter the lower price in the "Price" field and the original, higher price in the "Compare-at price" field. For example, if a course usually retails for $150 and you want to sell it for $99, you would put 99 in the Price field and 150 in the Compare-at price field.

Step 3: Saving and Verifying

Once you have entered the numbers, click Save at the top or bottom of the page. It is always a best practice to view the product page on your live storefront immediately after saving. This ensures that your theme is correctly displaying the "Sale" badge and the price comparison as intended.

Managing Sales for Product Variants

Many products, such as apparel or multi-module digital bundles, have variants (Size, Color, or Access Level). In these cases, you cannot simply change the price at the top product level; you must drill down into the variants.

If your product has variants, the Pricing card on the main product page will show a list of those variants. You must click Edit next to each specific variant to access its individual Pricing section. Alternatively, you can select multiple variants using the checkboxes and use the Bulk Edit feature to change prices for all sizes or colors simultaneously.

This is particularly useful when you want to clear out specific inventory—for example, putting only the "Small" size of a t-shirt on sale, or offering a discount only on the "Basic" version of a digital course while keeping the "Premium" version at full price.

How to Put Sale Price on Shopify in Bulk

Manually editing hundreds of products is not a productive use of your time. Fortunately, Shopify provides a robust Bulk Editor that allows you to manage entire collections at once.

The Bulk Editing Process

1. From the Products page, select the products you want to edit by clicking the checkboxes.
2. Click the Bulk edit button that appears at the bottom or top of the list.
3. In the Bulk Editor, ensure that both the "Price" and "Compare-at price" columns are visible. If they aren’t, click Columns and check those boxes.
4. You can now click into the cells and type the new prices. You can even use keyboard shortcuts (like Ctrl+C and Ctrl+V) or click and drag the corner of a cell to apply a price to multiple rows, much like an Excel spreadsheet.
5. Click Save.

This method is the most efficient way to prepare for major events like Black Friday or Cyber Monday. By checking merchant feedback and app-store performance signals, we've seen that merchants who plan these bulk changes in advance often experience much smoother promotional launches.

Using Collections to Automate Sale Visibility

Once you have updated your prices, you need a way to show these items to your customers collectively. Creating a "Sale" collection is a high-impact strategy to improve the user experience.

Creating an Automated "On Sale" Collection

Instead of manually adding products to a "Sale" category, you can let Shopify do the work for you:

1. Go to Products > Collections and click Create collection.
2. Set the Collection type to Automated.
3. Under Conditions, select "Compare-at price" from the dropdown.
4. Select "is greater than" and type "0".
5. Save the collection.

Now, every time you add a "Compare-at price" to any product in your store, it will automatically appear in this collection. When you remove the compare-at price, the product will automatically disappear from the collection. This keeps your store organized with zero manual upkeep.

Strategic Upselling: Combining Physical and Digital Products

One of the most effective ways to use sale prices is through bundling. At Tevello, we believe in a "Native Shopify Integration" that allows physical and digital products to live side-by-side. This creates unique opportunities for merchants to increase their Average Order Value (AOV).

Consider a merchant who sells high-end yoga mats. During a summer sale, they could put the physical mat on sale for 10% off. However, the real magic happens when they bundle that mat with a "30-Day Yoga for Beginners" video course. By generating revenue from both physical and digital goods, the merchant can offer a deep discount on the physical item (which has shipping and storage costs) while maintaining high margins through the digital add-on (which has near-zero marginal cost).

For a coffee roaster, putting a sale price on a specific roast might attract a one-time buyer. But offering a discounted "Home Barista Masterclass" alongside those beans turns a customer into a student, significantly increasing their lifetime value and brand loyalty. This is how one brand sold $112K+ by bundling courses alongside their traditional offerings.

Leveraging Sale Prices for Membership and Recurring Revenue

Sales aren't just for clearing old stock; they are powerful tools for customer acquisition in subscription models. Offering an "Introductory Sale" on a membership program can lower the barrier to entry for hesitant customers.

If you are using Tevello to run a community or membership site, you might offer the first month at a 50% discount. Because our platform is a unified ecosystem, your customers stay on your own URL, maintaining the brand trust you've worked so hard to build. We see many success stories from brands using native courses where a well-timed sale on a subscription led to a 25% increase in long-term retention because customers were given a "low-risk" opportunity to experience the value of the community.

Best Practices for Running a Successful Sale

Knowing how to put sale price on Shopify is the technical part; knowing how to make it profitable is the strategic part.

1. Create a Sense of Urgency

A sale that lasts forever is not a sale; it’s a price drop. Use countdown timers or clear end-dates in your marketing materials. When customers know a discount is "Limited Time Only," the fear of missing out (FOMO) drives faster decision-making.

2. Communicate Clearly Through Multiple Channels

Don't expect customers to just stumble upon your sale. Use email marketing, social media, and site banners to announce the event. Ensure your messaging is consistent. If your email says "20% off," make sure the "Compare-at price" on Shopify reflects exactly that.

3. Maintain Your Brand Integrity

Avoid "perpetual sales." If your store always has 70% off banners, customers will realize the "original" price is fake. This devalues your brand. Instead, run targeted, meaningful sales that celebrate milestones, seasons, or new launches.

4. Analyze the Results

After the sale ends, use Shopify’s "Sales by Discount" report to see what worked. Did the 10% discount perform better than the 20% discount because of the product type? Did the "Bundle Sale" result in higher AOV? Use this data to refine your next promotion.

Avoiding Common Pitfalls

While the process is straightforward, a few common mistakes can hurt your store's performance:

• Forgetting the Compare-at Price: As mentioned, if you leave this blank, the sale is invisible.
• Rounding Errors: Ensure your discounted prices look professional. $19.99 usually performs better than $20.03.
• Neglecting Shipping Costs: If you offer a deep discount, ensure your shipping settings don't eat up the remaining profit.
• Inconsistent Tagging: If you use "Sale" tags for automated collections, ensure every discounted product is tagged correctly.

If unifying your stack is a priority, start by a simple, all-in-one price for unlimited courses. Having your digital and physical products in one place makes managing these sales significantly easier, as you only have one dashboard to monitor.

The Tevello Advantage: Scaling Your Business Without Fees

As your store grows and you run more frequent sales, the cost of your software can become a burden. Many platforms charge "success fees" or take a percentage of your hard-earned revenue. At Tevello, we believe you should keep 100% of what you earn.

Our model is built on transparency. We offer The Unlimited Plan at $29.99 per month, and we charge 0% transaction fees. This means whether you sell 10 courses or 10,000 during your big Shopify sale, your software cost stays exactly the same. This allows for predictable pricing without hidden transaction fees, giving you the freedom to scale your promotions as aggressively as you like.

When you install Tevello, you get access to all the key features for courses and communities. This includes:

• Unlimited courses and students.
• Unlimited video hosting and bandwidth (so you never have to worry about a sale-induced traffic spike crashing your videos).
• Built-in community features to keep students engaged after the purchase.
• Drip content scheduling to release course material over time.

By keeping customers at home on the brand website, you reduce the friction that often comes with third-party redirects. A customer buys a discounted physical item and a digital course in one checkout, uses one login, and sees one brand—yours.

Case Study Insights: The Power of Native Integration

The impact of a well-executed Shopify sale is best seen through real-world results. We have watched merchants transform their businesses by moving away from fragmented systems. For instance, see how merchants are earning six figures by treating their digital products with the same promotional rigor as their physical stock.

By using the "Compare-at price" feature to highlight the value of their digital offerings, brands can create "High-Value/Low-Cost" bundles that are irresistible to shoppers. This strategy is a cornerstone of generating revenue from both physical and digital goods, as it maximizes the profit from every visitor that lands on the store.

Technical Deep Dive: Liquid and Sale Prices

For those who want to customize their theme further, Shopify uses a language called Liquid to display prices. When you set a sale price, the theme checks a specific condition: product.compare_at_price > product.price.

If this condition is true, the theme typically triggers the "Sale" badge and applies the "strikethrough" CSS to the compare-at price. If you find that your sale prices aren't displaying correctly even after you've followed the steps above, it may be worth reviewing the Shopify App Store listing merchants install from to see if you need an app to help with display badges, or consulting your theme's documentation. Most modern Shopify themes are built to handle this natively, ensuring a seamless experience for your buyers.

Promoting Your Sale with Tevello Community Features

A sale is an excellent time to invite people into your community. With Tevello’s Unlimited plan, you can create member directories and social feeds where students can interact.

When you run a sale on a course, don't just sell the content—sell the access. Use your sale announcement to highlight that new students will gain access to a community of like-minded learners. This added value makes the "Sale Price" look even more attractive. You can even start your 14-day free trial and build your first course now to see how these community features integrate with your product pages.

Conclusion

Mastering how to put sale price on Shopify is a fundamental skill that empowers you to take control of your store's growth. By effectively using the "Price" and "Compare-at price" fields, you tap into powerful consumer psychology that drives action and increases revenue. Whether you are clearing out physical inventory or launching a new digital masterclass, the ability to present value clearly is what separates successful merchants from the rest.

At Tevello, our mission is to turn your Shopify store into a digital learning powerhouse. We provide the tools you need to host unlimited courses, build thriving communities, and keep your customers exactly where they belong: on your website. With our flat-rate $29.99/month Unlimited plan and 0% transaction fees, you have a partner that scales with you, not against you.

Stop letting third-party platforms take a cut of your success and start building a unified brand experience today. You can build your entire curriculum and set up your promotional pricing before you ever pay a cent.

To build your community without leaving Shopify, start by reviewing the Shopify App Store listing merchants install from.

FAQ

1. How do I put multiple Shopify items on sale at the same time?

To put multiple items on sale simultaneously, use the Bulk Editor in your Shopify admin. Select the products you wish to edit from the "Products" page, click "Bulk edit," and ensure the "Price" and "Compare-at price" columns are visible. You can then update the values for all selected products in a spreadsheet-like interface and save your changes all at once.

2. Why isn't the "Sale" badge showing on my Shopify store?

The "Sale" badge typically appears automatically when the "Compare-at price" is higher than the "Price." If it isn't showing, check two things: first, verify that the "Compare-at price" is indeed higher than the "Price" field. Second, check your theme settings. Some themes require you to enable "Show sale badge" within the Theme Customizer under product page or collection page settings.

3. Can I schedule a sale to start and end automatically on Shopify?

Standard Shopify allows you to change prices manually, but it does not have a native "scheduler" for the "Compare-at price" fields for individual products without using an app. However, you can create "Discount Codes" with start and end dates. For automatic price changes on the product page itself, many merchants use third-party apps or the "Shopify Launchpad" tool if they are on a Shopify Plus plan.

4. Will putting my digital courses on sale affect my Tevello fees?

Absolutely not. One of the primary advantages of using Tevello is our commitment to merchant-friendly pricing. We charge a flat monthly fee of $29.99 for our Unlimited plan and take 0% transaction fees. Whether you sell your course at full price or run a 90% off flash sale, you keep every penny of your revenue after Shopify’s standard payment processing fees.