How to Set Sale Price on Shopify to Drive Customer Growth

Table of Contents

1. Introduction
2. The Strategic Importance of Sale Prices
3. How to Set Sale Price on Shopify: Single Product Method
4. Bulk Editing Sale Prices for Large Inventories
5. Leveraging Automated Collections for Sales
6. Relatable Scenario: The Boutique Fitness Studio
7. Protecting Your Margins: The Tevello Pricing Advantage
8. The Psychology of Urgency and Scarcity
9. Recovering Abandoned Carts with Targeted Discounts
10. Technical Best Practices for Your Shopify Theme
11. Maximizing Customer Lifetime Value (LTV)
12. Avoiding Common Pricing Pitfalls
13. Setting Sale Prices for Digital Products on Tevello
14. Conclusion
15. Frequently Asked Questions About Shopify Course Pricing

Introduction

Did you know that nearly 93% of online shoppers use a discount code or look for a sale at some point during the year? The psychology of a "good deal" is one of the most powerful drivers in e-commerce, transforming a casual browser into a committed buyer in a matter of clicks. However, for a modern merchant, a sale is more than just a lower number on a screen; it is a strategic tool used to clear inventory, launch new product lines, and reward loyal community members. At Tevello, our mission is to turn any Shopify store into a digital learning powerhouse, and we understand that pricing strategy is the heartbeat of that transformation. Whether you are selling artisan coffee beans, handmade apparel, or high-value digital masterclasses, mastering the technical and psychological aspects of pricing is essential for long-term sustainability.

In this comprehensive guide, we will explore the precise mechanics of how to set sale price on Shopify, moving from basic single-product adjustments to advanced bulk editing and automated collections. We will also delve into the strategic intersection of physical goods and digital products, showing how you can leverage discounts to increase Customer Lifetime Value (LTV) and build a robust, recurring revenue stream. By the end of this post, you will have a clear roadmap for executing sales that protect your margins while delighting your audience. We believe merchants should own their customer data and brand experience, and that starts with having total control over how your value is presented to the world.

The Strategic Importance of Sale Prices

Before we dive into the technical steps, it is vital to understand why setting a sale price correctly matters. In the Shopify ecosystem, there are two primary fields that dictate how a sale appears: the "Price" and the "Compare-at price." The "Price" is what the customer actually pays at checkout, while the "Compare-at price" is the original value that gets a strikethrough visual.

This visual contrast creates a psychological phenomenon known as "anchoring." When a customer sees a $100 price tag crossed out next to a $70 sale price, their brain anchors to the $100 value. The $30 difference is perceived not just as a saving, but as a gain in value. This is particularly effective when you are looking to increase the velocity of sales for slow-moving items or when you are trying to break into a new market segment.

At Tevello, we see this work exceptionally well for merchants who bridge the gap between physical and digital. For example, a merchant selling high-end yoga mats might offer a "Sale Price" on their "30-Day Yoga Foundations" video course for anyone who has recently purchased a physical mat. By offering a digital product that lives directly alongside physical stock, you are providing a seamless experience that requires no extra shipping labels or warehouse space.

How to Set Sale Price on Shopify: Single Product Method

The most common way to initiate a discount is through the manual product editor. This is ideal for flash sales, seasonal highlights, or testing a new price point for a specific item.

Step 1: Navigate to Your Product Admin

Log in to your Shopify admin panel. On the left-hand sidebar, click on "Products." This will bring up your entire inventory. Search for or scroll to the specific product you wish to put on sale.

Step 2: Access the Pricing Section

Once you have clicked on the product, scroll down until you find the "Pricing" card. Here, you will see two main fields: "Price" and "Compare-at price."

Step 3: Input the Sale Values

To show a sale price on your storefront, you must follow a specific logic:

• Price: Enter the new, lower amount you want the customer to pay (e.g., $45.00).
• Compare-at price: Enter the original, higher price (e.g., $60.00).

Shopify's logic requires the "Compare-at price" to be higher than the "Price" for the sale badge and strikethrough to appear on your website. If these fields are equal or if the compare-at price is lower, the system will simply display the standard price without any sale indicators.

Step 4: Handle Product Variants

If your product has variants (such as different sizes or colors), you may need to adjust the pricing for each variant individually. Scroll down to the "Variants" section, click on a specific variant, and repeat the pricing steps. Alternatively, you can use the bulk editor within the product page to update all variants at once.

Step 5: Save and Verify

Click the "Save" button at the top of the screen. We always recommend opening your live storefront in a new tab to verify that the sale price is displaying correctly and that the "Sale" badge is visible based on your theme’s settings.

Bulk Editing Sale Prices for Large Inventories

Manually updating dozens or hundreds of products is not a productive use of your time. When you are preparing for a major event like Black Friday or a seasonal clearance, the Shopify Bulk Editor is your best friend.

Efficient Bulk Updates

1. From the Products page, use the checkboxes to select all the items you want to include in the sale.
2. Click the Bulk edit button that appears at the bottom of the list.
3. In the bulk editor interface, ensure the "Price" and "Compare-at price" columns are visible. If they are not, click on the Columns button and select them.
4. You can now click through the cells and update the prices rapidly. A pro-tip for speed: you can click and drag the corner of a cell to apply the same value to multiple rows, similar to how you would in a spreadsheet.
5. Once finished, hit Save.

This method is highly effective for merchants who want to see how one brand sold $112K+ by bundling courses and physical goods. By quickly adjusting prices across an entire category, you can create a unified promotional feel across your store without spending hours on data entry.

Leveraging Automated Collections for Sales

Setting the price is only half the battle; the other half is making sure customers can find your deals. One of the most effective ways to do this is by creating an automated "Sale" collection.

Creating a "Shop All Sale" Page

Instead of manually adding items to a "Sale" collection every time you change a price, you can set up a rule-based system:

1. Go to Products > Collections and click Create collection.
2. Title it "On Sale" or "Current Deals."
3. Under Collection type, select Automated.
4. Set the condition to: Product price is less than Compare-at price. Or, more commonly: Compare-at price is greater than 0.
5. Save the collection.

Now, whenever you update a product's "Compare-at price" field to be higher than its "Price," that product will automatically fly into this collection. When the sale is over and you remove the "Compare-at price," the product will automatically remove itself. This type of automation is part of the all the key features for courses and communities that we advocate for—systems that work for you while you focus on creating content.

Relatable Scenario: The Boutique Fitness Studio

Consider a local fitness studio owner named Sarah. Sarah sells physical equipment like resistance bands and yoga blocks on her Shopify store. She also uses Tevello to host her "12-Week Transformation" video course.

During the New Year's "Resolution Rush," Sarah wants to boost her revenue. She decides to set a sale price on her resistance bands, dropping them from $30 to $20. Simultaneously, she discounts her digital course from $150 to $99. Because Sarah uses Tevello, she benefits from a unified login that reduces customer support friction. Her customers don't have to leave her site to access the course they just bought alongside their physical bands.

By setting these sale prices, Sarah sees a 40% increase in her average order value because customers feel they are getting a "double deal." She isn't just selling a product; she's selling a complete solution. This strategy is a prime example of generating over €243,000 by upselling existing customers through thoughtful pricing and native integration.

Protecting Your Margins: The Tevello Pricing Advantage

When you run a sale on physical products, your margins are constantly squeezed by the cost of goods, shipping, and storage. Digital products, however, offer a different financial profile. Once a course is created, the cost of selling to the 100th student is virtually the same as selling to the 1,000th.

This is where Tevello provides a massive advantage for Shopify merchants. Many third-party course platforms charge a "success fee" or take a percentage of every sale you make. If you run a big sale and move $10,000 worth of courses, those fees can eat up hundreds of dollars of your profit.

We believe that your hard-earned revenue should stay with you. That is why we offer predictable pricing without hidden transaction fees. Our model is simple: we charge a flat rate, and you keep 100% of your earnings. Whether you sell one course or ten thousand, your cost for using Tevello remains the same. If unifying your stack is a priority, start by a simple, all-in-one price for unlimited courses.

The Psychology of Urgency and Scarcity

Setting a sale price is a technical task, but making it successful is a psychological one. Once you have learned how to set sale price on Shopify, you must wrap that price in a narrative of urgency.

Countdown Timers and Limited Windows

A sale that lasts forever is not a sale; it's a price drop. To trigger the "Fear Of Missing Out" (FOMO), you should clearly communicate the end date of your promotion. Use banner apps or theme sections to display a countdown timer. This is especially effective for digital products where there is no physical inventory to run out of—you must create "artificial scarcity" by limiting the time the discount is available.

Exclusive Member Pricing

Another powerful strategy is to offer sale prices exclusively to your community. With Tevello, you can create a community space where your most loyal fans live. Offering them a "member-only" sale price on a new digital product builds immense brand loyalty. It makes your customers feel like insiders. We have seen merchants excel by keeping customers at home on the brand website, where they can engage with the community and see exclusive offers in one seamless flow.

Recovering Abandoned Carts with Targeted Discounts

One of the most effective times to use a sale price is when a customer is on the fence. If a user adds a product to their cart but doesn't finish the checkout, Shopify's automated abandoned cart emails can be configured to offer a limited-time discount.

Instead of a generic "You forgot something" email, try: "We noticed you were looking at our [Product Name]. We’ve applied a special 10% discount to your cart for the next 24 hours to help you get started!"

This small nudge can drastically improve your conversion rates. For digital products, this is even more effective because there is no shipping cost to "hide" the discount. The price they see in the email is the price they pay. This is one of the many retention strategies that drive repeat digital purchases for successful Shopify brands.

Technical Best Practices for Your Shopify Theme

The way your sale price looks depends heavily on your Shopify theme. Not all themes are created equal when it comes to visibility.

1. Check for "Sale" Badges: Ensure your theme settings have "Show sale badge" enabled. These are usually small circular or rectangular labels that appear over the product image in collection views.
2. Color Contrast: Your sale price should ideally be a different color (often red or a bold brand color) than the original price. This draws the eye immediately.
3. Placement: The sale price should be physically close to the compare-at price so the brain can make the comparison instantly.
4. Mobile Optimization: More than 70% of Shopify traffic now comes from mobile. Ensure that your sale prices don't get cut off or become too small to read on a smartphone screen.

If you find that your current theme isn't displaying your discounts clearly, it might be time to look into theme customization or app-based labels. However, for most modern Shopify themes (like Dawn or any of the premium OS 2.0 themes), the sale price functionality is built-in and highly optimized.

Maximizing Customer Lifetime Value (LTV)

A sale is often seen as a short-term boost, but the most successful merchants use it as a "lead magnet" for a longer relationship. When you discount a digital course using Tevello, you aren't just making a one-time sale; you are bringing a student into your ecosystem.

Once they are inside your "digital learning powerhouse," you have the opportunity to offer them more. Perhaps you have a monthly membership where you provide ongoing coaching or exclusive community content. By using an initial sale price to lower the barrier to entry, you can move customers into a flat-rate plan that supports unlimited members.

This transition from a one-off discounted purchaser to a recurring subscriber is the "holy grail" of e-commerce stability. It provides predictable cash flow and allows you to reinvest in your brand with confidence. We have seen this transformation time and again with merchants who focus on strategies for selling over 4,000 digital courses natively.

Avoiding Common Pricing Pitfalls

While the process of setting a sale price is simple, there are several traps that can hurt your brand if you aren't careful.

1. Constant Discounting

If your store is always on sale, your customers will never buy at full price. They will simply wait for the next "event." This devalues your brand and trains your audience to only shop during promotions. Use sales sparingly and tie them to specific reasons (holidays, launches, milestones).

2. Dishonest Anchoring

Never raise your "Compare-at price" right before a sale just to make the discount look bigger. This is often illegal in many jurisdictions (such as the EU and UK) and, more importantly, it destroys trust with your customers. Modern shoppers are savvy; they track prices and will notice if you are being disingenuous.

3. Forgetting the "Why"

Every sale should have a goal. Are you trying to clear out old stock? Are you trying to get 500 new students into your "Level 1" course so you can upsell them to "Level 2" later? Always define your Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) before you hit the "Save" button on a sale price.

Setting Sale Prices for Digital Products on Tevello

When you use Tevello to host your courses, the process of setting a sale price is identical to any other Shopify product because of our Native Shopify Integration.

Because Tevello courses are Shopify products, you don't have to learn a new dashboard to manage your sales. You use the same "Price" and "Compare-at price" fields in the Shopify admin that you would for a t-shirt or a piece of jewelry. This seamlessness is why we encourage you to start your 14-day free trial and build your first course now. You can build your entire curriculum, set your pricing, and test your checkout experience before you ever pay a cent.

Our Unlimited Plan at $29.99 per month is designed to grow with you. It includes:

• Unlimited courses and students.
• Unlimited video hosting and bandwidth (so you don't have to worry about extra costs during a high-traffic sale).
• Community features like member directories and social feeds to keep students engaged.
• Drip content scheduling and quizzes to ensure learning is effective.

Conclusion

Mastering how to set sale price on Shopify is a foundational skill for any e-commerce entrepreneur. It is a blend of technical execution—using the price and compare-at price fields—and strategic marketing—using urgency, collections, and psychology to drive action. Whether you are running a 24-hour flash sale or a month-long seasonal promotion, the goal remains the same: to provide value to your customers while building a sustainable business.

At Tevello, we are proud to offer a platform where your physical and digital products can thrive together under one roof, on your own URL, and with your own branding. By eliminating transaction fees and providing a simple, flat-rate pricing model, we ensure that the rewards of your hard work stay in your pocket.

Ready to turn your knowledge into a revenue-generating asset? To build your community without leaving Shopify, start by reviewing the Shopify App Store listing merchants install from. Install Tevello today, take advantage of our 14-day free trial, and see how easy it is to manage your digital products with 0% transaction fees. Your journey to becoming a digital learning powerhouse starts now.

Frequently Asked Questions About Shopify Course Pricing

1. How do I show the "Sale" badge on my collection pages?

The "Sale" badge is typically triggered automatically by your Shopify theme whenever a product's "Compare-at price" is higher than its "Price." If it's not appearing, check your theme's customization settings under the "Product Grid" or "Product Card" section to ensure the badge visibility is toggled on.

2. Can I schedule a sale price to start and end automatically?

Shopify's native product editor does not allow for future-dated price changes without the use of an app or the "Shopify Launchpad" tool (available for Shopify Plus). However, you can use automated discount codes that are scheduled for specific dates, or third-party apps to automate the "Compare-at price" changes on a schedule.

3. Does setting a sale price affect my SEO?

Generally, a sale price is a positive signal for SEO because it can increase click-through rates from search engine results pages (SERPs) if the discount is highlighted in rich snippets. However, ensure your "Price" field always reflects the most current price to avoid discrepancies with Google Merchant Center, which can lead to product listing suspensions.

4. How should I price my digital courses compared to physical products?

Digital courses typically command a higher perceived value because they provide a "result" or "transformation." While physical products have higher overhead, digital courses should be priced based on the value they provide, not just the time it took to create them. When running a sale on a course, a 20-30% discount is often the "sweet spot" to drive volume without devaluing the expert knowledge contained within.