Websites · Glossary
What is a compare at price?
A compare at price is the higher original price shown crossed out beside a product's current lower price, signalling a reduction, for example $70 struck through next to $62. It must reflect a genuine price the product was actually sold at, because consumer law in Australia and elsewhere treats fake was prices as misleading.
The compare at price is one field in a product editor, but it is a claim to buyers: this used to cost more. Treat it like any other claim on the page.
Nuwan Madhusanka · Co-founder
3 min read · Published
How it displays
When a compare at price is set above the current price, the product card and page show the compare at price struck through, the current price prominently, and sometimes a sale label or percentage. When the field is empty or not higher than the price, nothing extra appears.
What the law expects
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission says was and now pricing must use a genuine former price, one the product was offered at for a reasonable period recently, not briefly raised to create a bigger discount. Similar rules apply in the UK, the US and the EU.
Using it well
Set compare at prices only during a real sale, remove them when the sale ends, and keep a note of when and at what price each product was sold before the reduction. A permanent strike through price stops meaning anything to repeat buyers and becomes a legal risk.
Common mistakes
Inflating the original price to make a discount look bigger, leaving sale prices on for months, using a recommended retail price you never charged as the was price, and showing a percentage off that does not match the two numbers on the page.
Where it shows up in OneCraft
Each store variant has a compare at price field beside its price, so a sale can apply to one size or colour. The CSV import reads compare at price columns from Shopify, WooCommerce and Square exports. The cart and checkout use the current price, worked out on the server, while the compare at price is display only.
Questions people ask
Is it legal to show a crossed out price?
Yes, when it is genuine. The crossed out price must be a price you actually charged for a reasonable period before the sale. Showing an inflated or never charged was price can breach consumer law, and regulators have fined businesses for misleading strike through pricing.
How long does a product need to be at full price first?
Regulators do not give one fixed period, but they expect the former price to have been charged for a reasonable recent time, not just a few days before the sale. Keep records of your pricing history so you can show the was price was real.
Can I use the recommended retail price as the compare at price?
Only with care. If you never sold at that price, presenting it as your former price can mislead. Label it clearly as a recommended retail price, or compare against your own previous price instead, which is the safer choice for a small business.
Does a compare at price affect checkout?
No. The buyer pays the current price, and the compare at price is shown only for comparison. In a store that prices the cart on the server, editing the page cannot change what the buyer is charged at checkout or in the receipt.
Should every product show a compare at price?
No. Use it only for genuine reductions. A shop where every product appears to be on sale loses credibility, and buyers learn to ignore it. Full priced products should simply show their price, which also makes your real sales stand out when you run them.
Make one with websites
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Create a website with OneCraftRelated questions
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- What is a SKU?What is a SKU? A stock keeping unit, a short code you assign to each product variant to track stock and orders. How to create SKUs that stay useful as you grow.
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Written and checked by the OneCraft team. Last checked .