Compare-at price

The compare-at price is a product field in Shopify and similar platforms. When a store sets it higher than the selling price, the storefront shows it crossed out next to the real price, for example a crossed-out 59 next to 29. It is the standard way to display a sale.

For shoppers it signals a deal. For researchers it is a useful window into a competitor's pricing strategy:

• Permanent discounts. Many dropshipping stores show a compare-at price on every product, all the time. The real price is the selling price, and the crossed-out one is mostly decoration.
• Real promotions. Brands that set compare-at prices only during sales events tell you when and how deeply they discount.
• Price testing. Changes to the selling price while the compare-at price stays fixed often mean the store is testing price points.

Be aware that showing a reference price that was never really charged can break consumer protection rules in some countries, including in the EU, where price reduction rules require the reference to be a real earlier price.

When you track a store, changes to selling and compare-at prices are worth logging next to its estimated orders.