Prices and Compare-at Price
Without this add-on the Shopify price comes from the customer price group on Microsoft's shop card. With Central Prices switched on, it comes from merchantCENTRAL.
Where the price comes from
The first source that has a price wins:
| Rank | Source | When |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fixed channel price — Marketplace Price of the channel row with Price Fixed set | You set the price for this shop by hand |
| 2 | Central price list of the shop | A list is picked on the Shop Card, usually the Price Engine's |
| 3 | Channel price — Marketplace Price of the channel row | no price list, or the list has no price for the item |
| 4 | Microsoft's own calculation | none of the three has a price |
B2B catalogs are left alone. Prices attached to a Shopify catalog are still calculated by Microsoft's connector.
The best price of the price list
From the central price list, the best price valid today counts, the way Business Central would pick it itself:
- active sales lines of the item only,
- variant and unit match or are blank,
- minimum quantity 0 or 1,
- starting date reached, ending date not passed,
- lines without a price do not count.
The lowest line wins. A running promotional price therefore beats the regular one and ends with its ending date on its own.
A line without a unit prices the base unit. If the shop sells the item by the box of twelve, twelve times that price goes out.
Gross, net, currency
The price is brought to the shop's basis. A gross list feeding a net shop loses the VAT, a net list feeding a gross shop gains it — using the VAT posting setup of the list's or shop's VAT business posting group and the item's VAT product posting group.
A price in another currency than the shop is not taken over. The reason is recorded in the Enrichment Log, and Microsoft's own price goes out. A blank currency code and the local currency code count as the same currency.
The cost per item Shopify keeps for its margin reports goes out as well: per unit sold and in the shop's currency.
When a new price arrives
| Trigger | What happens |
|---|---|
| The Price Engine writes a new price into a shop's list | The listing is queued for the next price run at once; the cockpit shows the new shop price already. |
| A promotional price starts today or ended yesterday | The price run queues the listing itself at its start. |
| Mark for Synchronisation in the item list | Queued by hand. |
The scheduled run Shopify - Sync Prices sends exactly the queued listings every hour. With nothing queued it does nothing. A listing whose price changes again during the run stays queued and goes out next time.
The item list shows Central Price and Price in Shopify side by side. Where they differ, the next price run has not reached the shop yet.
The compare-at price
Shopify themes show the compare-at price struck through next to the price — as a price reduction. In the EU, the reference for a price reduction must be the lowest price of the last 30 days (in Germany section 11 PAngV). That is why it is the default.
| Compare-at Price setting | What is struck through |
|---|---|
| Lowest Price of the Last 30 Days (default) | From the price history of the central price list, kept by the Price Engine. Without a price list there is none. |
| Recommended Retail Price | The recommended retail price of the channel row, read as gross and converted for a net shop. |
| None | No compare-at price. |
Label the recommended retail price in the theme
Shopify themes do not label the compare-at price as a recommended retail price. If you choose it, add a label such as "RRP" in the theme. Otherwise customers read a price reduction, and the 30-day rule applies.
A compare-at price that is not higher than the price is never sent. Shopify would otherwise show the same amount struck through next to it.