Key takeaways
- New price = current price × (1 + increase % ÷ 100). For a fixed amount, add the same amount to every price.
- Shopify's bulk editor takes final prices, so calculate them in a spreadsheet and import a CSV, or use an app that applies percent changes.
- Round after the increase so endings stay consistent, and check how much the ending adds on low-priced items.
- On sale items, an increase can reach the compare-at price and hide the sale; ending the sale first is usually cleaner.
- Fixed prices in market catalogs override your base prices and need their own update.
How do you calculate a percentage price increase?
Multiply each price by 1 plus the increase as a decimal: new price = current price × (1 + increase % ÷ 100). A 10% increase multiplies by 1.10, and a 7.5% increase by 1.075. For a fixed amount, add it: new price = current price + amount. To test a whole list first, paste it into the price change calculator.
The table shows typical results, with the raw result rounded to cents and then given a .99 ending that keeps the whole-dollar part.
Notice what the ending does. On the $20.00 product, a 5% increase becomes almost 10% after the .99 ending. Check the effective increase on low-priced items, where endings move the percentage most.
| Current price | Change | New price | With a .99 ending |
|---|---|---|---|
| $20.00 | +5% | $21.00 | $21.99 |
| $24.50 | +8% | $26.46 | $26.99 |
| $49.99 | +10% | $54.99 | $54.99 |
| $12.50 | +10% | $13.75 | $13.99 |
| $35.00 | +$3.00 | $38.00 | $38.99 |
How much should you raise prices when costs go up?
If you're raising prices because costs rose, decide first what you're protecting: your margin percentage or your dollar profit per sale. The two give different answers.
To keep the same margin percentage, raise the price by the same percentage as the cost. To keep the same dollar profit, add the cost increase to the price. Example: a $40 product with a $16 cost has a 60% margin and $24 profit. If the cost rises 10% to $17.60, a price of $44.00 keeps the 60% margin, while $41.60 keeps the $24 profit.
Most stores land somewhere between the two, and the right point depends on how price-sensitive each product is. The margin calculator checks both numbers for any price and cost, and shows the markup next to the margin, since the two percentages are easy to mix up.
Should you raise prices by a percentage or a fixed amount?
A percentage scales with the price; a fixed amount doesn't. Adding $2 is a 20% increase on a $10 item and a 2% increase on a $100 item, so the two methods hit different parts of your catalog very differently.
- Percentage: suits general cost inflation, a supplier price list that rose by a set rate, or currency moves. Every product keeps its relative position.
- Fixed amount: suits a cost that's the same per unit, such as packaging or a shipping cost built into your prices.
- Different rates by group: often the most honest answer. Raise one vendor or product type by its actual cost increase and leave the rest alone.
How do you round prices after an increase?
Rounding is a separate step from the increase, and it's where catalogs drift into messy endings like $26.46. Pick one method and apply it to every new price. In a spreadsheet, =ROUND(U2*1.08, 2) rounds an 8% increase to cents, and =INT(U2*1.08)+0.99 gives it a .99 ending, where U2 is the price cell. Endings such as .99 and .95 are a pricing choice of their own; see charm pricing and price endings.
If you sell in other currencies through Shopify Markets, your endings apply to your store currency. Converted prices follow Shopify's own rounding rules when you activate them, and those rules can't be customized.
- Round to cents: the minimum. Keeps the exact percentage but leaves odd endings.
- Replace the decimals: keep the whole-dollar part and set the cents to .99, .95 or .00. $26.46 becomes $26.99 with a .99 ending. This can move a price up or down by less than $1: $23.99 with a .49 ending becomes $23.49.
- Round to whole dollars: $26.46 becomes $26.00 or $27.00, depending on whether you round to the nearest dollar or up. Common on higher-priced items.
How do you increase all prices with a CSV file?
For a catalog-wide increase, a product CSV is the most reliable native method, because one formula updates every row. Shopify's bulk editor takes final prices only, so it suits smaller edits. The full walkthrough of both is in how to bulk edit prices on Shopify.
- Go to Products, click Export, choose All products or a filtered set, and save one untouched copy as your backup.
- Open the working copy in a spreadsheet and find the Price column (Variant Price in older files) and the Compare-at price column.
- In a helper column, calculate each new price with your increase and rounding formula, then paste the results into Price as values.
- Decide what to do with rows that have a compare-at price (see the next section) and update that column if needed.
- Don't sort the sheet. Shopify warns that sorting can separate variants and image URLs from their products.
- Go to Products, click Import, select Overwrite products with matching handles, review the summary, then check a sample of products in the admin and on your storefront.
What happens to compare-at prices when you raise prices?
Items that are on sale need a decision, because the increase can close the gap between price and compare-at price. Say a product is on sale at $40 with a $50 compare-at price. A 10% increase takes it to $44, still a sale. A 30% increase takes it to $52, above the compare-at price, and the sale display disappears because the compare-at price is no longer higher.
You have three clean options:
- End the sale first, then apply the increase to the full price. This is the clearest option for a permanent increase.
- Leave the compare-at price, if the new price stays below it and the sale is still meant to run.
- Remove the compare-at price on items where the sale no longer makes sense at the new price.
Be careful about raising compare-at prices along with prices. A compare-at price is a reference to a former price, and in many places it must be a price you genuinely charged. Raising it on items that are still on sale creates a reference the product never sold at, and raising prices shortly before a sale to advertise a bigger discount is the classic pattern consumer-protection rules target.
How do you raise prices with Sale Scheduler by SalePilot?
Sale Scheduler by SalePilot applies a percentage or amount increase as a rule, so you don't calculate prices by hand. Choose Increase price, by percent or by amount, and add an optional price ending: .00, .49, .50, .90, .95, .99 or a custom decimal. Rounding keeps the whole-number part and replaces the decimals, and it applies to the new price, not to the compare-at price.
Target the increase where costs actually rose: collections, specific products or variants, or one advanced condition such as Vendor equals your supplier's name, with one exclusion type if needed. For compare-at prices, choose Don't change compare-at price, Increase compare-at price (by percent or amount), Increase relative to new price, or Remove compare-at price. Rows where the compare-at price wouldn't stay above the new price are marked Warning and aren't applied.
The review screen shows every variant's price before and after, and nothing changes in Shopify until you start the sale. For a permanent increase, choose Start after I review: prices update after you confirm and stay until you click Restore prices, which puts back the saved previous prices if you change your mind. For a temporary seasonal increase, Schedule start and end applies the new prices at the start time and restores the previous ones automatically when it ends.
How do you tell customers about a price increase?
A price increase that's explained and expected usually lands better than a surprise. What damages trust is an unannounced jump on a product people buy often, or a sale that looks staged right after. A few habits help:
- Give notice where it matters: wholesale buyers, subscribers and repeat customers appreciate a short email before the change.
- Keep the reason brief and true: higher material, shipping or supplier costs are reasons customers recognize.
- Update everything that shows a price: ads, email templates, banners, printed price lists and any product feed you send to other channels.
- Update market catalogs: fixed prices override your base prices, so they won't change with the increase; update them separately (Creating catalogs for markets).
- Don't follow an increase with a quick "sale" back to the old price, which looks like an inflated reference price.
- Watch the next few weeks: compare orders and refunds with the weeks before, and revisit products that clearly stalled.