Previous price and before price – rules for price reductions
The difference between the webshop's legally required «Førpris» (lowest price in the last 30 days) and your own «Før-pris», and when the previous price is shown.
When you advertise that an item has been reduced, the customer must be able to see what the item actually cost before. Cmerce has two different fields that look alike, and it is important to keep them apart: «Førpris» (previous price), which the webshop calculates itself, and «Før-pris» (before price), which you fill in.
Two concepts – don't mix them up
| «Førpris» in the webshop | «Før-pris» on the variant | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | The lowest price the item has actually had in the last 30 days | Your own comparison price |
| Who decides the value | Cmerce calculates it from the price history | You type it in, or set it with a price change |
| Can you change it | No | Yes |
| How it is shown | A separate line: «Førpris (lavest pris siste 30 dager): …» (Previous price – lowest price in the last 30 days) | A struck-through price next to the price, with the discount as a percentage |
When is the previous price shown?
The line «Førpris (lavest pris siste 30 dager)» is shown on the product card and the product page in the webshop when both of these are true:
- The item is advertised as reduced – that is, you have filled in a «Før-pris» that is higher than the price.
- The price history covers the whole 30-day period for that price.
If the history does not cover the whole period – for example because the item is new – no previous-price line is shown. Cmerce would rather show nothing than a figure that cannot be documented, and never uses «Før-pris» instead.
How the previous price is calculated
- Every price change is stored in the price history with old and new price, time, source and who made it. This covers changes you make yourself, bulk changes, imports and price changes from Shopify.
- The previous price is the lowest price that actually applied in the 30 days before the reduction.
- Gradual reduction: If the price has been reduced several times in a row without going up in between, the previous price is the lowest price before the first reduction. A price that was raised just before a sale is therefore not used as the reference.
- The previous price is calculated separately for each price, including prices for a customer group.
Your own «Før-pris»
You fill in «Før-pris» on the variant under «Priser» (Prices), or set it with a bulk change. When reducing prices in Bulk price changes, you can use the option «Sett før-pris til gammel pris ved prisnedsettelse» (Set before price to the old price when reducing).
The struck-through price is your own comparison price. Cmerce cannot judge whether it is true. You are responsible for making sure a comparison price you show the customer is not misleading – for example a price the item has never been sold at. If in doubt, ask an adviser.
View the price history
- On the item: the «Prishistorikk» (Price history) tab shows all changes for the item's variants. The «Lavest 30 dager» (Lowest 30 days) column (hidden by default) shows the previous price as the webshop calculates it, or «Ikke tilgjengelig» (Not available) when the history does not cover 30 days.
- For the whole shop: «Logging» → «Prishistorikk». The «Kilde» (Source) column shows whether the change came from «Admin», «Masseendring» (Bulk change), «Shopify», «WooCommerce-import» and so on.
The price history cannot be changed or deleted, and it is kept for at least five years.
Good to know
- The previous price is only shown in the webshop. It is not printed on till receipts.
- Cmerce always uses the 30-day rule. If you sell goods that perish or become obsolete quickly, special rules apply to the previous price, and these are not calculated automatically.
- When you start using Cmerce, there are not yet 30 days of history. The previous-price line therefore only appears after 30 days.
Summary
- «Førpris» = the lowest price in the last 30 days, calculated by Cmerce. You cannot change it.
- «Før-pris» = your own struck-through comparison price. You are responsible for it being correct.
- The previous-price line only appears when the item is advertised as reduced and the history covers 30 days.
- All price changes are logged and cannot be deleted.