Was/now pricing is showing a reduced price next to a higher earlier price, such as “Was £80, now £50” or £80 struck through beside £50, so shoppers can see the saving. In the UK the “was” price must be genuine: a price the product was actually sold at, recently and for a meaningful period.
How was/now pricing works
A reference price gives the shopper something to compare against. People judge £50 differently depending on whether it sits beside £55 or £80, which is exactly why the claim is persuasive and why it is regulated. The format varies: a struck-through price, a “Save £30” label, a percentage off, or a comparison with a recommended retail price (RRP).
On your site, the ecommerce platform usually holds two fields, the regular price and the sale price, and the theme shows both when a sale price is set. Product feeds hold the same pair. Google Merchant Center has a price attribute and a sale price attribute, plus an optional date range for when the sale applies. My entry on price and sale price explains how those attributes must match the landing page.
At the time of writing (October 2026), Google can also add price-drop labels of its own to Shopping results, worked out from the prices it has recorded for a product over time. Your real price history counts, not just the “was” figure you choose to enter.
Why it matters
A genuine discount is one of the strongest reasons to buy now. A false one is a legal risk. A misleading price comparison is an unfair commercial practice under UK consumer law, now set out in the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024, and since April 2025 the Competition and Markets Authority has been able to fine businesses directly rather than going to court first. Official guidance on pricing expects a “was” price to be one the product genuinely sold at, recently, for a reasonable period, and not a price set briefly to make a later reduction look bigger.
Advertising claims also fall under the CAP Code, enforced by the Advertising Standards Authority. The ASA regularly rules against savings claims an advertiser cannot support with evidence of real sales at the higher price, and against “up to” claims where few products carry the headline discount. Its rulings are published and name the business.
Common mistakes
- Raising a price for a few days before a sale so the reduction looks larger.
- Keeping a product “on sale” for months, until the sale price is in effect the normal price.
- Comparing against an RRP the product is not generally sold at anywhere.
- “Up to 70% off” when only a handful of items reach that discount.
- A feed sale price that ends on a different date from the website sale, causing price mismatches in Merchant Center.
- Keeping no record of past selling prices, so a claim cannot be proved if it is challenged.
How to act on it
Before any sale, check the price history of each product you plan to reduce. Use as the “was” price the price it has genuinely sold at most recently, and keep a record, such as a platform log, export or dated screenshot, showing when that price applied. If a product has had several prices, use the one the evidence supports, not the highest.
Give every sale an end date, both on the site and in the feed, using the sale date range in Merchant Center so ads and landing pages change together. After the sale, return to the regular price or stop presenting the new price as a reduction.
Use the saving in your advertising too, held to the same standard as the site. In Google Ads, a promotion asset can show the offer beneath a search ad. Keeping sale claims consistent across ads, feeds and pages is part of the Google Ads management I provide for online retailers.