Sale price
A sale price is the reduced price a store sends to Google in the sale_price feed attribute, while the full price stays in the price attribute.
How it works
A discounted product carries two prices in the feed: price keeps the full price, and sale_price holds the one shoppers pay now. A third attribute, sale_price_effective_date, gives the date range of the sale. During those dates the sale price is the product’s current price; outside them, the full price is.
Keeping the full price in price lets Google show it crossed out next to the sale price: the sale price annotation. Google does not always show it.
Google checks the current price against the product page, so a sale that ends on the site a day before it ends in the feed is a mismatch for that day. With automatic item updates off, products whose data does not match the page are not shown. With price updates on, Google uses the price it reads on the page. For details, see sale price in Google Shopping and price mismatch disapprovals.
Example
Example store, not client data.
The tableware shop cuts a dinner set from 600 to 510 for 20–30 November. The feed keeps price at 600 and sends sale_price 510 with those dates: a discount of (600 − 510) ÷ 600 = 15%. On 25 November the page and the feed’s current price both say 510. On 1 December both are back at 600, because the sale dates have ended.
Not to be confused with
| Term | Who sets the discount | What the shopper sees |
|---|---|---|
| Merchant promotions | The store, as a separate offer | The usual price and an offer link; the discount applies at checkout |
| Automated discounts | Google, within the store’s limits | A lower price, only after clicking the ad |
| Clearance pricing | The store, to clear old stock | Often the same sale_price; the goal is cash, not a short sale |
Right and wrong readings
- Wrong: “The feed says 600 and the page says 510, so the prices don’t match.” Right: on 25 November the feed’s current price is the sale price, 510, because the sale dates are in effect. Compare the page with that, not with
price.
Sources
- products_common.proto (Merchant API) —
price,sale_price,sale_price_effective_date. Checked 2 October 2026. - automaticimprovements.proto (Merchant API) — price updates, mismatched items not shown. Checked 2 October 2026.
- Sale price [sale_price] — Merchant Center Help: original price next to the sale price, not always. Checked 2 October 2026 (archived copy of 21 May 2026).