Discounts and “was” prices: what Google counts as genuine

A “was” price should be a price you really charged, for long enough to mean something; Google’s sale rules measure it in days. In the UK and most listed countries, the original must have been valid for 30 of the past 200 days before Shopping ads show the sale. The “sale” banner that has been up since spring fails that test, and so does the “was” price nobody ever paid.

Critical4 min read

By Edvinas Ivanauskas How the guides are reviewed

Why this matters

Google's Misrepresentation policy rules out offers that represent your products in a way that's “not accurate, realistic, and truthful”, and lists “promoting a deal that’s no longer active” as an unavailable offer. A struck-through price you never charged is a false claim about your own past, and a sale that never ends is not a deal.

Google's own sale rules show what a genuine original looks like. The “Sale price [sale_price]” page asks you to “continue to submit the full price of your product (the cost when it’s not on sale)” in [price], and to “Clearly display both non-sale and sale prices on your landing pages, and only the sale price at checkout.” The “About sale price annotations” page sets the conditions for Google to show the sale with a strikethrough: the sale price lower than the base price, “The discount of the sale must be greater than 5% and less than 90%”, and, for Shopping ads in the UK, Australia, Canada and most other listed countries, “The base price of the product must be valid for 30 days within the past 200 days”. In the US the figures are 5 days within the past 30, or 15 days within the past 200.

Those are Google's conditions for showing a sale, and a sensible bar for the “was” prices on your own pages. Product Experts on Google's Merchant Center Community put it plainly: do not advertise a discount from an original price you have not charged recently.

The free scan flags crossed-out reference prices on product pages, unusually deep discounts, and promotions still advertised after their end date, so every questionable number shows up in one pass. The audit for the compare-at prices already on your store is in compare-at prices. See every pricing check on the misrepresentation checker.

Typical evidence

A comparison price needs a record behind it

A public capture shows today’s selling and reference prices, not their history. Check the merchant’s dated price records and the rules for the relevant market before drawing a conclusion.

30% OFF EVERYTHING — TODAY ONLY

banner went livetoday

“today only” — running unchanged for 14 months

A “was” price needs to be a genuine, recent selling price, not a number set high to flatter the discount. Check the applicable rules and keep your records.

The public signals this check looks for:

A sitewide “30% off” banner has been up, unchanged, for months
A sitewide “30% off” banner has been up, unchanged, for months.
Products launched with a struck-through “original” price they were never sold at
Products launched with a struck-through “original” price they were never sold at.
Every product shows the same percentage off, whatever its real history
Every product shows the same percentage off, whatever its real history.
A “today only” or “ends midnight” banner resets every day
A “today only” or “ends midnight” banner resets every day.
Compare-at prices were filled in at setup to make items look reduced
Compare-at prices were filled in at setup to make items look reduced.
A sale ended, but the banner, the struck-through prices or [sale_price] are still live
A sale ended, but the banner, the struck-through prices or [sale_price] are still live.

What it looks like once it is right

“25% off selected garden tools, 24–27 November 2026.” The tools sold at full price for the three months before, [sale_price] and its effective dates are in the product data, and the banner comes down on the 28th.

Common mistakes

Common mistake

“30% OFF EVERYTHING — ENDS MIDNIGHT” has been live for fourteen months, and every product shows a struck-through price it was never sold at.

Fix checklist

List every product that shows a struck-through, compare-at or “RRP” price, and every sitewide sale banner.
For each struck-through price, check your order history: did you sell at that price, and for how long? Use Google's 30 days within 200 (or the US figures) as your bar.
Remove compare-at prices you never charged, and remove permanent “sale” banners. A discount that never ends is your regular price.
For a real sale, put the reduced price in [sale_price] with [sale_price_effective_date], keep the full price in [price], and show both prices on the product page and only the sale price at checkout.
Give every time-limited offer a real end date, and take down the banner, the struck-through prices and the sale price when it passes.
Keep discounts inside the range Google displays as a sale, more than 5% and less than 90%. A “95% off” label says more about the original price than about the sale.
Keep a dated price log for anything you show as reduced, so you can back up the original price if anyone asks.

A real discount has a start and an end

Track the price over time and the truth shows: a genuine sale is a dip between two real prices. A perpetual “sale” is just a flat line wearing a strikethrough.

“Sale!” every day since launch — flat, off a price never charged

25% off, 24–27 Nov only — a real dip, then removed

Questions merchants ask

How long must I sell at the original price before showing a sale on Google?

For the sale price and strikethrough to show in Shopping ads in the UK and most other listed countries, Google requires the base price to have been valid for 30 days within the past 200 days. In the US it is 5 days within the past 30 days, or 15 days within the past 200. The discount must also be more than 5% and less than 90%.

Is a permanent sale banner a problem for Merchant Center?

It is a price claim that is not true: if the discount never ends, the reduced price is your regular price. Product Experts on Google's Merchant Center Community advise against advertising a discount from an original price you have not charged recently. Take it down, or run the sale for real with an end date.

How do I submit a sale price to Merchant Center?

Keep the full price in [price], put the reduced price in [sale_price], and add [sale_price_effective_date] for the dates of the sale. Show both prices on the product page and only the sale price at checkout, and make sure all three agree.

Remediation

Risk signal

A “was” price is a claim about your own past. Google's sale rules check it in days, and your order history can do the same. Show reductions only from prices you really charged, and only for as long as the sale really runs.

PriorityTreat this and any other highest-severity findings as first-priority work, then document each fix.

EvidenceRecord the current state before each change, apply the fix, then capture the corrected state so every change is evidenced.

Similar cases

Sources

Community guidance

Written by Product Experts, the users Google recognises for their answers on its Merchant Center Community forum. Often stricter than Google’s help pages, and not Google policy.

How to fix Google Merchant Center suspensions (plain-language walkthrough)Merchant Center Community · Product Expert guide — support.google.com

Last reviewed 1 Oct 2026.

That is one issue. The library documents 134.

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