PrestaShop bulk price change: 4 methods and the traps that are easy to trip over
You can change prices in bulk in PrestaShop four ways: with a catalog price rule (good for promotions, the base price doesn't change), by importing a CSV file, with a paid bulk edit module, or in a conversation with the chat that shows prices before and after. Whichever you choose, check three traps: combinations, specific prices and rounding.
Author: The TellMyShop team. A guide for PrestaShop store owners: the cause, the manual fix and the same work in a chat conversation.
Last updated: · 5 min read
A promotion or a new price: what do you actually want to change?
This is the first question, because it decides the tool. PrestaShop separates a product's base price from discounts applied to it. A weekend promotion is a discount with an end date. A rise after a new supplier price list is a change to the base price.
Mixing the two up goes wrong both ways. A rise made with a “negative promotion” disappears when someone clears out old rules. A promotion made by changing the base price doesn't come back by itself after the weekend, and you have to remember what the old price was.
What are the four ways to change prices of many products?
| Method | For what | Changes the base price | When something goes wrong |
|---|---|---|---|
| Catalog price rule | promotions on categories, manufacturers, features | no | you delete the rule and prices return |
| CSV import | large changes from a supplier price list | yes | you need a copy of the old prices from an export |
| Bulk edit module | regular work on prices, without files | yes | depends on the module |
| Conversation with the chat | a change in a category, a supplier price list, rounding | yes | you undo the whole operation from the change history |
There's also a fifth way, an SQL query straight in the database. It comes up on forums, but it skips everything PrestaShop does on save, including refreshing indexes and modules that react to a price change. We don't recommend it for a live store.
Catalog price rules are covered in the managing products documentation, in the section on prices. For import, a PrestaShop forum thread about bulk price change modules (in Polish) is useful, where owners compare their experience.
Which traps do stores trip over when changing prices?
Most often the ones you can't see in the product list.
- Combinations. A variant has a surcharge saved as an amount, for example +€20 for size XL. A 10% rise in the base price doesn't change that amount, so the pricier variants go up by a smaller percentage.
- Specific prices. A product with its own fixed-amount promotion, for example −€15, still has −€15 after the rise. A percentage promotion is calculated from the new price.
- Tax excluded and tax included. On the product page you enter the price with or without tax, and the tax depends on the tax rule. Importing a net price list into the gross field is a classic error the size of your VAT rate.
- Rounding. A 7% rise on €49.99 gives €53.49. If you want .99 endings, you have to plan for them.
- The lowest price from 30 days. If you show it with promotions, every change goes into the price history your module calculates from. Compsoul describes this for its module, for example.
- Several stores. In multistore mode the price can differ in each store. Check which context you're saving in.
How much work is a rise across a whole category?
As many products as there are, times a few clicks each. Wednesday, 11:10 pm, the new supplier price list arrived in the afternoon and applies from tomorrow. You open a product, work out 8%, round, type, save, go back to the list. With 30 products that's an evening. With 300, importing a file is faster, but it needs an export, a spreadsheet, formulas and nervous checking that the columns match.
How to change prices in a conversation with the chat
You describe the change the way you'd tell a colleague. Your chat (Claude or ChatGPT) calculates the new prices, shows a before and after table with the change in percent, and you approve. One operation covers up to 100 products.
You: Raise prices in the Garden lighting category by 8%, rounded down to .99. Show me a preview.
Your chat: Preview: 46 products, prices in euros including tax. The first three:
Note: 2 products have an active fixed-amount promotion; after the rise the discount in euros stays the same.
You: Approved.
Your chat: Saved. You can undo the whole operation with one request from the change history.
Card status: waiting for your “yes”old version: Kula solar lamp 20 cm: 49.99
new version: Kula solar lamp 20 cm: 53.99 (+8.0%)
old version: LED string lights 10 m: 89.00
new version: LED string lights 10 m: 95.99 (+7.9%)
old version: Steel wall light: 179.00
new version: Steel wall light: 192.99 (+7.8%)
Price changes need the Sales switch, which you turn on yourself in the module panel, because it's off after installation. It stays on until you turn it off. A change of more than 30% needs an extra, explicit approval, and a price of 0 can't be set. In the morning, over coffee, you write the request, read the preview and approve it before the store takes the first orders of the day.
Example requests: raise or cut prices across a category, round prices to .99 and purchase prices from a supplier price list. If you're planning a discount code along with the prices, read why a discount code in PrestaShop may not work. Price changes are in TellMyShop Pro; details on the pricing page.
Checklist before you approve new prices
- You know whether you're changing the base price or running a promotion.
- You've checked whether the prices in the file or the request include tax or not.
- You know what happens to combination surcharges.
- You've reviewed products with active promotions.
- You have a plan for rounding.
- You have a way back to the old prices: an export or the change history.
Questions and answers
Does a catalog price rule change the product price permanently?
No. A catalog price rule applies a discount or a markup when the price is displayed and in the basket, while the base price on the product page stays the same. It's a good tool for promotions with an end date. For a permanent rise or cut, you change the base price: by hand, by import or in a conversation with the chat.
Does a bulk price change also change combination prices?
Only indirectly. A combination in PrestaShop has a price impact saved as an amount, for example +€20 for a larger size. When you raise the base price by 10%, the impact amount stays the same. If you want to raise the surcharges for variants too, you have to change them separately.
How do I round prices to .99 after a rise?
PrestaShop has rounding settings for amounts, but it won't turn prices into .99 endings. You do it as part of the change: in a spreadsheet before importing, or by asking the chat for a rise rounded down to .99. In the preview you see every price before and after, so you'll catch products that would end up cheaper after rounding than before the rise.
Does a price change affect the lowest price from the last 30 days?
Yes, if your store shows the lowest price from the 30 days before a discount. The module that calculates it keeps a price history, so a rise just before a sale will be visible in that history. Plan price changes ahead and check how your module calculates it.
Can the chat change prices without my approval?
No. Price changes are off by default and you turn them on yourself in the module panel. Each change has a preview with the price before and after, and saving happens only after your approval. A change of more than 30% needs an extra, explicit confirmation. A price of 0 can't be set.
PrestaShop is a registered trademark of PrestaShop SA. Claude is a trademark of Anthropic PBC. ChatGPT and OpenAI are trademarks of OpenAI. TellMyShop is not affiliated with these companies.