When someone edits a price in Shopify, the page you see afterward shows the new price, and Shopify's help pages describe no screen that lists the old one. The activity log may record that an action happened, with a name, but its help page does not describe old and new values. Actorly records a variant's price with the value before and after each change, from the day you install it.
Why a price is a variant change
In Shopify a product can have variants, such as sizes or colors, and the price sits on the variant. So the edit you remember as "I changed the price of that shirt" can be several variant edits. That matters when you go looking for the history, because you are looking for variant changes and not only product changes.
Actorly records variants separately, so a price change shows on its own rather than as a change to the whole product. For a variant it records price, compare-at price, SKU, barcode, weight and inventory policy, with the value before and after each change.
What Shopify gives you to look at
Three places are worth a look, and each answers a different question.
- The activity log (Settings, General, then Resources). It shows the date and time of recent actions by the owner or a user, each with the name of the person, app or channel. It is view-only, cannot be exported and shows at most 250 results.
- A CSV export you made earlier. Shopify's export from the Products page can be used for creating a backup of your products, so a file from last month holds last month's prices. It only helps if the export was made before the edit.
- Inventory adjustment history, if the question is about stock. It covers the last 180 days and shows who made each adjustment under Created by, but it is about quantities, not prices.
Shopify's help page on editing products says you can change product details at any time and that changes can affect your reports. It does not describe a price history.
Who changed the price
Shopify's activity log may name the person, app or channel behind an action. Actorly's public claim about "who" is for product changes, when Shopify reports it, with a confidence word beside the name. For a variant price Actorly shows the old value, the new value and the time, and it does not promise a name. If you need the person, check Shopify's activity log as well; the guide on how to see who changed a product shows how.
How quickly a price change appears in Actorly
Shopify reports a variant change through its product's update, so Actorly records it then. If that notice is missed, a weekly check finds the change instead, up to a week later and with no name attached. Actorly does not publish a delay figure for the notice path because none has been measured.
Putting a price back
Variant price is one of the 15 fields Actorly can put back, and it needs Actorly Restore, the paid plan. The restore looks at the current price, checks it is still what you saw, asks you to confirm the exact value, writes that one price, then asks Shopify again to confirm.
Three things the app tells you before you confirm, which matter if you sell in several markets:
- A variant price restore writes that variant's price only.
- A market price fixed to an amount is not touched. One set as a percentage is worked out from this price, so it moves with it.
- The compare-at price is not changed.
On the free plan, Actorly Watch, the monthly restore covers 12 of the 15 fields, and a variant's price is not one of them. Seeing the old price is free. Putting it back is the paid part. See pricing.
A short routine for a price you did not expect
- Open the product and read the current price on each variant.
- Check Shopify's activity log for recent actions on that product and note any name.
- If Actorly is installed, search the product's name in the Changes page and read the old and new value and the time. The docs show how to search and filter.
- If a price went wrong, restore it or type it back, and check the compare-at price too.
- If a discount or an app is involved, look at those records as well. Actorly records a discount's title, status and start and end dates, and the discount guide goes through them.
Frequently asked questions
Can I see the old price of a product in Shopify?
Shopify's help pages do not describe a price history. A CSV export made before the edit would hold the old price. Actorly keeps the old and new price of variant changes it saw after you installed it.
Does Actorly show who changed a price?
Actorly's "who" claim is for product changes, when Shopify reports it, with a confidence word or Unknown. For a variant price it shows the old value, new value and time, and does not promise a name.
Can I restore a price on the free plan?
No. A variant's price is one of three fields that need Actorly Restore, along with a product's status and a collection's sort order.
What if the price was changed before I installed Actorly?
Actorly cannot show it. The record starts at install.