AppStill Works

A guide for consignment and resale shops

How to set a consignment markdown schedule on Shopify

A markdown schedule lowers the price of an item the longer it sits, so the floor keeps turning over and consignors get paid sooner. A common one is full price for 30 days, 20 percent off from day 31, and half off from day 61. This guide covers how to pick a schedule, how to run it in plain Shopify with tags and the bulk editor or an automatic discount, and how it changes what the consignor is owed. The last part shows how Still Works Consignment runs the schedule for you.

1. Pick the schedule and write it down

A schedule is a short list of steps. Each step says from which day an item gets how much off. Count day 1 as the day the item came in. Keep the steps few, two or three, so staff can explain them at the counter.

Decide one thing early: are the percents off the original price, or off the last price? Off the original is easier to follow. "Half off from day 61" then means half of the intake price, not half of the already reduced price. Put the schedule in your consignment agreement, so the consignor knows the price will drop and that their share drops with it.

2. Know when each item came in

Shopify records when each product was created, and the Products list can sort by that date. That works only if you create each product the day the item comes in. If you list things ahead of time, or copy old products, the date is wrong.

A safer way is a tag for the month the item came in, added at intake, such as "in-2026-10". In Products, filter by that tag to see everything from that month. If you want the exact day, add a date field for products under Settings, then Custom data, called "Intake date", and fill it in at intake. Month tags are easier to filter, so many shops run the schedule by month and accept a few days of slack.

3. Two ways to lower the prices

Change the price itself. On the day a month's items reach a step:

  1. In Products, filter by the month tag, select all, and choose Bulk edit.
  2. Add the Price and Compare-at price columns. Copy the intake price into Compare-at price, then type the new price. Online, the old price shows crossed out.
  3. Add a tag such as "md-20" so you know these items are done, and swap it for "md-50" at the next step.

The new price is the price everywhere, online and on Shopify POS. The paper tag on the item is now wrong, so either reprint it or post a sign that explains the colors or dates on your tags.

Use an automatic discount. Make an automated collection under Products, then Collections, with the condition "Product tag is equal to md-20". Then in Discounts, create an automatic "Amount off products" discount of 20 percent that applies to that collection. Do the same for "md-50". Moving an item to the next step is then just swapping its tag. Make sure an item is only ever in one markdown collection. Shopify POS can apply automatic discounts too, but ring up one test item at the counter before you rely on it.

The discount way keeps the tag price true and shows the reduction at checkout. The price way is simpler for customers to read online. Either works; pick one and stay with it.

4. The consignor's share follows the price paid

A consignor's share comes from what the customer actually paid. If a $40 jacket sells at half off, the split applies to $20. The Orders export shows the price and any discount on each line, so your payout sheet can use the real amount. If you changed the price itself, the line simply shows the lower price.

5. Keep a record of each markdown

Consignors ask why something sold for less than they expected. Keep a short log: the date, the item, the old price, the new price and the step. A tab in your payout spreadsheet is enough. If someone on staff changes a price by hand for a good reason, note that too, so the next bulk edit does not undo it.

The same steps in Still Works Consignment

In the app, the Markdowns page holds your schedule: up to three steps, each with a "from day" and a "percent off". Day 1 is the day the item arrives, and the percents come off the price it was taken in at. Each step must be on a day from 2 to 365, with a percent from 1 to 90, and each later step deeper than the one before. It starts set to 20 percent off from day 31 and 50 percent off from day 61, and you can change it.

Markdowns start off. Until you turn them on, the page shows a preview of every item that would change today, with the old and new price. Once on, every morning at 6 the app lowers each item's price in Shopify when it reaches a step, so the online store and Shopify POS show the same price. A Mark down now button applies the day's changes straight away. If you change an item's price in Shopify yourself, the app leaves that item alone from then on. Every change, and every item it left alone, goes in a log on the same page. Turning markdowns off keeps the prices already lowered.

Because items are linked to their consignor at intake, the share is figured on what the customer paid after the markdown. You can reprint a consignor's tags at the current price from their page in the app, and the consignor's own page shows each item's current price. The app is free for up to 15 active consignors and never takes a percentage of sales. It is on the Shopify App Store.

Where to go from here

The Still Works Consignment page has the plain description of what the app does and does not do. If something here does not match what you see, email the studio and it gets fixed the same business day.