Shopify guide · Product Change History
How to track product price changes in Shopify
Updated
Short answer
Shopify doesn't keep a history of product field edits, so once a price changes the old value is gone. The activity log, /events.json and the inventory adjustment history each cover something else. To see old and new prices you need something that records every product update as it happens, such as Toolbench's Product Change History, which logs price, compare-at price, cost and the rest of the product's fields with the time of each change.
How to do it with Toolbench
Toolbench's Product Change History records every change to a product's price, compare-at price, cost, SKU, barcode, taxable setting, title, description, SEO title, SEO description, category, product type, vendor, tags, status, images, image alt text, option values and variants added or removed. Each change shows the old value, the new value and the time. Edits from staff, CSV imports and other apps are all recorded the same way, so a price that reverts shows up with the exact time it changed back.
- Install Toolbench from the Shopify App Store and choose the Free or Premium plan.
- Open Product Change History and click Turn on, then approve the read access to products and inventory it asks for.
- Toolbench saves the current state of every product first, so the very first edit afterwards already shows its before value. On a large catalog this takes a few minutes.
- Find changes in the tool's list, or add the Tools block to Shopify's product page to see a product's history while you're editing it.
- To narrow down who made an edit, also turn on View History. It records which staff had each product open, including at the moment a change was made.
Why this happens
A price is wrong and nobody remembers changing it. Sale prices go back to the original price an hour after you set them. An accountant or auditor asks for a record of price changes. All three come down to the same gap: the Shopify admin stores a product's current values, not its previous ones.
Orders, draft orders and customers each get a timeline in the admin. Products don't. The only product-level history Shopify keeps is for inventory quantities.
Your options in Shopify
Activity log (Settings > Activity log)
Shows store-level events such as theme and settings changes and some app activity. Most product field edits never appear there. It shows at most 250 entries and can't be exported.
The /events.json view
Open a product in the admin and add /events.json to the end of the URL. You'll see when the product was created, published or had its status changed, but no old or new values for price, title or description.
Inventory adjustment history
Click a variant's available quantity to see quantity changes and their reasons. It covers stock only, nothing about price.
Page activity
The avatars at the top of a product page show other staff who have that product open right now. It's live only, and nothing is saved.
Comparing CSV exports
Export your products regularly and compare two exports in a spreadsheet. It works, but it's manual, and it only tells you that something changed between two exports, not when.
Why nobody can show you who changed a price: Shopify doesn't record which staff member made a product field edit, and the product updates it sends to apps don't include it either. For the who, look at who had the product open at that moment, limit who can edit prices (staff permissions have separate options for product price and cost), and check which apps can write to products under Settings > Apps and sales channels. When prices or titles change back by themselves, the cause is almost always an app: an ERP or marketplace sync, an inventory or feed app, a scheduled bulk edit or a spreadsheet sync. If the revert happens on a schedule, it's a sync.
You only approve what Product Change History needs
Toolbench asks for no permissions when you install it. When you turn on Product Change History, Shopify asks you to approve only what this tool uses: read products and inventory.
It doesn't ask for orders, customers, discounts or checkout settings. Each of Toolbench's other tools asks for its own access separately, and only if you turn that tool on, so you never grant access for tools you don't use. Read access means Toolbench can see that data but can't change it.
Before you turn it on
- It records from the moment it's turned on. It can't recover changes made before that.
- It can't name the staff member who made an edit, because Shopify doesn't provide that to apps. View History shows who had the product open, on pages where the Tools block is added.
- It only reads your products. It doesn't undo a change, so copy the earlier value back in the Shopify admin.
Pricing
Product Change History is a free tool. The free plan runs any 3 of Toolbench's 12 free tools at a time, with no time limit and no credit card. Premium is $9.99 a month for all 16 tools at once and starts with a 14-day free trial.
Questions
Does Shopify keep a price history for products?
No. The Shopify admin stores a product's current price only. Inventory quantities have an adjustment history, but prices, titles, descriptions and SEO fields don't.
Can I see who changed a product price in Shopify?
Not directly. Shopify doesn't record the staff member on a product field edit. You can see who had the product open when it changed with a view log such as Toolbench's View History, and you can limit price editing with staff permissions.
Why do my Shopify prices change back on their own?
Usually an app or integration is writing the old price back: an ERP, marketplace or inventory sync, a feed app or a scheduled bulk edit. Note the exact time the price reverts. If it happens on a schedule, it's a sync.
Does Toolbench record price changes made by apps and CSV imports?
Yes. Product Change History records every product update Shopify sends, whether it came from staff, a CSV import or another app.
What permissions does Product Change History need?
Only the ones it uses: read products and inventory. It doesn't ask for orders, customers, discounts or checkout settings. Toolbench asks for no permissions at install, and each of its other tools asks for its own access separately, only if you turn that tool on.