Update Prices Tool for BigCommerce
🔧 Quick Info: Update Prices lets you update regular, sale, retail, and cost prices for existing BigCommerce products and variants from a CSV or Excel spreadsheet. Rows are matched by SKU, and only the price fields you include and map are changed.
What It Does
Update Prices lets you change pricing for many BigCommerce products at once by uploading a single spreadsheet.
Your file lists each product or variant by SKU along with the new pricing values you want to apply. The tool finds the matching catalog item and replaces the existing values in the mapped price fields.
You can update any combination of the following fields:
- Price – The regular selling price.
- Sale Price – The discounted price shown while the item is on sale.
- Retail Price – The retail or manufacturer’s suggested price.
- Cost Price – Your internal product cost.
The tool first looks for a product with the matching SKU. If it does not find one, it checks your product variants. This allows the same file to update simple products, parent products, and individual variant-level SKUs.
Only Mapped Fields Change: You can update one price field or all four. Leave a field out of the file, leave its cell blank, or do not map it to keep the current BigCommerce value unchanged.
Currency symbols, commas, and spaces are removed automatically before the price is saved. For example, a spreadsheet value of $1,299.00 is processed as 1299.00.
Any SKU that cannot be found in your store is skipped and included in the error report.
The update runs as a background job, so you can close the page after starting it. When the import is complete, you’ll receive an email notification. If any rows could not be updated, the results include an error report.
When Should You Use This?
- You are starting a sale and need to lower prices across many products.
- You need to restore regular prices after a promotion ends.
- A supplier sent updated product costs or wholesale pricing.
- You want to refresh prices across a category, brand, or your complete catalog.
- You need to update variant-level pricing in bulk.
- You maintain pricing in a spreadsheet and want to push the latest values to BigCommerce.
- You want to update only one price type, such as Sale Price or Cost Price.
Before You Get Started
- Make sure the products and variants you want to update already exist in BigCommerce.
- Prepare a CSV or Excel spreadsheet.
- The first row of the file must contain column headers.
- Include a SKU column. Every row must have a SKU.
- Include at least one price column so the import has a value to update.
- Confirm that the SKUs in your file match the SKUs stored in BigCommerce.
- Confirm that you are working with the correct connected store.
Existing Products Only: Update Prices does not create products or variants. Rows with SKUs that cannot be found are skipped and reported as errors.
Subscription Required: Update Prices is a paid add-on. If it is not active for your store, you’ll be prompted to subscribe before running an update.
How to Use It
1 Open the Tool
Open Update Prices from your BigCommerce tools dashboard.
2 Prepare the Price File
Make sure the first row of your spreadsheet contains column headers. The file must include a SKU column and at least one price column.
You can name the spreadsheet columns however you prefer because you will map them after uploading the file.
3 Upload the File
On the Upload Price Updates step, upload your CSV or Excel spreadsheet.
The tool reads the first row to identify the available columns.
4 Map the Columns
After the file is uploaded, match each spreadsheet column to the corresponding Update Prices field.
Map the SKU column first, then map each price field you want to update:
- Price
- Sale Price
- Retail Price
- Cost Price
Columns you do not map are ignored.
5 Confirm Email Delivery
Continue to the Email Delivery step and confirm the address that should receive the completion notice. Your account email is filled in by default, but you can change it.
6 Start the Import
Start the update. The tool processes the spreadsheet as a background job, so you can close the page while it runs.
7 Review the Results
When the update is complete, check your email for the confirmation.
If any rows could not be updated, download the error report, review the problem for each row, correct the spreadsheet, and import those rows again.
How SKUs Are Matched
Each row is matched using the SKU value. Matching is not case-sensitive.
| Lookup Result | What Happens |
|---|---|
| Product SKU found | The mapped price fields are updated on the product. |
| No product found, but variant SKU found | The mapped price fields are updated on the variant. |
| No product or variant found | The row is skipped and included in the error report. |
| SKU is blank | The row cannot be matched or processed. |
Check for Extra Characters: Matching is not case-sensitive, but spaces, punctuation, dashes, and other characters must still match the SKU stored in BigCommerce.
How Price Values Are Applied
Each supplied value replaces the current value for that field on the matched product or variant.
| Spreadsheet Value | Result |
|---|---|
| A valid number is supplied | The current BigCommerce value is replaced with the new price. |
| The cell is blank | The current value remains unchanged. |
| The column is not mapped | The field is ignored and remains unchanged. |
Price Formatting
Price values must resolve to valid numbers. The tool automatically removes common formatting characters, including:
- Currency symbols such as
$and£ - Thousands separators such as commas
- Spaces
| Value in File | Processed Value |
|---|---|
| $19.99 | 19.99 |
| $1,299.00 | 1299.00 |
| £ 85.50 | 85.50 |
File and Field Reference
The first row of your spreadsheet must contain column headers. SKU is required, and you should include at least one price field.
| Column | Required? | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| SKU | Yes | Identifies the existing product or variant to update. Matching is not case-sensitive. |
| Price | No | The new regular selling price. Must be numeric after formatting characters are removed. |
| Sale Price | No | The new sale price. Must be numeric. |
| Retail Price | No | The new retail price or manufacturer’s suggested price. Must be numeric. |
| Cost Price | No | The new internal product cost. Must be numeric. |
Troubleshooting and FAQ
Some SKUs say “not found in BigCommerce”
The SKU could not be matched to a product or variant in your store, so the row was skipped.
Confirm that the product or variant still exists and check the SKU for extra spaces, punctuation differences, or typing errors.
Does this create new products?
No. Update Prices only changes pricing on products and variants that already exist. Unknown SKUs are reported as errors instead of being created.
Can I update only the Sale Price?
Yes. Include the SKU and Sale Price columns, then map only those fields. The regular, retail, and cost prices remain unchanged.
My prices contain dollar signs, pound signs, or commas
This is supported. The tool removes common currency symbols, commas, and spaces before processing the value.
Make sure the remaining value is a valid number.
Some price fields did not change
Only fields included in the file and mapped during the upload are updated. Blank cells and unmapped columns leave the current BigCommerce values unchanged.
Nothing happened after I clicked Start
The update runs as a background job. You do not need to keep the page open. Give it time to finish, then check the inbox and spam folder for the address shown on the Email Delivery step.
Some rows failed
Download the error report included with the completion results. Review the error for each row, correct the SKU or price value, and import those rows again.