How-to guide
How to print price tags from Shopify (with or without barcodes)
Price tags are labels with money on them: which formats fit jewelry, apparel and shelves, how to show sale prices with the original crossed out, and how to keep printed prices honest.
By Bastien HugonFounder & Engineer8 min readPublished July 9, 2026
TL;DR
Price tags print exactly like barcode labels — true-size PDF, 100% scale — with the price pulled from the variant so paper never disagrees with the register. Formats: Avery 5160 for shelf and box tags, small-format sheets or Dymo/Zebra rolls for jewelry-style tags, with the barcode optional on each. For sales, print the compare-at price struck through next to the current price instead of re-stickering by hand.
A price tag is a promise: whatever the sticker says is what the register should charge. The failure mode is drift — a price changes in Shopify, the shelf keeps the old sticker, and the argument happens at checkout. Printing tags *from* Shopify (variant price as the single source) rather than typing them into a label designer is the whole discipline; the rest is formats and layout.
With or without a barcode?
| Tag style | Contains | Right when |
|---|---|---|
| Price + barcode | Code 128/UPC, title, price | Default for POS stores — scan to ring up, price visible to the customer |
| Price only | Title + price, big type | Shelf-edge tags, markets without scanning, price-first merchandising |
| Barcode only | Code + SKU | Stockroom labels where customers never look — that guide |
If the store runs Shopify POS, the combined tag wins: one sticker serves the customer (price) and the cashier (scan). Everything about making the barcode half scannable — size, quiet zones, contrast — is in the six-fix guide; this page focuses on the money half.
Formats by retail context
- Shelves, boxes, general retail: Avery 5160 (2.625\u2033 \u00d7 1\u2033) — price at readable size plus a scannable code, 30 per sheet.
- Apparel: 5160 stickers on poly bags, or roll labels applied to hang-tag cards. Direct stickers on fabric: no — adhesive residue.
- Jewelry: purpose-cut barbell/dumbbell labels on Dymo or Zebra rolls — the tail wraps the ring, the flag carries the price and a short code. Sheet formats this small (5167-class) work but scan reluctantly.
- Window/shelf display cards: Avery 5163 (4\u2033 \u00d7 2\u2033) — price in display type with room for details.
Sale pricing: the compare-at strikethrough
Shopify already models sales correctly: price is what you charge, compare-at price the reference it is discounted from. A good price tag mirrors that — current price prominent, compare-at struck through beside it — so a markdown means reprinting a sticker, not maintaining a parallel price list. Two honesty rules worth keeping: only show a strikethrough when compare-at is genuinely higher than price, and reprint affected tags the same day the price changes in admin.
Step by step
- 01
Fix prices in Shopify first
Variant price and compare-at price are the source of truth. Never type a price into a label tool by hand — that is how drift starts.
- 02
Pick the format for the context
5160 for general retail, rolls for jewelry, 5163 for display cards (table above). One format per print run.
- 03
Choose the tag layout
Title + price, with or without barcode, compare-at strikethrough on sale items. Localized currency formatting matters: 12,90 € reads wrong as $12.90.
- 04
Set quantities per variant
Tags follow physical stock: 8 rings on the tray = 8 tags. Quantities starting at zero make a markdown run print only the products whose price moved.
- 05
Print at 100% and check one tag
True-size PDF, actual-size print. Verify the price against the admin and — if the tag carries a barcode — scan it once before running the batch.
Doing this with Solvi Barcode Labels
Solvi Barcode Labels prints price tags from the same presets as its barcode labels: price and compare-at come straight from the variant, the strikethrough renders automatically when compare-at is set, and currency formatting follows your store locale (12,90 € / $12.90 / ¥1290). Preview is the exact PDF, so the tag you approve is the tag on the shelf.
Frequently asked questions
Can Shopify print price tags natively?
No — the admin prints order documents, not product labels or tags. Price tags come from a label app or a hand-maintained document; the app route keeps the printed price tied to the variant price instead of a copy that goes stale.
How do I print a sale price with the original crossed out?
Set the variant's compare-at price in Shopify (the original) and keep price as the sale price — the same fields that power the storefront's strikethrough. A label app that reads compare-at renders the crossed-out reference automatically; when the sale ends, clear compare-at and reprint.
What size are jewelry price tags?
The standard is a barbell (dumbbell) label roughly 2.2″ × 0.4″ overall: two adhesive tails wrap the ring or chain and a small flag carries the price and code. They come as die-cut rolls for Dymo/Zebra printers; flat sheet labels that small exist but are fiddly to apply and hard to scan.
Should the price be on the barcode label or separate?
For POS retail, combined — one sticker, price for the human, barcode for the register, and they can never disagree. Separate price-only tags make sense for shelf-edge pricing where the product itself carries the barcode, or where prices change faster than stock turns.
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