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Should You Show the Price in Your Ads?

Should You Show the Price in Your Ads?

Ad Copywriting Ad Creatives Ecommerce Marketing Faq Pricing

FAQ · Ad creatives

Should you show the price in your ads? There is no single right answer, but there is a right answer for your product. Showing the price can pull in ready buyers and filter out people who would never pay, or it can scare off shoppers before they understand why your product is worth it. Here is how to decide, how to show a discount honestly, and how to test it so your numbers make the call.

Updated October 2026 · By the CreaX team

Key takeaways

  • ✓Show the price when it is a reason to buy: a clearly fair price, a real deal, an impulse product or a market where shoppers compare prices fast.
  • ✓Hold it back when it needs context first: a premium or unfamiliar product, a bundle, or an offer that changes by size or market. Let the ad build value, then the page shows the price.
  • ✓Discounts must be real. Use a reference price you actually charged, show the saving and the end date, and keep the same price on the ad, the page and the checkout.
  • ✓Test it, do not guess. Run the same creative with and without the price and judge on cost per purchase, not clicks.

TL;DRThe short answer

Put the price in the ad when it helps someone decide to buy, and leave it for the landing page when it would make them decide not to look. A price in the ad is a filter: fewer people may click, but the people who do already accept the price. A price held back is an invitation: more people may click, but some will leave when they see it.

Neither is better in general. What matters is whether the filter saves you money (fewer wasted clicks from people who will never buy) or costs you sales (people who would have bought once they understood the product). That depends on your product, your price point and your audience, which is why the honest answer is to test it.

FAQ card, price in ads in 4 quick answers: showing price helps when it is a reason to buy; hide it when it needs context; show discounts with a real reference price and end date; test the same ad with and without the price.
The four questions sellers ask most about prices in ads, answered in one line each.

Q1Does showing price help?

Showing the price tends to help when the price itself is part of the pitch. Common situations:

  • Impulse and low-ticket products. A phone case, a pair of socks or a kitchen gadget. Shoppers decide fast, and a fair price removes the main question.
  • A genuinely good deal. If you are cheaper than the obvious alternative, or running a real sale, the price is your hook.
  • Price-sensitive audiences and markets. Where shoppers compare prices quickly, an ad without one can look like you are hiding something.
  • Retargeting. People who already visited know the product. Reminding them of the price, or a real offer, can be the nudge they need. See retargeting ads for ecommerce.
  • Catalog and shopping ads. Formats that show product listings usually display the price anyway, so your creative should not fight it.

A price in the ad can also lower wasted spend. If your product costs more than people expect, those who click without knowing will often bounce on the page. Putting the price up front means you pay for fewer of those clicks. That is why click-through rate alone can mislead you here: a lower CTR can still mean cheaper purchases.

★Price plus a reason works better than price alone

“$24” says nothing. “Fits every phone mount, $24” or “Three months of filters, $24” tells the shopper what they get for the money. Pair the number with the outcome or what is included.

Q2When should I hide it?

Leaving the price for the landing page makes sense when the number needs a story before it lands well:

  • Premium products. If you charge more than the obvious alternatives, lead with what makes the product different: materials, design, results you can prove, a guarantee. Show the price once the shopper sees why.
  • New or unfamiliar products. When people do not yet know what the product does, they have nothing to compare the price to. Explain first.
  • Bundles and tiered offers. “From $29” can undersell a bundle that most buyers choose at a higher tier. Let the page lay out the options. Our guide to a bundle offer landing page shows how.
  • Prices that change by market or variant. If you sell in several countries or sizes, one number in the ad can be wrong for half your audience.
  • High-ticket items. For bigger purchases, the ad's job is usually to earn attention and trust, not to close the sale.

Hiding the price is not the same as hiding it forever. The landing page should show the price clearly and early. Making shoppers hunt for it feels like a trick and costs you trust.

Q3How do I show a discount?

Discounts are where price ads go wrong most often. Ad platforms and consumer protection rules in many countries care about misleading price claims, so keep every number true and check the rules for the markets you sell in. A safe way to show a sale:

  1. Use a real reference price. The “was” price should be a price you actually charged for a meaningful period, not a number invented to make the saving look bigger.
  2. Show the saving simply. Pick one format: “Save $10”, “20% off” or the old and new price side by side. Do not stack three.
  3. Give a real end date. “Ends Sunday” only if it truly ends Sunday. Fake countdowns damage trust when people come back and see the same offer.
  4. Keep it consistent. The ad, the landing page and the checkout must show the same price and the same terms.
  5. Name the conditions. If the deal needs a code, a minimum order or applies to one size only, say so on the page.

!Never invent a higher “was” price

Inflated reference prices are one of the fastest ways to lose customer trust and to run into trouble with ad review. If you have never sold at the higher price, show the current price and lead with a different reason to buy.

Free shipping, a bundle or a gift with purchase can work as well as a percentage off, and they protect your margin. Run the numbers first with our guide to pricing a dropshipping product.

Q4How do I test it?

The cleanest test changes only one thing: whether the price appears in the creative.

1

Pick one strong creative

Use an ad that already works or your best new angle, so the test is not decided by a weak hook.
2

Make two versions

Version A shows the price (or the offer); version B is the same ad without it. Keep the image, video, headline and copy otherwise identical.
3

Send both to the same page

The landing page always shows the price. Only the ad changes.
4

Give both the same budget

Run them in the same ad set or with the same budget and audience, long enough for each to collect purchases.
5

Judge on cost per purchase

Compare cost per purchase and return on ad spend, not clicks. If you need a refresher on targets, see break-even ROAS.

If you test several angles anyway, add price as one variable inside your normal angle tests rather than as a separate experiment. Our guide to testing ad angles for a new product covers how to structure that.

Make the with-price and without-price versions in one pass

Paste a product link and get studio ads, UGC-style video and a landing page, then edit the copy to test price in the creative.

MistakesCommon mistakes to avoid

Before and after: a weak price ad where the price is the only message, with a fake was price, no end date and a different page price, versus a stronger ad with the benefit first, a real saving, a clear end date and the same price on ad and page.
The same offer, shown two ways: the stronger version leads with the benefit and keeps every price claim true.
  • Making the price the only message. A number with no benefit gives people nothing to want.
  • Different prices on the ad and the page. Shoppers notice, and it makes the whole store look careless.
  • Fake urgency. “Last chance” on an offer that never ends teaches people to ignore you.
  • Judging on CTR. A price in the ad often lowers clicks on purpose. Look at purchases.
  • Forgetting currency and market. If you advertise in several countries, show the right currency for each audience, or leave the price for the page.
  • Hiding the price on the page too. Holding it back in the ad is fine; making people search for it is not.

ChecklistChecklist you can copy

Checklist, showing price the right way: match the price on the page, use real reference prices, add the end date only if the sale really ends, and compare cost per purchase rather than click-through rate.
Four rules that keep a price in your ad honest and easy to test.

Before you launch a price ad

  • ✓Is the price a reason to buy? If yes, try it in the ad. If it needs context, start without.
  • ✓Does the ad pair the price with a benefit? Number plus outcome, not number alone.
  • ✓Is every reference price real? Only prices you actually charged.
  • ✓Is there a true end date? Or no date at all.
  • ✓Do the ad, page and checkout match? Same price, same terms, same currency.
  • ✓Are you testing on cost per purchase? Same creative, with and without the price, same page and budget.

CreaXHow CreaX helps (briefly)

Price tests need two clean versions of the same creative and a landing page that shows the price clearly. CreaX makes that quick: paste a product link or upload a product image, and in about 60–120 seconds you get studio ad creatives in five styles (Classic, Humble Orbit, Punch, Luxe and Meta Feed) and four sizes (1:1, 3:4, 4:5 and 9:16), UGC-style video ads in 18, 30 or 45-second lengths, and a publish-ready landing page. Edit the text to make your with-price and without-price versions, and send both to the same page.

Plans start at $4.99 a month for 2,000 credits, with top-ups at $1 per 500 credits. For layout rules that keep a price readable on a static ad, see our guide to static ad design.

Build your next price test today

One product link, about 60–120 seconds: studio ads, UGC-style video and a landing page that shows the price clearly.

FAQFrequently asked questions

Q.Should I put the price on Facebook and Instagram ads?

Try it when the price is a reason to buy, such as a low-ticket product or a real sale. For premium or unfamiliar products, start without and let the page explain the value, then test both.

Q.Does showing price lower click-through rate?

It often does, because people who will not pay that price stop clicking. That can still lower your cost per purchase, so judge the test on purchases.

Q.Is “from $X” pricing a good idea?

It works when most buyers really pay close to that price. If most choose a higher tier, “from” can feel misleading once they reach the page.

Q.Should I show the price in video ads?

You can show it in the last few seconds or in an on-screen caption, after the hook and the benefit. Test it like any other creative change.

Q.What if I sell in several countries?

Show the right currency for each audience, or leave the price for the landing page, which can show local prices.

Q.Can I show a discount without a code?

Yes, as long as the discount is real and applied automatically on the page and at checkout. Say clearly what the shopper pays.

Ready to test price in your ads?

Paste a product link and get the ads and the landing page for a clean test in about 60–120 seconds.

This guide is published by CreaX. It is general advice, not legal advice: check the advertising and pricing rules of each platform and market you sell in.