Discounts can help shoppers buy. They can also train shoppers to wait. For many Shopify merchants, that is the problem. A public coupon code may drive sales today, but it can also weaken the value of your products over time. Shoppers learn to search for codes before checkout. Coupon codes get shared. Full-price buyers start expecting a deal. Your brand can slowly become known for promotions instead of product value.
That does not mean every merchant should avoid flexible pricing. Sometimes a better price is the right move. A shopper may be interested but price-sensitive. A product may be slow moving. A high ticket item may need a little negotiation before the buyer is ready.
The answer is not always another coupon campaign. A better option is make an offer pricing on Shopify. Instead of publishing a storewide code, you can install a Shopify make an offer app that lets an individual buyer submit a private offer on a specific product, lets you review that offer, and — if you accept — sends that one buyer a Shopify checkout link at the agreed price. Nobody else sees a different price or gets a code.
It's worth being precise here, because "private discounts" gets used for two different things. One is audience-segmented pricing — a lower price automatically applied to a group, such as logged-in customers, a VIP tag, or wholesale accounts. That's usually built with tagged discount codes or automatic discounts tied to a customer segment, and it's a different tool solving a different problem.
What this page covers is make an offer negotiated pricing: a single buyer proposes a price on a single product, a merchant decides case by case whether to accept, decline, or counter, and only that buyer ever sees the resulting price — via a one-time private checkout link, not a reusable code or a segment-wide rule.
For example, a product may be listed at $500. A buyer makes an offer of $430. The merchant accepts. The buyer receives a private Shopify checkout link at $430. The product page still shows $500 to everyone else, including other buyers in the same customer segment. That's make an offer pricing — negotiated one-to-one, not applied by audience.
Many shoppers have learned to pause at checkout and search for a discount code. If they find one, they use it. Even shoppers who were willing to pay full price may still use a coupon code simply because it is available. This behavior can lower conversion and reduce margin.
A discount code that starts as private can quickly become public — shared in a Facebook group, posted on a coupon site, used by affiliates, or passed between customers. Once that happens, the merchant loses control. A code meant for one campaign can become a general discount for anyone who finds it.
Frequent sales can make products feel less valuable. If shoppers see discounts all the time, they may begin to believe the listed price is not the real price. This is especially risky for premium products, luxury goods, and high ticket items where brand perception matters.
A storewide 15% discount applies to everyone — including shoppers who needed the discount to convert and shoppers who were already ready to buy. Private offers are different. They allow flexible pricing only when a buyer asks and only when the merchant approves.
High ticket products often involve more hesitation. A shopper may love the product, but the price may slow them down. A private offer option gives that shopper another path — instead of leaving, they can submit an offer. This works well for furniture, jewelry, watches, fine art, luxury accessories, musical instruments, and high-value collectibles.
Slow moving inventory creates pressure. You may want to move the product, but you may not want to run a public clearance sale. Private offers give you another option. You can enable a make an offer button on selected products, collections, or variants. Interested shoppers can submit offers. You can accept only the offers that make sense — a strong way to clear slow moving inventory without a storewide sale.
Private discounts work well when the product is unique. For one-of-a-kind products, buyers often have a harder time judging market value. They may want to negotiate because there is no perfect comparison — vintage furniture, antiques, collectibles, art, estate jewelry, open box items, and floor models all fit this pattern.
For some products, merchants may need to keep the advertised product page price at or above a certain level. Private offers may be a useful option because the product page price does not need to change. The buyer submits a private offer, the merchant reviews it, and if accepted, the agreed price can be handled through a private checkout link. Every supplier policy is different, and merchants should review their own agreements before changing pricing workflows — see our full guide to MAP pricing on Shopify for more detail.
Some shoppers are not looking for a coupon code because they are unqualified — they are looking because they need a reason to buy now. A private offer flow gives them a direct way to engage. They can submit the price they would accept, and even if the first offer is too low, a counter offer may save the sale.
The buyer visits a product page, sees the product price, and clicks Make an Offer. They submit their email, offer amount, quantity, and an optional message. The merchant receives the offer, then accepts, declines, or counters. If the offer is accepted, the buyer receives a private checkout link. The buyer pays through Shopify checkout. The merchant fulfills the order in Shopify. The product page continues showing the original price to everyone else.
An accepted offer should not create confusion after the merchant approves it. The buyer should not have to wait for manual instructions or use a public coupon code. With a draft order flow, the accepted offer becomes a private checkout link at the agreed price. The buyer completes payment through Shopify checkout. Once the buyer pays, the merchant can fulfill the order through Shopify. This keeps the experience familiar, trustworthy, and connected to Shopify.
Do not add private offers to every product immediately. Start with products where the use case is clear. Good candidates include products that receive frequent price questions, products with high margin flexibility, products that have been in inventory too long, products with higher price points, and MAP sensitive or one-of-a-kind products. Avoid starting with products where you cannot afford to negotiate — if your margin is too thin, a make an offer button may invite offers you cannot accept.
Private discounts work best when you define your rules before offers come in. Without rules, merchants may respond emotionally. A better approach is to set pricing logic. For example, for a product listed at $500:
The numbers will depend on your margins, category, and inventory goals. A furniture store may use one rule for floor models and another for new arrivals. A jewelry store may use different rules based on material cost.
One of the biggest advantages of make an offer pricing is that it protects your listed price. Your product page can still show the full price. Your ads can still promote the product at the official price. Your collection pages can still look premium. The negotiation happens only when a buyer asks. This gives merchants a way to separate public pricing from private selling price — useful for premium products, high ticket catalogs, MAP sensitive products, and stores that want fewer public discounts.
Abandoned cart discounts reward abandonment — some shoppers learn that leaving checkout may trigger a better deal and wait for the follow-up email instead of buying immediately. Private offers create a different behavior. The shopper has to actively make an offer. The merchant can decide whether that offer is worth accepting. The discount is not automatic. This makes private offers a more controlled way to recover price-sensitive buyers.
Private discounts should be measured like any other revenue strategy. Track: total offers submitted, offers accepted and declined, counter offers sent and accepted, negotiated revenue, average accepted offer amount, the difference between list price and accepted price, products with the most offers, accepted offers that become paid orders, and checkout completion rate after offer acceptance. These numbers help you improve your rules over time.
BidWise lets buyers make private offers on any Shopify product — you accept, counter, or decline.
Install BidWise freeMake an offer pricing lets an individual buyer propose a price on a specific product. The merchant reviews it and can accept, decline, or counter. If accepted, only that buyer gets a private checkout link at the agreed price — the public product page price never changes. It's a one-to-one negotiation, not an audience-segment discount.
You can let buyers make an offer, review each offer individually, and send an accepted buyer a private checkout link at the agreed price. This avoids publishing a public coupon code or running a storewide sale.
Make an offer pricing is better when you want selective, case-by-case pricing that doesn't spread beyond the one buyer who requested it. A coupon code is better when you want a broad promotion that many shoppers can use.
Yes. With a Shopify make an offer app like BidWise, customers can submit private offers from product pages. The merchant can accept, decline, or counter.
Make an offer pricing may help merchants avoid publicly advertising a lower price, but MAP agreements vary. Merchants should review supplier agreements and get legal guidance when needed.
A make an offer workflow is a strong discount code alternative for Shopify. Instead of giving shoppers a code, merchants can review individual offers and send accepted buyers a checkout link at the agreed price.
Yes. It can help merchants move slow inventory without running a storewide sale or publicly marking down the product.
No. BidWise is built for one-to-one price negotiation, not automatic discounts applied to a customer segment or a public coupon code. Buyers make private offers, and accepted buyers receive Shopify checkout links at the agreed price.
Public coupon codes are not the only way to offer better prices on Shopify, and for many merchants they are not even the best way. Public discounts can leak, train shoppers to wait, reduce margin, and weaken brand perception. They can also discount buyers who were already ready to pay full price.
Make an offer pricing gives merchants more control. With a make an offer flow, a shopper can ask for a better price on a specific product. The merchant can accept, decline, or counter. If the offer is accepted, that buyer receives a private Shopify checkout link at the agreed price. The public product page price stays intact, and no other shopper — including anyone in the same customer segment — sees a different price. For high ticket products, slow moving inventory, MAP sensitive catalogs, and one-of-a-kind products, make an offer pricing can help convert shoppers who might otherwise leave. BidWise makes this simple for Shopify merchants.
