How to put a price list on your website

To put a price list on your website, type it onto a page as real text (a simple list or a two-column table), show the full price each customer pays, and say what any “from” price covers. Then keep it current by editing it straight from your WordPress dashboard whenever a price changes, rather than re-uploading a file.

This guide covers the layout, the UK rules on “from” prices, VAT and extra charges, and the steps to edit it yourself.

Key takeaways

Put your price list on your website as text, not as a photo or a PDF: it’s easier to read on a phone and to keep up to date.

A “from” price must be a price people can really get, and say what it covers.

Charges every customer pays, including VAT if you’re VAT registered, belong in the price you show.

WordPress’s Table and List blocks let you change a price in a minute, with revisions to undo mistakes.

Why your price list should be text, not a photo or PDF

A photo of the board on the wall or a PDF of the printed list is quick to upload, but both cause problems.

Photos of text are hard to adjust. The W3C’s accessibility guidelines (WCAG 2.2) ask for real text rather than images of text wherever the look can be made with text (success criterion 1.4.5, level AA). The reason, in the W3C’s words, is to help people “who require the text in a particular font size, foreground and background color, font family, line spacing or alignment”. Its tutorial adds that “Genuine text is much more flexible than images: It can be resized without losing clarity”, while images “are more likely to distort and pixelate when resized.”

PDFs are harder to use. GOV.UK’s advice on accessible documents says PDFs “can make your content harder to find, use and maintain” and “do not work well with assistive technologies like screen readers a lot of the time”. It recommends HTML, meaning an ordinary web page, “so that your documents use your users’ custom browser settings”. That advice is written for public sector sites, but the reasons apply to yours too.

Files go stale. When one price changes, a photo or PDF has to be remade and uploaded again. A text price list on your website is a quick edit.

Our small business website accessibility guide explains what the Equality Act means for your site and gives free checks you can do yourself.

How to lay out a price list on your website

Group it the way people choose. Cuts, colour and treatments; or bath and tidy, full groom and extras. A short heading for each group helps people jump to what they want.
One line per service. Name, a few words on what’s included if it helps, and the price.
Keep tables narrow. Two or three columns (service, what’s included, price) usually fit a phone screen. Wider tables can make people scroll sideways.
Put it in one place. One prices page, or one clear section on your services page, means one copy to update. Our guide to what pages a small business website should have helps you decide where it fits.

Here’s a made-up example for Fettle and Fade, one of our fictional demo barbers:

Service	What’s included	Price
Haircut	Wash, cut and style	[£price]
Skin fade	Clippers and scissors, around 45 minutes	from [£price]
Beard trim	Shape and hot towel	[£price]

Swap in your own services and prices. You can see how we lay out services for barbers, hair salons and dog groomers.

“From” prices, done fairly

A colour depends on hair length; a groom depends on the dog’s size and coat. A “from” price shows that honestly, as long as it follows the rules.

The CAP Code (the ASA’s rules) says “from” claims “must not mislead by exaggerating the availability or amount of benefits likely to be obtained by the consumer” (rule 3.22), and that “Price statements must not mislead by omission, undue emphasis or distortion” (rule 3.17).

The CMA’s price transparency guidance says a “from” price is allowed “as long as it includes all applicable mandatory charges and does not mislead customers about what the price covers”. It calls “from” pricing “a useful tool that can help make complex pricing accessible”, and it counts “a page on your website” as a place where these rules apply.

In practice:

Make the “from” price a real one. It should be what a real, bookable service costs, such as a short-hair cut or a small dog’s groom. The CMA’s guidance says a price is likely to mislead if it’s not one “at which most consumers would be able to purchase the product”.
Say what it covers. “Full groom from [£price], small dogs with short coats” tells people why their price might differ.
Say what changes the price. Coat condition, hair length, extra time. If a charge can’t be worked out in advance, the CAP Code says to make clear it isn’t included and how it’s worked out (rule 3.19).

Here’s a made-up example for Suds and Snout, one of our fictional demo groomers: “Full groom from [£price] (small dogs, short coats). Larger dogs and matted coats cost more: we’ll confirm your price when you book.”

VAT and other charges in your price list

If you’re VAT registered, the prices you show to the public should include VAT. The CMA’s guidance says businesses can give VAT-exclusive price lists to trade customers, but “any prices offered or directed to consumers include VAT (where applicable)”. The CAP Code only allows VAT-exclusive prices where everyone the price is aimed at “pay no VAT or can recover VAT” (rule 3.18). If you’re not VAT registered, there’s no VAT to add.

Charges every customer pays belong in the price. CAP rule 3.18 says quoted prices must include “non-optional taxes, duties, fees and charges that apply to all or most buyers”. The CMA’s guidance says: “It’s illegal to hide additional fees, taxes or other charges that the customer will have to pay until later in the purchase process (sometimes called ‘drip pricing’).” So if every client pays a booking fee, show the price with it included, not as a surprise at the till.

Extras people choose (a hot towel add-on, a nail trim) can be listed separately with their own prices.

This is general information, not legal advice; if you’re unsure how the rules apply to your prices, read the CMA’s and ASA’s guidance or ask an adviser.

Dating your prices and keeping them up to date

We found no rule that says you must put a date on your price list. But an out-of-date price is still a price you’ve shown, and it has to be one people can actually get.

Dates matter most for offers. The ASA’s advice on prices describes a hotel ruling where “from” prices were available, but only for one night: “In the absence of any information in the ads to indicate the date on which the advertised prices were available, the ASA concluded that the ads were misleading.” If a price only applies on certain days or until a certain date, say so next to it.

Habits that help:

Change the website the day prices change, before or at the same time as the board in your shop.
Add a small line such as “Prices updated [month year]” under the list, so returning customers can see it’s current.
Check it on a set date, such as the start of each quarter, and remove services you no longer offer.

How to edit your price list from the WordPress dashboard

WordPress’s own documentation describes two blocks that suit a price list. Button names can change a little between WordPress versions.

Add a table

Open the page in the editor. Our guide on how to change the words on your WordPress website shows how to log in, find the page and save.
Click the Add block button and choose Table, or type /table on a new line.
Type your services and prices into the cells.
To add or remove a row, click the table and use Edit table in the block toolbar. It can insert a row or column before or after, or delete one.
Turn on Header section in the block settings if you want a heading row, such as “Service” and “Price”.
You can add a caption, such as “Prices updated [month year]”, with the caption option in the toolbar.

Or use a list

For a shorter price list, a List block is simpler. Click Add block and choose List, or type /list, then type one service and price per line.

Change a price and check it

Click the price, type the new one, and save. Then open the live page on your phone to check it reads well.

If something goes wrong, WordPress keeps revisions: open the Settings sidebar, choose the Page tab, click the number next to Revisions, drag the slider to an earlier version and click Restore.

Common questions

Do I have to show prices on my website at all?
We found no rule that says you must. The rules apply to the prices you do show.

Can my “from” price be my cheapest service?
Yes, if people can really book it at that price and you say what it covers.

Free help

Help with your price list

We’re Hintling Studio, an independent WordPress studio registered in London. Our sites are built with the WordPress block editor, so you can change your prices yourself, and every package comes with starter text for your kind of business that you edit. Business and Shop also include a price estimator that shows customers a guide price from your own prices (a £150 add-on on Launch).

Our pay-once prices have no VAT to add: Launch £799 (up to 5 pages, planned delivery 2 weeks), Business £1,499 (up to 12 pages, planned delivery 3 to 4 weeks) and Shop £2,499 (planned delivery 4 to 6 weeks). Or choose our Monthly Plan, where we host the site for you: £29 a month, or £39 a month with online booking. Every package includes setting up your hosting and domain in your own name.

See what’s in each package, or tell us about your business.

Hintling Studio is not connected with the W3C, CAP, the ASA or the CMA.

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How to put a price list on your website (and keep it up to date)