I really want to be able to offer my VIP’s a discount off regularly priced items while I’m having a sale. The problem is that my sale collection is comprised of items from other collections. so if I apply the discount to the other collections, it ends up applying to the sale collection. I can’t apply to individual items, as I have to many and tells me it’s over the limit.
what would be ideal, is to have a discount that does NOT work if the item is found in a specific collection or items.
I don’t really want to remove all the sale items from the other collections, and then add them back in after the sale, plus I want them to show in their other categories.
I also don’t want to offer a discount on top of already reduced items. (Note these are not discounts, but rather a marked down price applied to the compare price and the sell price.)
I don’t want to use a discount for the sale items, as I often mark down per variants based on inventory and seasonal colours.
Could we please add this feature WITHOUT having to install and pay for yet another app?!?
A good workaround is to create a smart collection just for your VIP discount. Set the rule to Compare at price is empty so only regular-priced items are included. Then apply your VIP discount to that collection. This way, your VIPs get their discount on full-price products, but it won’t stack on items you’ve already marked down in a sale. You can keep products in their normal categories without needing to remove or duplicate them, and no extra app is required.
I completely understand your situation — it’s a very common challenge when trying to run layered promotions while keeping control over discounted items. Unfortunately, Shopify’s default discounting logic is quite limited when it comes to excluding specific collections or products from a discount rule. That’s why you’re running into the issue of VIP discounts overlapping with already marked-down products.
Right now, there are a couple of workarounds you can try without having to completely rebuild your collections:
Create a dedicated “No Additional Discount” collection — Add all your sale items to this collection (you can do this manually or with automated rules based on tags like “sale”). Then, when you set up your discount code for VIPs, apply it to “All Products” except this specific collection. This way, even if sale items exist in multiple categories, the discount won’t apply there.
Use product tags for better control — Instead of relying on collections only, tag all sale items with something like “onsale.” Then, set your VIP discount to apply to all products, but exclude products with that tag. This gives you flexibility without needing to restructure collections every time.
That said, I agree with you — it would be much more efficient if Shopify natively allowed exclusions within discount rules (e.g., “apply discount unless in X collection”). Many merchants have requested this, and hopefully Shopify will roll out an update.
In the meantime, using tags or a single “no-discount” collection should save you from having to remove and re-add products every time you run a sale.
Thank you so much for sharing this detailed feedback. I completely understand the challenge you’re facing — wanting to give your VIP customers an exclusive discount on regularly priced products, while ensuring that already reduced sale items don’t receive an additional discount.
At this time, Shopify’s built-in discount system doesn’t support “exclude specific collections” functionality. Discounts can be applied to:
All products
Specific collections
Or specific products (up to the current item limit)
That said, I’ve shared your request with our product team so they can review it as a potential feature enhancement for the future. We know how important it is to be able to run flexible promotions without needing third-party apps.
In the meantime, a couple of workarounds you might consider are:
Automatic discounts with custom collections: Create a collection that contains all non-sale products (using conditions like “Compare at price is equal to blank”). Apply your VIP discount only to this collection.
Discount codes: Issue a discount code that applies only to that same collection, so it never overlaps with products currently on sale.
I realize these aren’t as seamless as a built-in “exclude” option, but they may help in the short term.
Your feedback is very valuable and helps us improve Shopify. Thank you again for taking the time to explain your use case so clearly.
Kindly feel free to get back to me if you need any further assistance. If helpful, please like and accept the solution.
Shopify’s native discount system currently lacks the ability to create a discount that excludes items based on membership in a specific collection or a set of products while applying to others—especially when products appear in overlapping collections. This limitation makes it difficult to offer VIP discounts that automatically avoid further discounting already marked-down sale items without using separate apps.
Potential No-Cost Workarounds:
Manual Tag Exclusions:
Use product tags or metafields to mark sale items and create discount rules that exclude those tagged products. However, Shopify’s built-in discount functionality has limits on complex conditions and may not fully support this.
Custom Scripts (Shopify Plus only):
If on Shopify Plus, Shopify Scripts can implement logic at checkout to exclude certain collections or products from discount eligibility without moving items between collections.
Manual Discount Codes for VIPs:
Use a manual discount code for VIP customers and communicate exclusions on sale items clearly. This requires some manual control but no extra apps.
Separate Collections for Display vs. Discount:
Although not ideal for you, creating a “pure” discountable collection excluding sale items could help for discount targeting, but this requires extra collection management.
Without Installing Apps
Unfortunately, without using third-party apps or Shopify Plus Scripts, Shopify’s native tools don’t currently allow creating a discount rule that excludes items from certain collections but applies broadly elsewhere without manual collection or product management.
