Decide what you want to restrict.
A public catalogue without prices, a private shop and a shop with different retail and trade prices are different setups. Decide whether visitors may see the product, see a price, add it to a basket or request a quote. Each step needs a clear rule.
The Hide Prices & Private Store for WooCommerce documentation describes a specific extension for this work. It is not a switch that every WooCommerce shop automatically includes. Check the chosen solution’s supported account roles, product types and purchase paths.
Write the account rules before configuring them.
In this fictional example, a business account application does not itself grant trade access. Approval changes the role. That keeps a pending request from accidentally receiving agreed business terms.
| Visitor | Price shown | Purchase route |
|---|---|---|
| Guest | Public retail price | Normal consumer checkout |
| Retail customer | Public retail price | Normal consumer checkout |
| Business application pending | Public retail price | Await approval for trade terms |
| Approved reseller | Configured trade price | Supported business purchase route |
Test the whole price journey.
Check the product page, variation selection, basket, checkout and account pages in separate sessions. Then ask the implementer which structured data, feeds, APIs and caches also expose or use the price. A visual hide rule alone is not evidence that access is restricted there.
Keep customer-group changes and cache behaviour in the test. After logging out, an old browser session must not remain the only evidence that a private price is protected. Verify the chosen solution’s documented boundaries and decide which data genuinely needs to be private.
Make approval and questions understandable.
Explain how a business applies, what approval changes and where someone can ask about their price. If an approved customer reports a different total, inspect their account status, the chosen variation and the relevant agreement before altering a price.
Use a fictional application to test rejection as well as approval. Check the change back to retail access, the message the customer receives and the person who owns the decision. A clear operational process matters as much as the hidden number.