1. Hair salon, price went up
A men's haircut cost €20 on 10 September and €25 from 1 October. You display: €25.00 · anchor price (10 Sept 2026): €20.00. The customer sees a 25% increase at a glance.
Blog · Regulations for businesses
Croatia's anchor price and digital price list from 1 October 2026: who is covered, how to set the price and how to comply on your website
From 1 October every retailer and every service provider selling to consumers in Croatia must show an anchor price next to each price, and anyone with a website must publish a machine-readable price list on it. This guide puts the rules in one place, adds worked examples from real businesses and shows exactly how we set it up for clients. It is written for foreign-owned companies and sole traders operating in Croatia.
By Boris Capić, founder of Digital MomentumPublished 9 min read
In short
- From 1 October 2026 you show an anchor price next to every price: the price valid on 10 September 2026 (for food, drinks, cosmetics, cleaning products, toiletries and household goods the anchor of 2 May 2025 remains).
- For the first time it covers all services: hairdressers, salons, repair shops, driving schools, gyms, clinics, accommodation and restaurants.
- If you have a website, you publish a CSV or XML price list on it by 8:00 and keep published lists for 30 days.
- It does not apply to businesses selling only to other businesses (B2B). A social media profile is not a website.
- Fines: €3,000 to €30,000 for companies.
What changes on 1 October 2026
On 10 September 2026 the Croatian Government adopted two decisions, published in the Official Gazette (Narodne novine) no. 101/2026: the Decision on displaying an additional price and the Decision on publishing price lists. Anchor prices are not new. Since May 2025 they applied to some products in shops. What is new is the extension to every retail product and, for the first time, to every service provided to consumers.
It helps to be clear about what an anchor price is. It does not freeze prices and does not cap what you may charge. It only shows the customer how today's price compares with the price on the reference day, so anyone can see whether and by how much something went up.
| Date | What happens |
|---|---|
| 2 May 2025 | Reference day for food, drinks, cosmetics, cleaning products, toiletries and household goods (earlier decision) |
| 10 September 2026 | New decisions adopted. Also the reference day for all newly covered products and services |
| 1 October 2026 | Obligations apply: anchor price next to every price and a digital price list on the website |
| Every working day by 8:00 | Retailers publish an updated price list |
| On every price change, by 8:00 | Service providers publish a new list on the day the new price applies |
Who is covered: a decision tree
Rather than a list of industries, which is never complete, answer three questions in order:
- Do you sell products or services to consumers? If you sell only to other businesses, you are not covered. If you sell to both, the obligation applies to the consumer side of your business.
- Do you display a price on the premises, a price list, flyer, poster, advert or website? If so, the anchor price goes next to it, in the same place and just as legible.
- Do you have your own website? If so, you also publish a CSV or XML price list on it, even when the site is only a presentation without a shop. If you only have a Facebook or Instagram profile, the Ministry of Economy has clarified that this is not a website, so the digital price list does not apply.
Exceptions that are often missed: booking platforms such as Booking.com are not your website, and the same obligations do not cover mobile apps or loyalty programmes. A note from practice: at Digital Momentum we work exclusively with businesses, so the rule does not apply to our own services. It applies to yours as soon as you sell to consumers.
Setting the anchor price: six worked examples
The rule is simple, the details decide. The examples are invented, but the situations are exactly the ones we get asked about.
2. The service was on promotion on 10 September
A massage normally costs €50 and was on promotion for €40 on 10 September. The anchor price is the regular price of €50, not the promotional one. Entering €40 because "that was the price that day" is the most common mistake.
3. Car repair charged by the hour
When the price depends on time or quantity, you show the anchor price per unit: labour €45 per hour (anchor €40), diagnostics €30 (anchor €30). You do not calculate an anchor for the whole invoice.
4. A new service launched in October
A clinic launches a new treatment at €60 on 15 October. The anchor price is the first price it was offered at, €60. Keep a record of that date, because you will need it with every later change.
5. Holiday rentals with seasonal rates
For accommodation priced by period, we recommend keeping the anchor per unit and period, as the rate card looked on 10 September, and documenting it. For edge cases, ask the Ministry for a clarification. Bookings through Booking.com do not cover the obligation on your own site.
6. An accountant working only for companies
A practice with business clients only is not covered. If the same practice also prepares tax returns for private individuals, the obligation applies to that service.
Keep two parallel obligations apart: the anchor price (price on the reference day) and the lowest price in the last 30 days, which the Consumer Protection Act requires when you announce a discount. They are two different numbers and neither replaces the other.
The CSV or XML price list
The digital price list is a file a computer can read, not a PDF or an image. It is published on your website, publicly, and must contain the prescribed fields:
| For products | For services |
|---|---|
| name, code, brand, unit of measure, unit price, retail price, special sale flag and name, anchor price, barcode, availability | service name, retail price, special sale flag and name, anchor price |
The file name is not free-form. It must include the type and address of the outlet, the outlet identifier, the warehouse number and the date and time of publication. This is how a Vodice salon's service list published on 1 October at 7:30 looks (illustrative; check the exact order and field labels in the decision):
salon_obala-vladimira-nazora-1-vodice_1_1_20261001_0730.csv
naziv_usluge;maloprodajna_cijena;posebni_oblik_prodaje;naziv_posebnog_oblika;sidrena_cijena
Klasična masaža 60 min;55.00;NE;;50.00
Sportska masaža 60 min;60.00;NE;;60.00
Tretman lica 45 min;39.00;DA;Jesenska akcija;45.00- When to publish: retailers every working day by 8:00, service providers on every price change, by 8:00 on the day the new price applies.
- Archive: every published list stays available for 30 days. You may not simply overwrite the old file.
- Several outlets: one structure, a separate file per outlet.
Seven mistakes we expect to see in October
- The promotional price entered as the anchor instead of the regular price.
- The price list published as a PDF, image or plain table on a page, not as a CSV or XML file.
- Each new file overwrites the last one, so there is no 30-day archive.
- A file name without the address, outlet identifier or time of publication.
- The list refreshed at 9:30, after the 8:00 deadline.
- Services priced per hour or metre published without a per-unit anchor price.
- The belief that the rule does not cover a site "that is only a presentation". It does.
Enforcement and fines
Compliance is checked by the market inspectors of the State Inspectorate. The fines are:
| Who | Fine range |
|---|---|
| Company (legal entity) | €3,000 – €30,000 |
| Responsible person in the company | €1,000 – €4,000 |
| Sole trader or other self-employed person | €1,000 – €6,000 |
Compare that with setting it up, which starts at €85 + VAT for a small website. The lowest fine costs many times more than the solution.
How we solve it at Digital Momentum
We built our own tools for this obligation, because nobody wants to maintain a price list by hand every morning before 8:00. The process is the same on every platform:
- Obligation check. We confirm whether you are covered, which reference day applies to which items and exactly what you must publish.
- Anchor prices. From your prices on 10 September 2026 (or 2 May 2025) we build the list and enter it, correcting any promotional prices.
- Display next to the price. The anchor price and unit price appear next to every price on the site and in the shop.
- Digital price list. CSV and XML with the prescribed fields and file name, plus a public "Price list" page with a 30-day archive.
- Automatic publishing. On WordPress and WooCommerce our plugin publishes the list every day at 7:30, before the legal deadline. For static and other sites we use a kit that generates the list from a single table.
- Documentation. Short instructions for your team and a record of the setup in case of inspection.
| Website or web shop | Price (excl. VAT) |
|---|---|
| Small websites and web shops | €85 + approx. 1 hour of implementation |
| Medium websites and web shops (customisation needed) | €120 + approx. 2 to 3 hours of implementation |
| Larger customisation, several outlets | Custom solution: €200 – €3,000 |
We provide the service to companies and sole traders only, including on websites we did not build. All details, downloadable tools and an example published list are on the service page Digital price list and anchor price.
Solve the anchor price with usor call +385 95 534 5685
Checklist before 1 October
- You have listed every product and service you offer to consumers.
- For each item you have the regular price on 10 Sept 2026 (or 2 May 2025 for food and similar goods).
- Promotional prices from the reference day have been replaced with regular ones.
- The anchor price is shown next to the price on the premises, price lists, flyers, adverts and the website.
- A CSV or XML price list with a correct file name is publicly available on your website.
- Publishing is automatic, before 8:00, with a 30-day archive.
- Your team knows what to do when you add a service or change a price.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need a price list if my website is only informational, without a shop?
Yes. The obligation applies to every retailer and service provider with a website, even if it is only a presentation. A service provider updates the list on every price change, not every day.
I only have Facebook and Instagram. What do I need to do?
The Ministry of Economy has clarified that a social media profile is not a website, so you do not need to publish a CSV or XML list. You still show the anchor price on the premises and next to prices you advertise.
Does the anchor price mean I cannot raise prices?
No. You can still change prices freely. The anchor price stays tied to the reference day and lets the customer compare.
Which anchor price applies if the product was on promotion on 10 September?
The regular price, not the promotional one. A promotional price on the reference day is not the anchor price.
What if the list is not published by 8:00 one day?
That is a breach the inspectorate can sanction. That is why we automate publishing for 7:30 and, with monthly monitoring, check that it succeeded and contact you if anything gets stuck.
Sources (in Croatian)
- RiF: anchor price and price list obligations (NN 101/2026)
- IUS-INFO: anchor price from 1 October 2026
- Fiskalopedija: anchor prices for products and services
- Računovodstvo.hr: anchor prices from 1 October 2026
This article is for information and is not legal advice. Rules as of 28 September 2026.
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