diff --git a/services/cataloguePrice.go b/services/cataloguePrice.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a2a3ec4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/services/cataloguePrice.go
@@ -0,0 +1,51 @@
+package services
+
+import (
+	"regexp"
+	"strconv"
+	"strings"
+)
+
+// The catalogue quotes a RANGE, as a string: "₹9-11", "₹75-95", sometimes a
+// single "₹22". It is what a shopper would expect to pay across the shops the
+// catalogue was built from, not a price any particular shop has set.
+var cataloguePriceFigure = regexp.MustCompile(`[0-9]+(?:\.[0-9]+)?`)
+
+// SuggestedPriceFrom reads a starting price out of a catalogue price range.
+//
+// ── Why import needs this at all ────────────────────────────────────────────
+//
+// Import deliberately wrote no price: "import is not pricing", the merchant sets
+// it. That is right about who decides and wrong about what a shopper sees in the
+// meantime — the product goes live at ₹0, which is not "unpriced" on a phone, it
+// reads as free. Products uploaded by sheet carry their price and show it; the
+// same product imported from the catalogue showed nothing.
+//
+// ── Which end of the range ──────────────────────────────────────────────────
+//
+// The LOW end. It is a suggestion the merchant will overwrite, and the two ways
+// to be wrong are not equal: too low is a margin the shop notices and corrects,
+// too high is a shopper who quietly decides the shop is expensive. The low end
+// is also the number a catalogue range is usually anchored on.
+//
+// Returns 0 when there is no figure to read — 159 of the 672 catalogue rows
+// measured on 2026-09-03 carry no range at all, and inventing a price for those
+// would be worse than showing none.
+func SuggestedPriceFrom(priceRange string) float64 {
+	found := cataloguePriceFigure.FindAllString(strings.TrimSpace(priceRange), -1)
+	if len(found) == 0 {
+		return 0
+	}
+
+	low := 0.0
+	for _, raw := range found {
+		value, err := strconv.ParseFloat(raw, 64)
+		if err != nil || value <= 0 {
+			continue
+		}
+		if low == 0 || value < low {
+			low = value
+		}
+	}
+	return low
+}
diff --git a/services/cataloguePrice_test.go b/services/cataloguePrice_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..8f5de91
--- /dev/null
+++ b/services/cataloguePrice_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,60 @@
+package services
+
+import "testing"
+
+/*
+Import used to write no price at all — "import is not pricing, the merchant sets
+it". Right about who decides, wrong about what a shopper sees in between: the
+product went live at ₹0, which on a phone reads as free rather than as unpriced.
+A product uploaded by sheet carried its price and showed it; the same product
+imported from the catalogue showed nothing.
+
+The catalogue quotes a range as a string, so it has to be read rather than cast.
+*/
+
+func TestARangeGivesItsLowEnd(t *testing.T) {
+	// Too low is a margin the shop notices and corrects; too high is a shopper
+	// quietly deciding the shop is expensive.
+	if got := SuggestedPriceFrom("₹9-11"); got != 9 {
+		t.Errorf("₹9-11 -> %v, want 9", got)
+	}
+	if got := SuggestedPriceFrom("₹75-95"); got != 75 {
+		t.Errorf("₹75-95 -> %v, want 75", got)
+	}
+}
+
+func TestASinglePriceIsReadAsItself(t *testing.T) {
+	if got := SuggestedPriceFrom("₹22"); got != 22 {
+		t.Errorf("₹22 -> %v, want 22", got)
+	}
+}
+
+func TestPaiseSurvive(t *testing.T) {
+	if got := SuggestedPriceFrom("₹12.50 - ₹15.75"); got != 12.5 {
+		t.Errorf("got %v, want 12.5", got)
+	}
+}
+
+func TestOrderInsideTheRangeDoesNotMatter(t *testing.T) {
+	// A range written backwards still has a low end.
+	if got := SuggestedPriceFrom("₹95-75"); got != 75 {
+		t.Errorf("got %v, want 75", got)
+	}
+}
+
+func TestNoPriceMeansNoPrice(t *testing.T) {
+	// 159 of 672 catalogue rows carry no range. Inventing a figure for those
+	// would be worse than showing none — the merchant would never know to look.
+	for _, input := range []string{"", "   ", "₹", "price on request", "N/A"} {
+		if got := SuggestedPriceFrom(input); got != 0 {
+			t.Errorf("%q -> %v, want 0", input, got)
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+func TestAZeroInTheRangeIsNotAPrice(t *testing.T) {
+	// "₹0-50" means the low end is unknown, not that the product is free.
+	if got := SuggestedPriceFrom("₹0-50"); got != 50 {
+		t.Errorf("got %v, want 50", got)
+	}
+}
diff --git a/services/productService.go b/services/productService.go
index af1b5a9..5ceb264 100644
--- a/services/productService.go
+++ b/services/productService.go
@@ -336,6 +336,17 @@ func (s *productService) ImportCatalogueProduct(reqs []models.ImportCataloguePro
 		// The fallback is not dead code and will not become so: products
 		// imported before `imageid` existed carry only the id, and a re-import is
 		// how they acquire the stable key.
+		// The price the product goes live at.
+		//
+		// The caller wins whenever it sends one — a merchant who typed a price
+		// is never overwritten by a catalogue suggestion. Only when it sends
+		// nothing does the catalogue’s own range fill the gap, so an imported
+		// product shows a price in the app instead of ₹0, which reads as free.
+		retail := req.Retailprice
+		if retail <= 0 {
+			retail = SuggestedPriceFrom(catalogueProduct.PriceRange)
+		}
+
 		existing, err := s.repo.FindTenantProductByImageID(req.Tenantid, catalogueProduct.ImageID)
 		if err != nil {
 			return err
@@ -350,7 +361,7 @@ func (s *productService) ImportCatalogueProduct(reqs []models.ImportCataloguePro
 		productID := 0
 		if existing != nil {
 			productID = existing.Productid
-			if err := s.repo.UpdateProductPricing(productID, req.Retailprice, req.Productcost, req.Taxpercent); err != nil {
+			if err := s.repo.UpdateProductPricing(productID, retail, req.Productcost, req.Taxpercent); err != nil {
 				return err
 			}
 			// Re-importing corrects the CATEGORY too, not just the price.
@@ -400,7 +411,7 @@ func (s *productService) ImportCatalogueProduct(reqs []models.ImportCataloguePro
 				Imageid:     catalogueProduct.ImageID,
 				Productunit: catalogueProduct.Size,
 				Productcost: req.Productcost,
-				Retailprice: req.Retailprice,
+				Retailprice: retail,
 				Taxpercent:  req.Taxpercent,
 				Approve:     1,
 			}