A variation lets one listing offer choices, such as a candle in three sizes or a scarf in four colours, each with its own price and stock. Shoppers pick from a dropdown on your product page. This guide builds one from scratch. We will make a soy candle that comes in Small, Medium and Large.
Do I need variations at all?
Only if the choice changes the price or the stock you hold. One mug, one price: keep it simple. Three sizes with three prices, or a colour you might run out of: use variations. Something that does not affect stock, such as gift wrapping or a personalised message, is better as an add-on. Simple vs Variable goes into this in more detail.
Step 1: make the product variable
Open Products, click Add product, and fill in the title, description and photos as you normally would. In the General section find Product type and change it from Simple to Variable. The price box disappears. That is expected, because each variation will have its own price.
Step 2: add the attribute
Open the Attributes section. In the Add Attribute dropdown you will see the marketplace attributes (Colour, Material, Occasion, Pattern, Size) and any custom ones you have made. Choose Size.
Now pick the values you offer. For our candle tick Small, Medium and Large. If the value you need is not in the list, you can create your own attribute under Settings, then Attributes, using the Set up your custom attributes button. Custom attributes are private to your shop, so nobody else sees them.
Tick Use for variations. This is the switch that turns an attribute into a set of choices. Without it, Size is just a label on the listing.
Step 3: generate the variations
Click Generate Variations. The site creates one variation for each value you ticked: Small, Medium and Large. If you had ticked two attributes, say three sizes and two scents, you would get six variations, one for every combination.
Step 4: give each one a price and stock
Open the Variations section. Each variation has its own row. For every one, enter:
- Price, and a Sale price if you are running an offer.
- Stock, how many you have of that size.
- Image (optional). If your Large candle looks different, add a photo and it will show when the shopper picks Large.
- Shipping (optional). Leave it on “Use default” to use the product’s shipping, or set a different cost if the large one is heavier.
Have a lot of variations? Bulk Edit Variations sets the same price or stock across all of them at once, and you can drag the grip on the left of a row to change the order shoppers see.
Step 5: save
Click Save Draft as often as you like. When you are happy, click Publish. Publishing needs your Stripe account connected; if the button is greyed out, that is why. Connecting Stripe shows how.
Things that catch people out
- The Variations section is empty. Go back to Attributes and check that Use for variations is ticked, then click Generate Variations.
- I cannot change the attribute. Once variations exist the attribute is locked, so the choices and the variations always match. Delete the variations, change the attribute, then generate again.
- A variation is not showing in the shop. A variation with no price, or zero stock, is hidden from shoppers. Give it a price and some stock.
- The dropdown shows the sizes in the wrong order. Dropdown order follows the order of the attribute values, not the order of the variations. Reorder the values in Settings, then Attributes.