Linking variants

[rainandpaper]

Hi all, I feel like I've ran out of brain power today and can't wrap my head around what I'm trying to achieve! I'll bullet point to try and communicate what I'm trying to do.

I sell prints, framed and unframed. I produce the prints myself so I don't need to keep track of inventory. I order in frames, I need to keep track of my frame inventory.

• I'd like the quantity of unframed prints to be unlimited as they're made in house.
• I'd like to add a variant of "add frame?" (I've done this already.)
• If the customer chooses to add a frame, I'd like to track the inventory via SKU. All my prints will have the option to be framed with the same frame in their relative size, and I will create a separate listing for frames only. I don't know the best way to track the inventory in this instance.

Any ideas? Thank you!

https://rainandpaper.com/products/print-test?variant=31169224605771

[Brie]

Hi, @rainandpaper! 

Thank you for reaching out to the community about this. To allow for the unframed variants to have an unlimited quantity, you would go into the Product in your admin (Products > click on the product) , in the Variants section click on "Edit" beside that specific variant, and then uncheck the box labeled "Track quantity" in the Inventory section; for example: 

Then, to make sure the inventory is still tracked for the variants with a frame, you would go back to the main Product page in your admin and click on "Edit" beside a framed variant. You would then make sure that box is checked for those variants, and can assign your level of inventory as needed: 

For more help editing your variants individually, you can check out our guide here. If you need to change the "Track quantity" setting in bulk, you can do so in your admin under "Products > Select all products > Edit products > Add fields > Track quantity". This will open up your bulk editor so that you can check those settings more conveniently - for more information on using the bulk editor to make product changes, see our help doc here. To edit the inventory levels in bulk, you would navigate to "Products > Inventory", and adjust as needed. Let me know if you have any questions! 

[rainandpaper]

Thanks for taking the time to help me with this @Brie :)

First problem solved!

Second problem - it is looking like the products aren't sharing an inventory.

It appear as though I have 30 A5 frames in stock, and 30 A4 frames, when I only have 10 A5 and 10 A4 collectively, as they're all the same item. I'd really appreciate any further help. :)

[Brie]

Hi, @rainandpaper! 

Just to confirm, do you have a total of 10 frames between those variants? If yes, do you have a set number of each one, so that you could assign each variant a number out of the 10? For example, if you had 5 A5 frames and 5 A4 frames, you would just assign the inventory level as 5 for each one. 

Looking forward to your response! 

[rainandpaper]

Hi ! Hmm. I think that would work in the short Term, but when I have 500 prints in size a4 and a5, and the option to add a frame to each a5 or a4 print, I wondered if there would be another way to do it as I couldn’t split the a4 and a5 frames between prints. (I’d be selling them on a first come, first serve basis.)

to confirm I have 10 a5 frames, 10 a4 frames, and 500 prints in both a4 and a5 sizes.

I’m explaining this terribly, hope it makes a bit of sense!

[Brie]

Hi, @rainandpaper. 

No worries at all! Just to be sure I'm understanding correctly -  you have a total of 500 prints, and each are available in both a4 and a5 sizes, but there are 10 different options each for those a4 and a5 frames?

If that's the case, were you hoping to set it up so that if the customer does want a frame, they need to be shown the ten different frame options as well? 

[rainandpaper]

Thanks for taking the time to solve this problem for me! It’s so confusing to try to explain.

So, I have 500 print designs. Therefor, 500 products (+2 frames) in my main catalog.

Each print product has the option to choose a size, either a5 print or a4 print. (Unlimited quantity as I make these myself).

Also, each print product has the option to add a frame. The frame size will either be a5 or a4, depending on the print size chosen.

I have 10 of each size of frames.
10 a5 frames, and 10 a4 frames.

I will also sell the two sizes of frames separately, no print included.

So I need a5 frame and a4 frame to be pulling from the same inventory across the board. Phew!

[Brie]

Hi, @rainandpaper! 

Thank you for that explanation! It seems that your main issue here will be syncing the inventory between the framed variants from the prints, and the frames that are being sold separately? If this is the case, you'll need to use an app such as Bundles. This is typically used to sync inventory when selling bundles of products, however you can utilize it to work here as well. You would set up the framed variants from the prints as "master" products, and then connect the individual frames so that when a "master" product is purchased, the inventory of the individual frame will be adjusted as well. The Connected Inventory app would work for this as well. 

If you didn't want to use an app, then your best bet would be to contact one of our Shopify Experts to ask if they could program something for you using code. Hope this helps!