i agree
Topic summary
Ability to set variable/open prices for POS items (enter price at checkout per item) remains unsupported natively in Shopify POS, despite requests dating back to 2014. Merchants need this for items like remnants or unique pieces while retaining inventory and reporting.
Current state: Shopify POS lets staff override price via Discounts > Price override on an item, but it only reduces price—cannot increase above the set price. “Quick sale/Custom sale” works but requires typing item names each time and lacks per-item/category reporting.
Workarounds noted:
- Use “meal-dollars/meal-cents” products and adjust quantities to reach total price.
- Apply discounts or keep a calculator to hit target totals.
- Developer JS template to create products on the fly (impractical at busy checkout).
Recent updates:
- Third‑party app “POS Variable Price Products” (Filljoy) enables variable pricing; includes tax‑exempt line items, inventory adjustment, and COGS reporting. A demo video is provided.
- “Draftable” app adds the ability to increase line‑item prices in draft orders for invoicing online without changing store prices.
Outcomes and sentiment: Some merchants switched to MOBI Pos, Square for Retail, or PayPal Here. Screenshots and videos are central to the posted workarounds.
Status: Unresolved natively. Reliant on apps and imperfect workarounds; no confirmed Shopify roadmap for open‑price items.
Since this have you found any other work arounds?
Almost 4 years later & we are all still on the same boat. Did you find a workaround or did you end up leaving Shopify?
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I ended up creating:
Grocery no tax
$1.00
$1.05
$1.10
$1.15
All the way up to $100
It’s ridiculous! And the service from Shopify is useless. They don’t care.
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we ended up keeping a calculator close by and we discount the item when it is less than the regualar price.
i agree shopify acts like its dumb to be able to manually input the selling price at time of sale instead on revising the item 20 times a day.
all pos systems let you change the price at checkout with a manager code, not just some dumb discount percentage or amount.
if the customer agrees to take the item at say, 150$ but regualar selling price is 234.90
i want to type in $150 not get a calculator out to minus 150 - 234.90 to see how much i should discount the item, it is very frustrating
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ommmggg, brilliant but WOW! I am sorry! So much extra work! I dont get it! Square & Quickbooks have editable variables. This is getting out of hand!
I was on a call with someone from sales and they recommended an app thats $12/month. Like paying $89/m for POS Retail, $400/website + all the fees isn’t enough. I am not paying $12 for another app.
This is what is holding me back from switching over completely.
Does adding a discount to a sale to adjust the price mess up your accounting?
as long as the cost of the item is the same, accounting is correct
People are asking for an improvement to make POS work for brick and mortar stores, not a clumsy work-around or another app for $12 per month. I can’t believe Shopify is not addressing this.
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I get that you want a feature. I also get that Shopify is extremely opaque
about how they make decisions to remove features and their roadmap for
planned features. It’s like shouting into the void. But yes, part of what
you’re paying the base amount for is for a platform that has excellent
extendability and a huge ecosystem of apps. Do you complain that iOS or
Android don’t give you every feature and that you have to pay for apps?
On the other hand, specifically with regards to POS functionality, the API
is pretty lacking so that it’s currently difficult to impossible for
certain missing functionality and features to be achieved through apps
Hi JenniferKTB and Kyrellrissler,
This is possible with an app! (unfortunately an app is required).
I have recently added a feature to my Draftable app (https://apps.shopify.com/draft-helper), which allow adjustment of price of line items in a draft order, you can set a higher price for the item in the draft order (higher than the price listed on your store).
After installing the app, you can go to your draft order, and select “More actions” > “Increase item prices”, then you can select the items which you want to increase prices, and input the new prices and click “Apply”.
The items in the draft order will then have this new price applied, and the product price listing on your store will remain unchanged.
Hope this can help! The Draftable app (https://apps.shopify.com/draft-helper) has a free plan which you can try this feature out.
Regards,
Axel Kee (developer of the Draft Order Helper app)
Yeah that’s too many steps when you have a line of people and 90% of the items are variable priced. A basic Pos function that they should have included, not something requiring a paid app to accomplish.