Custom Service add-ons without monthly subscription

Store Design

Topic summary

A bowling pro shop owner wants to offer custom ball drilling as a $50 add-on option during product selection, separate from weight variants (14/15/16 lbs). The goal is to itemize the base ball price ($99.95) and drilling service ($50) separately in the cart, rather than manually setting combined variant prices.

Current limitation: Shopify’s native variant system only allows total price changes, not itemized add-on pricing.

Proposed solutions:

  1. Shopify Apps (e.g., Infinite Options at $9.99/month) - Quick setup with proper itemization, but involves recurring costs the owner wants to avoid

  2. Custom theme development - One-time coding solution using Shopify APIs or adapting existing gift-wrap customization code. Provides full control without monthly fees

  3. Manual variant workaround - Creating separate variants like “14 lbs + Drilling” and “14 lbs No Drilling” for each weight. Free but creates poor user experience and management complexity

Recommendation: Custom development is suggested as the best fit given the requirement to avoid subscription costs while maintaining professional shopping experience. The discussion remains open with offers for paid development services.

Summarized with AI on October 26. AI used: claude-sonnet-4-5-20250929.
1

I’m working on setting up an online presence for a bowling pro shop. The biggest portion of the business is offering custom drilling on bowling balls and I would like to add on this service as part of the product selection as it gets added to the cart.

For example, the customer decides they want to buy “New High Performance Ball XYZ.” The first thing that they’re presented with is choosing the weight, which I’ve done with variants, they can pick a 14, 15, or 16 pound ball. Once they pick their weight, I’d like to have option for them to choose between “Yes I want custom drilling” as a $50 add-on or “No I don’t want custom drilling” for $0. Right now, I can only find a way to change the price based on the variant. So If they just choose 14 pounds, the price is $99.95, if they select the “Yes I want custom drilling” I just have to set the price manually to $149.95 rather than itemizing that custom drilling is a $50 option and showing that the ball is $99.95 and the drilling is $50.

Just getting into setting up the store, so I really want to try to avoid anything that’s going to have a monthly cost to it. The shopping experience just feels awkward when it’s configured this way. I hope this isn’t confusing because I think I’ve confused myself going through these options :p!

2

Hi @RichInWV :waving_hand: This can be done with an advanced theme customization that auto adds the item to the cart.

Otherwise it’s either a product option, an upsell or personalization app with monthly fee, or possible done with a paid bundle app.

:man_technologist: If code saavy see the unsupported gift wrapping customization https://github.com/carolineschnapp/carolineschnapp-gift-wrap it’s cart based but can be adapted for product pages.

If you want customization just taken care of finally then contact me for services.
Contact info in forum signature below :down_arrow: :down_arrow: :down_arrow:.
ALWAYS please provide context, examples: store url, theme name, post url(s) , or any further detail in ALL correspondence.

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3

Hi Paul,

Hope you’re doing fantastic. Here are your options:

## Option 1: Shopify Apps (Monthly Cost)

Infinite Options ($9.99/month) or Product Options & Customizer (free plan available) can handle this functionality out-of-the-box. Customers would see:

  • Select weight (14/15/16 lbs) - shows base price $99.95
  • Choose “Custom Drilling (+$50)” or “No Drilling (+$0)”
  • Cart itemizes: Ball $99.95 + Custom Drilling $50.00 = $149.95

Pros: Quick setup, no technical work needed Cons: Ongoing monthly costs, limited customization

## Option 2: Custom Development (One-time Cost)

We can build this functionality directly into your Shopify theme using Shopify’s native APIs. This would give you:

  • Professional, seamless customer experience
  • Itemized cart showing ball + drilling separately
  • No monthly app fees
  • Complete control over the feature
  • Mobile-optimized interface

Pros: One-time investment, no recurring fees, fully customized to your needs Cons: Requires development time upfront

## Option 3: Manual Workaround (Free but Clunky)

Create variants like “14 lbs + Drilling” and “14 lbs No Drilling” for each weight. Pros: No cost Cons: Poor customer experience, difficult to manage

Given that you want to avoid monthly costs and create a professional shopping experience, I’d recommend the custom development approach. We can build this feature properly into your store, giving your customers a smooth experience while keeping your ongoing costs low.

If you’d like to move forward with the custom solution, we can discuss the scope and provide you with a quote.

Let me know which direction interests you most, and I’m happy to discuss next steps!

Best regards,

Shubham | Untechnickle

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