Draft Order API Not Overriding Variant Default Price with Custom Price

Technical Q&A
,

Topic summary

A developer is encountering a problem with the Shopify Draft Order API (version 2025-01) where custom pricing is not being applied correctly.

The Issue:

  • When creating a draft order line item with both variant_id and a custom price field, the API ignores the custom price
  • The created order defaults to the variant’s standard price instead of the specified custom amount

Request Details:

  • The payload includes variant_id: 47407549481273, quantity: 2, and price: "50.00"
  • Custom properties are also being passed (Custom Option, Size)
  • Despite the explicit price parameter, the override is not taking effect

The discussion remains open with no resolution provided yet. This appears to be either a potential API bug or undocumented behavior change in the 2025-01 API version.

Summarized with AI on October 31. AI used: claude-sonnet-4-5-20250929.
1

I am experiencing an issue with the Shopify Draft Order API (version 2025-01). I would like to set a custom price by including both the variant_id and price field in a draft order line item, but the created order still uses the variant’s default price.

Below is an example of my request payload:

{ “draft_order”: { “line_items”: [ { “variant_id”: 47407549481273, “quantity”: 2, “price”: “50.00”, “properties”: [ { “name”: “Custom Option”, “value”: “Blackout 90%” }, { “name”: “Size”, “value”: “25’’ x 13’'” } ] } ] } }