What should we tell him?
Topic summary
Shopify is enforcing a 1,000-variants-per-day creation limit once a store exceeds 50,000 total variants. Originally described as an API-only cap, users report it now applies to all methods: API, CSV imports, bulk edits, and product duplication.
Impact reported: POD (print-on-demand) sellers with many size/color variants can add only ~10 products/day (e.g., 99 variants each). One merchant hit the limit after 5 products via CSV. Attempts to “update” via CSV with Replace-handle also triggered the limit, suggesting variant updates that involve creation are blocked.
Error shown: “Daily variant creation limit reached” with a link to Shopify’s resource-based rate limits page. A separate earlier CSV constraint of ~9,000 variants per file was noted by another user.
Workarounds discussed: Creating a separate “Lite” store helped temporarily, but importing back hit the 1,000/day limit. The Excelify app can’t bypass the cap but can auto-resume imports the next day and re-queue failed items. One user suggested requesting Shopify to lift the limit after crossing 50k variants.
Support reportedly advised either staying under 1,000/day or upgrading to Shopify Plus (~$3k/month). Frustration is high; switching platforms is hard due to POD integrations. No official resolution yet; communication/documentation gaps remain.