Hello
I have a shopify store that has been built with a theme and designers as well. I’m not familiar with the code. Customers are complaining that they add a variant to the cart and it adds a different variant from the product. Can someone please help me?
Here is one the products were are having trouble with.
Thanks
You definitely have an issue. I added two different colored hood bezels and it put 2 red ones in there.
It looks like you are running a heavy customized storefront. I would suggest you load in (not publish to customers) a default Dawn or Horizon theme. See if the proper variants are added in that theme when selected. If so, its due to your theme customizations.
Let me know if I can help further
Josh
That symptom usually means the visible option selector and the product form’s actual variant ID are out of sync. Josh’s unpublished Dawn/Horizon test is the right first isolation step.
On one failing product, compare three values: the option you select, the ?variant= value in the product URL, and the variant shown in the cart line item after Add to cart. If the default theme works, the likely fault is in the customized product form—especially whether its hidden input named id changes every time an option changes. If the default theme fails too, check the product’s variant configuration or an app that modifies the cart.
Does the wrong variant appear immediately in the cart drawer, or only after you reach the cart or checkout? That split will tell you whether to inspect the product-page state or a later cart mutation.
I would also add that the last folks that did work on your site left a lot of boiler plate code there. You have dummy products loading in your cart like a “neck bodycon dress” that I am pretty sure you dont sell.
The default code in the Autima theme you got from ThemeForest was not properly removed.
Hi Josh
I really appreciate you responding.
It is heavily customized due to products filters for parts. I wonder what that would do to it if I loaded one of those themes?
Hello
I don’t know where to look at the cart drawer fro that info?
You can load the theme into the store WITHOUT publishing it. You can then preview that theme, again, without publishing it so your customers cant see it.
I am not 100% sure why you went the customized route, but I would suggest that if this is affecting more than just this product (I didnt test them all) you should fix it as soon as possible. Even if that meant a non-perfect aesthetically theme, but otherwise sold the right items.
You do not need to inspect code yet. On that product, choose a color other than red, click Add to cart, and stay on the product page. The panel that slides in from the side is the cart drawer—just check which color/variant name it shows there.
If it is already wrong in that drawer, the customized product form is sending the wrong variant. If it is correct there but changes on the full cart page or checkout, the change happens later. Two screenshots—your selected option and the drawer line item—are enough for this check.
Testing an unpublished duplicate Dawn/Horizon theme will not replace the live theme or remove the current filters, as long as nobody publishes it. If you are not comfortable creating that test, leave the live theme untouched.
Not sure why we went with a customized theme, my past employee thought it was necessary.
I’m really out of my depth here and probably need to hire someone to fix the whole thing.
It does appear to be affecting multiple items that have color variants.
Feel free to DM me directly if you are interested in consulting. I have worked with highly customized sites in the past, as well as legacy migration. I am in southern Mississippi, central time.
It looks like it is already in the wrong drawer.
Thanks
I definitely will DM you. It will be tomorrow.
You need a developer because the product purchase form on the PDP is generally broken, and the issue is not limited to the variant options. I can see various JavaScript errors in the console that could potentially be causing the problem, but I can’t say for certain without actually reviewing the code.
I also noticed that, for example, the product “2009-2019 4TH GEN 1500 SINGLE EXIT RESONATOR DELETE” cannot be added to the cart at all — it returns a 422 “Cannot find variant” error.
That isolates it: the wrong variant is being submitted before the cart page, so the repair boundary is the customized product form and its variant state. With the separate 422 “Cannot find variant” error noted above, I would treat this as a bounded form repair plus regression check, not a one-line selector tweak.
If you want me to handle it, I can scope one duplicate-theme repair covering the affected form logic, desktop/mobile cart checks, and regression checks on up to five representative products. No need to send credentials publicly; the next step would be a fixed scope and an official Shopify collaborator request after agreement.
Thank you so much for looking!
Those color swatches are just a non-functional cover over the real working drop-down. The swatch buttons do select, but they are not connected to your actual variants. The real variant selector is a drop-down and it does work, and it contains all your variant IDs and prices. The swatches, which I would consider fake, are simply colors provided by Accentuate app, and a “developer” added some swatch buttons to look like a variant selector, but it doesn’t work. The swatches do not connect. What actually connects is the hidden drop-down menu:
So, if I were in your shoes, right now.
You have a lot more wrong than this… It may be more beneficial to start with a fresh theme with no apps, than to try to resolve every Javascript screw up that has been done…
Confirmed the cause on your live SRT and TA Hood product. @Maximus3 is right: the color swatches are not wired to the real variant selector.
I tested on your live store (Dodge Challenger Color Matched Hood Bezels, SRT and TA Hood).
Your theme has a hidden variant dropdown that holds the real variant IDs. The swatches only change the label on screen. They never update that dropdown, so the form always submits the first variant (PR3 Torred Red).
I un-hid that dropdown to show it. Pick Blue, the swatch highlights Blue, but the dropdown (and the cart) stays on Torred Red:
The fix (tested on your product)
Add this once so it loads on product pages:
It makes each swatch set the matching option in the real dropdown.
<script>
(function () {
function sync(text) {
var color = (text || "").replace(/\s+/g, " ").trim();
if (!color) return;
document.querySelectorAll('form[action*="/cart/add"] select[name="id"]').forEach(function (sel) {
var opt = Array.prototype.find.call(sel.options, function (o) {
return o.textContent.replace(/\s+/g, " ").trim().indexOf(color) === 0;
});
if (opt && sel.value !== opt.value) {
sel.value = opt.value;
sel.dispatchEvent(new Event("change", { bubbles: true }));
}
});
}
document.addEventListener("click", function (e) {
var li = e.target.closest && e.target.closest("li.swatch-element");
if (li) setTimeout(function () { sync(li.textContent); }, 0);
});
})();
</script>
After adding it, the dropdown follows the swatch, so the right variant goes to the cart:
Two more findings
No code alternative: a variant swatch app like Swatch King or Globo Color Swatch
Regards,
Ploqo
Hi @KM_34
Yes, I checked the issue. The color variant you select on the product page is not being added to the cart. Instead, the default first variant is being added.
Hi everyone
Thanks for your help. This issue really started a couple of weeks ago when my employee clicked on a unknown email link. Could that have messed up my store code? The problem is getting worse with other products.
Yes, it could be related—but clicking a link by itself does not normally rewrite a Shopify theme. The urgent question is whether the employee entered credentials, approved an app, or exposed an active signed-in session.
Because the problem is spreading across products, I would stop adding more code for now and treat this as a possible account compromise:
Shopify’s official compromised-account steps are here: https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/privacy-and-security/account-security/account-security-best-practices
The variant behavior still looks like a swatch/theme-code mismatch, but the timing plus the growing scope means security containment should come first. Please do not post screenshots here that expose IPs, emails, banking details, tokens, or access codes.
One safe question: did the employee enter their password or approve an app after clicking the link?
