How to Set Up Variations, Add-ons, Specs and Filters

Variations are versions with their own stock. Add-ons are extras on the same item. Specs are facts about the item that show on the product page and help us place it in filters. Filters are not something you create: we build them from your listing.

Which one do I need?

Start from what you want the buyer to do. Each tool does one job.

One product can use all four. A leather harness can have S, M and L as variations, a gift box as an add-on, and Material: Leather as a spec. If the description says "adjustable buckle closure", that is what we read for the Closure filter.

You may see older names in the panel. Add-ons used to be called Options. Specs used to be called Features. They are the same thing.

The quick test

Filters are not on this chart because you never create one. See How filters work below.

Variations or add-ons?

This is the choice that causes the most trouble. If one size or color can sell out while the others are still in stock, use variations. Setting sizes up as add-ons gives them one shared stock count, and you can oversell a size.

A product can have both. Add-ons on the main product apply to all of its variations.

How to create variations

Create the product first. The Versions & add-ons tab appears once the product exists, and each version then becomes its own product under it.

1. Go to Products, open the product and click the Versions & add-ons tab.
2. Choose Yes, and each one has its own stock.
3. Under What do the versions differ by?, pick up to 3 lists, such as Size and Color. If the list you need is missing, click New list, then enter its name and its values separated by commas (Small, Medium, Large).
4. Under Choose the values, tick the ones you sell.
5. Under What is different for each version, leave Stock as it is. Change Price, SKU or Weight only if they really differ. Anything on "Same for all" is copied from the main product.
6. Click Create variations and confirm. You can create up to 100 combinations at once, and 3 sizes in 4 colors is 12.
7. Under Values per variation, enter each version’s stock, plus price or SKU if you chose those, then click Save values.

Steps 3 to 6: pick your lists, tick the values, then create the variations.

Step 7: enter each version’s stock, then click Save values.

After they are created:

• Edit the name, description and categories on the main product. They copy to every version.
• Use the Image button to give a version its own photo, and Colour swatches to let buyers pick by color.
• Untick Available to stop selling a version without deleting it.
• Make main changes which version is the main product. Detach turns a version into a separate product.
• Delete variations permanently deletes every version except the one you are on. It cannot be undone.

Adding a new size later. You can add one more size or color without starting over:

1. Under Values per variation, click Add a value on the list you want to add to.
2. Under Value, choose it from the list. On a list you made yourself, you can also choose New value… and type a new one.
3. Enter its Stock. Left blank, it starts at 0.
4. Fill in Price or SKU if you see them. Left blank, the price comes from the main product and a SKU is generated.
5. Click Add value.

Already have separate listings for each size? Add existing products as variations joins them into one product, as long as each one has its Size or Color value set.

How to create add-ons

An add-on is an extra on the same item, and it saves as soon as you create it.

1. Go to Products, open the product and click the Versions & add-ons tab.
2. Choose Yes, but buyers just pick an extra. If the product already has variations, click Extras buyers pick (gift wrap, engraving) instead.
3. If you already made this add-on for another product, choose it under Add one of your add-ons and click Add. You are done. Otherwise click New add-on.
4. Enter the Name buyers see and pick a Type from the table below.
5. Turn on Buyers must choose if the item cannot be ordered without it.
6. For a list of choices, enter each one and its Extra $. Leave it at 0 for no charge.
7. Click Create and add.

Good to know:

• Add-ons are shared across your products. Editing one changes it everywhere it is used, so make a separate add-on if one product needs a different price.
• Remove takes an add-on off one product. To delete it for good, remove it from every product, then delete it under Products, More tools, Add-ons.
• Buyer must add a note makes buyers write details when they pick that choice.
• Sort A to Z puts a list of choices in alphabetical order. You can also move choices one at a time with the arrows. Save the add-on to keep the new order.
• Extra settings holds percent prices, weight changes and a name only you see.
• Combination rules (advanced) stops buyers picking two choices that cannot go together.
• File upload add-ons cannot be created in the panel. Contact support if you need one.

How to add specs

Specs are facts about the item, such as material or length. Buyers do not pick them. They show in a Specs section on your product page, and we also read them when we work out your filters.

1. Go to Products, open the product and find the Specs section on the General tab. The product has to be created first.
2. Under Add a spec, search for what you need, such as material. Marketplace means the list is shared by every shop. Yours means you made it.
3. Click it and choose its value.
4. No match? Click Create a new spec, enter its name and its values separated by commas, then choose the value.
5. Click Save changes. Specs save with the product, unlike variations and add-ons, which save right away.

To rename a list, add values or delete it, go to Products, More tools, Specs.

Making a list for sizes or colors on that page? Turn on Use it to create variations when you create it. This cannot be changed later, so if you missed it, make a new list.

How filters work

You cannot create a filter, and a new spec will not add one. Spicerack sets the filter list, and it is the same for every shop. Your job is to make your listing easy to read.

Filters shown on the Dildos page. Which ones appear depends on the products there.

How to get your product into them:

1. Pick the right main category. It decides which filters apply.
2. State the facts in your title and description, in plain words with real numbers: "8 inches long", "suction cup base", "buckle closure", "rechargeable", "waterproof".
3. Set sizes and colors up as variations, in lists named Size and Color. We read those lists, but not add-on choices.
4. Give it a few hours. We re-read changed listings about once an hour.

What to expect:

• A filter only shows on a page when enough of the products there have that detail.
• We only publish details we are confident about, so a correct detail may not show as a filter right away.

If something looks wrong