Add and Update Products in Shipturtle

Who this guide is for?
Marketplace admins (merchants) and vendors who create or update product listings.

Before you begin.

• Admin or vendor access to a Shipturtle dashboard
• At least one vendor created (for merchants assigning products)  

⚡Quick Summary

Products → Add products to create a listing. Merchants Save. Vendors Send for approval, and the merchant approves before it goes live. To update, go to Products → Manage products → ✎. Changes sync with Shopify automatically.

Overview

When Shipturtle is first installed, all existing Shopify products are imported automatically. Sync runs both ways: changes in Shipturtle reflect in Shopify and the other way round.

The general flow for vendor products:

• Vendor uploads a product and selects Send for approval.
• Merchant reviews it in Approve products, and can approve it, edit it, reject it, or ask the vendor for changes with a remark.
• Once approved, the product goes live on the storefront.
• You choose which fields need approval and which are automatic (see section 8).

1. Open the Add products form (merchant)

1. Products → Add products
2. Choose the product type: Physical, Digital, or Service.
3. Choose the subtype: Normal Product or Print on Demand.
4. Optional: select a saved template from Choose template.

Add new product form: product type, subtype, template, and Product info

For more information, see Organize Products in Your Marketplace

What is a template?

A template is a ready-made product form that a merchant sets up once, so every product starts with the same fields and format. Vendors pick it when adding a product instead of filling in everything from scratch. Create or edit templates in Add Products → ⋮ → Manage product templates.

Add new product template for each vendor

2. Fill in Product info and images

• Product name * — required.
• Vendor name * — choose from the dropdown.
• Category — optional but recommended.
• Status — Active or Inactive.
• Tags — searchable tags.
• Description — rich text editor.
• Images — drag and drop, or Browse images or videos. Images and video are supported.
• Product metafields — custom fields set up for your store. Only product-level metafields are supported; variant-level metafields are not.
• Seal subscription (Addon) — assign a plan if the Seal Subscription add-on is set up.

Product metafields, Seal subscription, Variants toggle, and Inventory

3. Fill in Inventory and Pricing

• Has variants — leave off for a simple product. Turn on for variants (see section 5).
• Inventory — Quantity, SKU, Barcode, MOQ (minimum order quantity).
• Track quantity — tick to track stock.
• Continue selling when out of stock — tick to allow backorders.
• Pricing — Price *, Cost per item, Compare at price.
• Tax (HSN) — select the edit icon if Shipturtle manages tax. Leave blank if Shopify handles tax.
• Charge tax on product — tick to apply tax at checkout.

4. Add variants

• Turn Has variants on.
• Add option to create a variant type (for example Color or Size).
• Type each value and press Enter (for example Red, Black, Blue).
• Add more options for combinations (Color + Size). Each combination becomes a row in the variant table.

5. Set details per variant

• Select ✎ on a variant row to open the variant editor.
• Set the image, Quantity, SKU, Barcode, and Track quantity.
• Set Price, Cost per item, Compare at price, and Tax (HSN).
• Enter package weight and dimensions if they differ from the product.
• Turn on Set variant specific commission to override at variant level.
• Save
  

Has variants on with a Color option and the variant table and Variant editor: Inventory, Pricing, Package dimensions, Commission

6. Package details, commissions, and remarks

• Package details — enter the shipping box size (Length, Width, Height, Weight, Unit). Used for shipping rate calculation. Select Save these dimensions to reuse them, or pick one from Saved dimensions.
• Commissions — turn on Set product specific commission to override the global, vendor, and category rate. Enter a Percentage and/or Fixed amount.
• Merchant & vendor remarks — notes visible to both merchant and vendor (see section 9).
• Save publishes. Save as draft holds it. Cancel discards.

Inventory, Pricing, and Package details sections Product-specific commission and save buttons

7. Add a product as a vendor

Vendors use Products → Add products too, with a few differences:

• A banner reads: fields with the approval icon( ♙✓ ) will be sent to the merchant for approval.
• Fields that need approval show the approval icon next to their label.
• Vendors don't see the subtype dropdown (Normal Product / Print on Demand). The merchant controls it.
• Send for approval submits the product to the merchant's Approve products queue. Cancel discards it.
• When the merchant approves, the product goes live.

Vendor Add new product: approval banner and icons and send for approval and Cancel

8. Choose which edits need approval

You can let some field edits go live automatically and require approval for others. Set it for all vendors, or for one vendor.

For all vendors

1. Settings → Setup and configuration → Product settings → Vendor product field permissions
2. Tick View, Requires approval, and Mandatory per field. Tick Auto approve product to skip approval entirely.
3. Save

For one vendor

1. Vendors → Manage vendors → ✎ for the vendor → Custom vendor settings → Product settings
2. Turn on Override product settings, then set the fields for this vendor.
3. Save

For every option, see Product Approval Process.

Settings → Product and meta settings: Vendor product field permissions

9. Ask a vendor for changes (remarks)

Use remarks when a submission needs changes before you can approve it:

• Add a remark in Merchant & vendor remarks describing the change needed.
• Ask the vendor to make the changes. The vendor gets an email with the requested changes.
• The vendor updates the product and sends it for approval again.
• Review it again in Approve products.

Remark added in Merchant & vendor remarks, and the option to ask the vendor for changes]

10. Edit an existing product (merchant)

1. Products → Manage products → ✎ on a row, or select the product title.
2. Edit using the same layout as Add new product.
3. Save. Changes sync to Shopify automatically.
   The top status bar shows the product ID and status (for example ACTIVE UNMAPPED).
   Buttons: Open in store admin, View in store, Duplicate, Delete.

Edit product: status bar with View in store, Duplicate, Delete

11. Edit a product (vendor)

Vendors open their product and select the edit icon. Save options differ:

• Update draft and request changes — saves a draft and sends the edits for merchant approval.
• Update changes — applies immediately, only if the changed fields don't require approval.
• Cancel — discards the edits.
• Show logs — opens the product's change history.

Vendor edit: Update draft and request changes, Update changes, Cancel, show logs

Checklist

• Product name, vendor, and status filled in
• Images or videos uploaded
• Quantity and SKU set
• Price entered
• Package dimensions entered (needed for shipping rates)
• Variants set up with quantity, price, and dimensions, if used
• Product-specific commission set, if different
• Merchant: Save. Vendor: Send for approval.

FAQs & Troubleshooting

• Does saving in Shipturtle update Shopify?
  Yes. Sync runs both ways, and changes show on the other side within a few minutes.
• Save vs. Save as draft?
  Save publishes the product, subject to approval settings. Save as draft keeps it hidden from the storefront.
• What are the dimension fields for?
  They are the shipping box size, not the product size. They are used to calculate shipping rates.
• Can I set a different commission for one product?
  Yes. Turn on Set product specific commission. It overrides global, vendor, and category commission. You can also set it per variant.
• What happens when a vendor sends a product for approval?
  It appears in Products → Approve products, where the merchant can approve, edit, or reject it. If approval is off in settings, it goes live immediately.
• How do I ask a vendor to fix something?
  Add a remark and ask for changes. The vendor gets an email, makes the update, and sends the product for approval again.
• Can I add metafields to variants?
  No. Shipturtle supports product-level metafields only.
• Can I duplicate a product?
  Yes. Open the product and select Duplicate in the status bar. The copy has the same fields and can be edited separately.
• Product saved in Shipturtle but missing in Shopify.
  Check Mapping status in Manage products. Unmapped means it hasn't synced to a Shopify sales channel yet (saved before a channel was connected, or sync still running). Select the refresh icon to trigger a manual sync.
• The vendor can't see Send for approval.
  Auto approve is probably on for that vendor: Vendors → Manage vendors → Custom vendor settings → Product settings. The button is replaced with Save.
• Package dimensions aren't saving.
  Dimensions save with the product when you use the main Save or Save as draft. Save these dimensions only saves a reusable preset.

Related Articles

• Introduction to Products
• Product Approval Process
• Organize Products in Your Marketplace
• Navigating the Products Page

Need Help?

If you're stuck, contact the Shipturtle support team at team@shipturtle.com or raise a support ticket through the Shipturtle support page.