Product Variants

A variant is one specific version of a physical product — a Medium black t-shirt, a Large white t-shirt, a Small navy hoodie. Each variant has its own color, size, price, stock count, and images.

Even if your product comes in just one option, you'll still create one variant for it. Physical products require at least one variant before you can save them.

When to use variants

Use variants whenever the same product comes in multiple options that share a description and cover image but differ in:

• Size — S, M, L, XL, 7", 12", A4, etc.
• Color — black, white, charcoal, anything with a hex code
• Price — a vinyl variant might cost more than a digital download of the same release
• Stock — you might have 50 Mediums but only 10 XLs

Each unique combination of color and size becomes its own variant — TribeNest won't let you create two variants with the same color and size on the same product.

Adding a variant

1. Open the product (either while creating it or via Edit Product).
2. Scroll to Product Variants and click Add Variant.
3. Fill in the variant details (covered below).
4. Click Save Variant.

Repeat for each size or color you offer. Each variant shows up as a card with its color swatch, size, price, and stock at a glance.

Variant details

Color

Pick the variant's color using the color picker, or paste a hex code (like #000000 for black). The color you choose shows up as a swatch on the variant card and helps fans pick the right option at checkout.

If you only sell one color, just pick the closest match — fans never see the hex code itself.

Size

Type the size as you want fans to see it. There's no fixed list, so use whatever makes sense:

• Apparel — XS, S, M, L, XL, 2XL
• Vinyl — 7", 12"
• Posters — A2, 18x24
• One-size items — One Size or Standard

Price

Set the price for this specific variant. You can charge different amounts for different sizes (XXL often costs a little more), or keep them all the same.

Stock

Enter how many units you have on hand. The moment a variant hits zero, fans see it as out of stock in your store and can't add it to their cart. Update this number whenever you restock.

Variant images

Each variant has its own image gallery. Upload at least one image — usually a photo of that specific color or size. You can add multiple shots (front, back, detail).

A red shirt should have red shirt photos; a black shirt should have black shirt photos. This is what fans see when they pick that variant on the product page.

Default variant

Mark one variant per product as the default. The default is what fans see first when they land on the product page — the photos shown, the price displayed in the catalog, the size pre-selected.

Only one variant can be the default at a time. If you check Set as default while another variant already holds the title, you'll see an error — uncheck the old default first, or just leave one variant marked.

Pay what you want

Each variant can be its own pay-what-you-want offer. When this is on for a variant, the price you set becomes the minimum — fans can pay that amount or anything higher.

This is great for limited-edition merch where some fans want to throw in extra support, or for digital-style "name your price" drops.

Editing a variant

1. Open the product in Edit Product.
2. Find the variant card and click the pencil icon.
3. Change what you need to change and click Save Variant.

Variant changes go live immediately. Orders already placed are unaffected.

Deleting a variant

Click the trash icon on the variant card to remove it from the product. The variant disappears from your storefront, but past orders that included it stay intact in your orders history.

Stock and out-of-stock behavior

Stock is tracked at the variant level, not the product level. So a black Medium t-shirt selling out doesn't affect the white Mediums — only the black Medium goes unavailable.

When you view a product on the main products list, you'll see a count of variants currently out of stock right next to the variant total. That's a quick way to spot what needs restocking.

Variants and shipping

Shipping settings (weight, dimensions, label size, delivery zones) are set at the product level, not per variant. If your variants have meaningfully different sizes or weights — like one shirt and one hoodie — those should usually be separate products instead. See shipping and fulfillment for the full picture.

Where to go next

• Back to product basics → creating a product
• Selling downloads → digital and external products
• Buy a label after the order comes in → shipping and fulfillment