Wrong size is the classic post-checkout request. Swap variant lets a customer change an item to another size, colour or other option of the same product, before it ships, without writing to you. If the new option costs the same, no money moves. If it costs a different amount, the customer confirms the swap first. Where your prices already include tax they also see the exact difference; where tax is added on top of prices they see no amount until Shopify's payment page (see below).
What it does
The customer picks an item and chooses a different option of the same product. Tacey adds the new option to the order, takes the old one off (and restocks it), and saves both in one change. The new option takes the whole unshipped quantity of the item.
The limits
Same product only. A swap can never change to a different product. That is the Replace product tool.
A subscription item can only swap to an option at the same price. An item bought with a subscription plan is never charged or refunded for a swap, because the plan price is not the shelf price and the swap would take the item out of its plan. Other items on the same order swap normally. The customer sees: "This item is part of a subscription, so it can only be swapped for an option at the same price." (E0065)
A swap does not change the subscription itself. Tacey never touches a subscription contract; manage it in your subscription app.
When the option costs a different amount
The setting Let customers swap to an option that costs a different amount decides what happens. It is on by default for a shop that has never saved this page; a shop that saved the page before keeps the choice it saved.
Costs more. Where your prices include tax or the order has no tax, the customer sees the amount Shopify calculated and taps Confirm and pay. Where your store adds tax on top of prices, Shopify only works out the tax once the swap is saved, so the customer sees no amount: the step says "You'll see the exact total, including tax, before you pay" and the button reads Confirm and save. In both cases Tacey saves the swap and shows Shopify's own Pay now link, and Shopify's payment page shows the exact total, including tax, before any money moves. Nothing ships until it is paid (the order waits under the same hold every extra charge uses), and if it is never paid the hold is released and you are told.
Costs less. The customer confirms, the swap is saved, and the refund waits on your Needs your action list for Approve refund, unless you turned on Refund customers automatically. Tacey never refunds on its own at the moment of the swap.
When the setting is off. Customers only see options at the same price. A customer who somehow asks for a different-priced option is refused with "That option costs a different amount, and this store's size and colour swap only works between options at the same price." and nothing is changed.
Tacey adds no figure of its own: the amount is always the one Shopify calculated. Where an amount is shown, the swap is saved only if the figure the customer confirmed is still the one Shopify shows. Where tax is added on top and no amount is shown, the customer still confirms the swap, and your Ledger row records that no figure was shown together with the total Shopify charged.
How to set it up
In Tacey, open Editing Tools, click Set up tools on the Thank you page card, and click Set up next to Change product options.
Go to Swap variant and turn on Let customers swap size or color.
Optional: pick Locations a swapped item may ship from.
Check Only if it is in stock (shared by the whole tool).
Click Save.
Every setting
Setting | Default | What it does |
Let customers swap size or color | Off | Turns swapping on. |
Let customers swap to an option that costs a different amount | On | When on, a customer can swap to an option that costs a different amount. If it costs more, they pay the difference through Shopify's own payment page; on a store that adds tax on top of prices they see no amount before they confirm, and the exact total, including tax, is on Shopify's payment page before any money moves. If it costs less, the refund waits for your approval unless Refund customers automatically is on. When off, customers can only swap to an option that costs the same. |
Locations a swapped item may ship from | None (Shopify's usual default location) | Restricts which locations can fulfil the swapped-in option. |
Only if it is in stock | On | Follows your Shopify inventory settings: an untracked option, or one you allow to oversell, is always available; a tracked option you do not allow to oversell is refused past its available quantity. |
How stock and locations are checked
When the customer confirms, Tacey reads the new option fresh from Shopify. It must be available for sale. With locations chosen, stock is counted at those locations, and the first location in your list with enough stock fulfils the swap. If none has enough, the customer sees "That option is currently out of stock. Pick another option, or reply to your order confirmation email if you need help."
What the customer sees
They tap Change on the Change product options row.
On an unshipped item, they pick another option from the list of that product's options.
If the option costs the same, they confirm and the order shows the new option; nothing is charged or refunded. If it costs a different amount, they confirm it (with the amount shown, except on stores that add tax on top of prices): a dearer swap ends on Shopify's Pay now link, a cheaper one says the refund is on its way once the store approves it.
Refusals your customers may see
"That option is not a variant of this product, so it cannot be used to swap this item."
"That option costs a different amount, and this store's size and colour swap only works between options at the same price." (only when the setting above is off)
"This item is part of a subscription, so it can only be swapped for an option at the same price."
"That option is currently out of stock."
"This change would remove the discount that's been applied to your order." Swapping would drop a discount the order depends on, so it is refused.
"This item has already shipped, so it can't be changed."
What this does NOT do
It does not swap part of a line. To swap 1 of 3, the customer lowers the quantity first, then swaps the rest.
It does not choose the price. The price of an option is whatever Shopify says for the customer's market; Tacey never discounts a swap, and a swap of an item that carried a discount code is shown at its full price (the customer sees the figure and can decline).
It does not collect or refund by itself. A dearer swap is paid through Shopify's own link; a cheaper one is refunded only after you approve it.
It does not swap shipped items.
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