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Inventory > Product Types Explained
Inventory > Product Types Explained

Managing your product types, descriptors and variants.

Dan McCarty avatar
Written by Dan McCarty
Updated over a week ago

Inventory > Types Tab Overview

Product Types are a schema for how the products are presented on the website. They are used to define the fields of data that a product will have. Different products will have different information that needs to be shown.

An example of how products vary is Pokemon Singles vs Magic Singles. With Pokemon, you have Resistance with values like Water, Fire, Steel, etc. Whereas with Magic, you have Color with values like Red, Blue, Black, etc.

Each product line has its own product type, so that each line can be described uniquely.

When a product is imported, it gets “stamped” with the product type of the category it is imported into. Once a product has been imported, you cannot change the product type. So it’s important to make sure that you’re using the correct product type when importing products.

A good way to keep things in line with our catalog, is to make sure you’re using the correct product type on the category when importing products.

An easy way to check that you’re using the correct product type is to go to the Categories page and Select the category you’re going to import into or the category you’re planning to use as the parent category. Make sure the product type matches the category you select in the first list, of Step 1, on the import page.

So, if I’m importing Card Sleeves, I need to make sure my category is set to the Accessories product type.



If I’m importing Chessex dice, I’m going to use the Dice product type.


That should get you importing the majority of the time. However, we’re constantly adding new product lines and information to the catalog. So, if you’re missing the product type or get an error about missing descriptors, check the article below to learn how to create a product type from scratch or feel free to hop on chat or email support@crystalcommerce.com and we can help you with that.

Important Product Types Topics

  • When adding a product line to your admin, you will need to create a new Product Type. Learn how to create a Product Type and find the correct Variant and Descriptor values by reading our Creating Product Types knowledge base article.

  • Learn how to edit the Condition Variant Values by reading our Editing Product Type Condition Values knowledge base article.

  • Many Descriptors will have a name, as well as a set of values that you need to add before your import can succeed. Learn how to edit Product Type Descriptor Values by reading our Editing Product Type Descriptors and Values knowledge base article.

  • Products will retain the descriptor and variant data of the Product Type they are associated with at the time that they are imported into the admin. This association is set based on the current product type assigned to whatever category those products are imported into. It is therefore very important to ensure the correct product type is assigned before running an import. If the product type for that category is incorrect or unassigned, those products cannot have their product type re-assigned unless they are deleted and re-imported.

For an overview of the Inventory Tab Click Here

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