Shopstar can read the catalogue your public Shopify storefront already exposes, show you a product-by-product preview, and create draft physical products without asking for a Shopify password or private app token.
Before you start
- Your public Shopify storefront address — a custom domain or public myshopify.com storefront can be used
- Owner or manager access to your Shopstar dashboard
- A Shopstar store currency that matches the currency used by the Shopify storefront
- A quick check that the public products, variants, prices, collections, and images are current
- Your intended stock quantities, shipping setup, and tax settings ready for the final draft review
Match your currencies first
Shopstar does not convert or relabel Shopify prices. Products can only be imported when the source catalogue and your Shopstar store use the same currency. Change your Shopstar store currency before importing if they differ.
Import your Shopify catalogue
- 1
Open the catalogue migration tool
In your Shopstar dashboard, open Products and choose Migrate catalogue. You can also open Resources and use the same migration tool.
- 2
Choose Shopify and paste your link
Paste the HTTPS address of your public storefront. Shopstar also accepts its products.json, collections.json, or sitemap.xml address and normalizes it back to the store.
- 3
Review the source and notices
Confirm the store name and currency, then read every notice. The preview lists products, variant counts, price ranges, collections, and the number of products selected.
- 4
Choose individual products
Untick products you do not want. Nothing is created while you are reviewing, and an unticked product is also left out of imported collection memberships.
- 5
Start the import
Click Import my catalogue and keep the progress screen open. Products and supported photos are counted separately, and non-fatal image problems appear in the completion notes.
- 6
Review every draft
Open Products and check the title, description, variants, prices, compare-at prices, SKUs, weights, images, tags, collections, inventory, shipping, and tax before making the product Active.
What comes across
- Public product titles and rich-text descriptions
- Variant option names and values, variant titles, public availability, and weights
- Prices and compare-at prices using the source currency, with zero-decimal currencies handled correctly
- Product and variant SKUs when they are public
- Product tags, vendor, product type, and the source handle retained with the import identity
- Supported JPEG, PNG, and WebP product and variant photos from Shopify’s CDN
- Manual collection names, descriptions, handles, and product membership
Everything is a Draft
Imported products never appear to shoppers automatically. Draft status gives you time to add stock quantities, delivery settings, taxes, and any private details that were not available publicly.
What does not come across
- Exact stock quantities or inventory by Shopify location — imported products start with stock tracking turned off
- Customers and orders, including order history, addresses, notes, and payment details
- Shipping rates, tax overrides, discounts, gift cards, payment setup, or Shopify billing
- Themes, navigation, pages, blog posts, domains, storefront settings, or private metafields
- Collection artwork because Shopstar collections do not currently have a collection-image field
- Images in unsupported formats; the product still imports and the completion note tells you to upload those images manually
Set inventory before publishing
The public Shopify catalogue can show whether a variant is available, but it does not expose the exact stock quantity. Shopstar therefore imports public availability while leaving stock tracking turned off. Enter quantities and choose your out-of-stock policy before publishing.
Importing the same store again
A re-import identifies each product by its Shopify store and product ID. Products already created from that same store are reused, products from another provider or Shopify store remain separate, and collection memberships are rebuilt around the selected imported products. Existing Shopstar products are not silently overwritten.
Troubleshooting
- Link not accepted: use the HTTPS address of the public storefront, products.json, collections.json, or sitemap.xml — not an admin, preview, cart, or checkout link.
- Store cannot be read: confirm the storefront is public and that its sitemap.xml and products.json open without signing in.
- Currency warning: change your Shopstar store currency to the source currency, then create a fresh preview.
- A product is missing: confirm it appears in the public products.json catalogue, not only in Shopify Admin or a private sales channel.
- A collection is empty: confirm the product is publicly included in that collection and that you selected it in the preview.
- A photo failed: upload it directly to the imported draft. HEIC and other unsupported public image formats may need conversion to JPEG, PNG, or WebP first.
- A product failed: check its option names, public prices, and compare-at prices, then try the import again or create that one product manually.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need to install a Shopify app or share my password?
No. Shopstar reads only public catalogue routes on your storefront. It never needs your Shopify password, admin session, or private access token.
Will imported products be visible immediately?
No. Every imported physical product is a Draft until you review and activate it.
Why is stock tracking turned off?
The public Shopify catalogue exposes availability but not exact quantities. Keeping tracking off avoids inventing stock that could oversell or hide a product incorrectly.
Can this import my customers and orders?
No. Customers and orders are private Shopify data and are not available through the public catalogue routes used by this migration.
Will a second import create duplicates?
No. Products from the same Shopify store are matched by their source product ID and reused. Existing Shopstar changes are not overwritten.