A practical Shopify workflow for made-to-order products

Write the specification once

A template is the reusable specification behind a product. Add fields in the order a customer should answer them. Give each one a plain customer-facing label and a short, stable key, because pricing rules and every historical order refer to that key.

The Ridgeline starter shows the field types that matter for made-to-order work.

Two details do the most work later. Conditional logic keeps the form short: the dimension group and the reference upload appear only when an earlier answer makes them relevant. Fulfillment labels translate a customer choice into workshop language, so “180 × 90 cm — seats 6” prints as “Top 1800×900” on the production sheet.

When the template is ready, run its price tests, publish it, assign it to an active Shopify product from Products, then add the Makewright Configurator app block to your product template in the theme editor. Makewright does not edit theme files; the block needs an Online Store 2.0 JSON product template, which is how Shopify’s theme app extensions work. Published versions are immutable, which is what lets an old quote still show the rules it was priced under. Template documentation.

Carried forward → a published template version with stable field keys, fulfillment labels and review flags, attached to a live Shopify product.

Price the choices you can support

Makewright prices on the server, never in the browser, from named rules attached to the template. The Ridgeline template uses eight.

The rule type decides the route as well as the amount. A base variant and fixed add-ons describe merchandise Shopify already knows about, so a configuration built only from them can check out. Per-dimension, area, volume, percentage, tiered-quantity, formula and minimum rules produce an estimate that no cart can charge, so any configuration that uses one routes to a quote.

Three saved test cases, three results

Each saved test records the inputs, the expected total and the expected route. A template cannot be published without at least one test, and a failing test blocks publication, so a later edit to a rate cannot quietly change a total or move a configuration from checkout to quote. The $1,800 workshop minimum is below the custom total here, so it adds nothing; thickness stays in the specification but this area rule multiplies length and width only.

See the formula-pricing page for the rule types or read pricing and routing documentation.

Carried forward → a price trace: which rules fired, under which published version, and whether the result is a checkout price or an estimate for review.

Send it to checkout or to a reviewed quote

The checkout path

For a supported configuration, the storefront asks Makewright for a cart payload. That payload contains Shopify variant ids, quantities and line-item properties, never a price. Shopify prices the merchandise itself and the customer’s choices travel with the order as line item properties. On Northline, the 180 × 90 cm oak table is that path.

The quote path

Custom size, Custom stain match or any formula-priced result submits a quote request instead. The request keeps the configuration, the price trace, the published rule version, uploaded files, the customer’s name and email and every message together, and it arrives in the quote inbox as New.

Statuses a quote can hold

New, In review, Awaiting customer, Approved, Invoice sent, Deposit paid, Paid, Declined, Expired.

What approval does

Creates the Shopify draft order, or updates the existing one when terms change. It never duplicates the order.

What approval does not do

Take payment. The quote only moves to Paid when Shopify reports the draft order paid.

From the quote detail your team can ask for clarification, which moves the request to Awaiting customer; record an agreed total, quantity, shipping note and internal note; decline it; or approve it and send the Shopify invoice. An approved quote without an explicit expiry date is given 30 days, after which an unanswered quote moves to Expired. The draft order Makewright creates is an ordinary Shopify draft order, so it appears in your Shopify admin like any other.

If you would rather agree every price before a customer sees one, turn on request-pricing mode for the product. It hides amounts on the storefront and sends every configuration to the quote desk, including ones that would otherwise have checked out. It is available on every plan. See the quote-request page or read the quote documentation.

Carried forward → either a Shopify cart line with the specification attached as properties, or a quote holding the specification, price trace, files and an agreed total that is ready to invoice.

Collect a deposit

Before approving, set a deposit between 5% and 90% as a whole number. Approval then creates a deposit draft order instead of a full-price one, titled with the percentage, the product and the quote reference. Send its Shopify invoice from the quote detail.

Agreed total

$5,935.60, the custom Ridgeline estimate accepted as quoted

Deposit

50% × $5,935.60 = $2,967.80

Deposit invoice line

Deposit (50%) — product title — quote reference

Still to collect

$2,967.80

When Shopify reports the deposit paid, Makewright records the amount and date, moves the quote to Deposit paid and locks the percentage. Until then, re-approving updated terms updates the same draft order.

Illustrative split. This is a two-invoice arrangement, not financing, escrow or a charge to a saved card. Review tax and shipping on each Shopify invoice before sending.

See the deposits and balances page or read the deposit instructions.

Carried forward → Deposit paid: $2,967.80 recorded against the quote, the percentage locked and $2,967.80 still to collect.

Collect the balance

When you are ready, often when the piece is finished or about to ship, choose Create balance order. Makewright checks four things: the deposit is recorded as paid, the quote is in Deposit paid, your plan still allows deposits and a positive amount remains. The balance is the agreed total minus the deposit Shopify reported: $5,935.60 − $2,967.80 = $2,967.80.

A balance is always a fresh Shopify draft order, separate from the deposit’s, so the two payments appear as two orders in Shopify against one quote reference. Send its invoice; when Shopify reports it paid, the quote moves to Paid. Makewright never charges a stored payment method and a finished piece does not collect a balance on its own.

Carried forward → Paid: two Shopify orders referencing one quote, and a specification that has not changed since approval.

Hand the specification to production

Open the production spec sheet from the quote detail and print it or save it as a PDF. It is written for the bench, not the buyer.

• The specification in fulfillment labels: “Top 1800×900” rather than the marketing label, or “Custom top — see dimensions” with length, width and thickness beside it.
• Customer file names, customer notes, shipping or delivery details and your internal workshop notes. Open reference photos or drawings from the authenticated quote detail.
• Money state: the price lines, the total, the deposit paid with its percentage and date, and the balance still to collect.
• Order references: the draft order name, stage and status, and any Shopify orders created from it.

The link is signed and expires seven days after it is generated; open the quote again for a fresh one. A customer-facing quote document exists alongside it for sign-off and shows the agreed price and deposit terms once approved.

A production sheet is a handoff, not permission. Your team decides when work starts, confirms the approved specification against its own prerequisites and reads payment state from Shopify, not from the sheet. Read the document instructions or see the furniture workflow.

Carried forward → the same specification the customer built, now in workshop language, with the payment state printed beside it.