How to create Printful product bundles in Shopify (Simple Bundles 2.0)

In this tutorial, we’ll walk you through how to build 3 types of bundles for your Shopify store using Printful and Simple Bundles. These methods also work for other print-on-demand (POD) apps like Printify, Gelato, ShineOn, and Zendrop.

Here's what we'll cover in this video:

  1. Building a bundle without variants (A simple bundle without customization options)
  2. Building a bundle with variants (A simple bundle with customization options)
  3. Building an infinite options or mix-and-match bundle (To exceed Shopify's 100 variant limit)

Quick answer

To bundle Printful products in Shopify, first sync each Printful item into Shopify as its own product. Then use Simple Bundles & Kits to create a bundle parent product and map it to the Printful child items. Use Simple bundle (no variants) for fixed sets, Simple bundle (with variants) when customers select sizes/colors within Shopify’s variant limits, and Infinite options bundle when you need more than 3 options or more than 100 variant combinations.

Before you start (required)

Sync your Printful products into Shopify

Before building any bundle, every product you want inside the bundle must already exist in Shopify (synced from Printful).

✅ Example:

  • Printful T-shirt product exists in Shopify
  • Printful socks product exists in Shopify

If bundle items are missing, sync them from Printful into Shopify first.

Bundle type 1: Simple bundle (no variants) — fixed set bundle

When to use this bundle type

Use this when:

  • The bundle always contains the same items
  • Customers should not choose sizes/colors
  • You want the fastest setup

Step 1: Create the bundle product in Shopify

  1. Go to Shopify Admin → Products → Add product
  2. Create a new product (this will be your bundle parent product)
  3. Optional: add images
  4. Leave price blank (or placeholder) for now
  5. Disable “Track quantity”
  6. Click Save

Important: Turning off Track quantity prevents Shopify from limiting bundle sales based on inventory tracking on the parent product.

Step 2: Build the bundle in Simple Bundles

  1. Open Simple Bundles & Kits
  2. Click Build bundle → Simple Bundles
  3. Click Select existing bundle product
  4. Choose the bundle product you created in Shopify
  5. Click Add product
  6. Add the Printful products that belong in the bundle (your “child items”)

Step 3: Set bundle pricing

Choose one pricing option:

  • Sync bundle price based on contents (recommended), or
  • Set a manual bundle price

Optional:

  • Add a discount
  • Set a compare-at price to show % savings

Step 4: Test the bundle

  1. Click Test bundle
  2. Add the bundle to cart
  3. Confirm the cart contains the individual Printful items

✅ Result: Customers buy one bundle product, but checkout contains the real Printful products.

Bundle type 2: Simple bundle (with variants) — customers choose sizes/colors

When to use this bundle type

Use this when:

  • Customers should choose a size and/or color

    Your bundle stays within Shopify limits:

    • 3 option types max
    • 100 variants max

Step 1: Create the bundle product with variants in Shopify

  1. Go to Shopify Admin → Products → Add product

  2. Create the bundle parent product

    Add variant options (example):

    • Option 1: T-shirt size (S, M, L)
    • Option 2: Sock size (S, M, L, XL)
  3. Leave price blank (or placeholder)
  4. Disable “Track quantity”
  5. Click Save

Step 2: Build the bundle in Simple Bundles

  1. Open Simple Bundles & Kits
  2. Click Build bundle → Simple Bundles
  3. Click Select existing bundle product
  4. Choose the bundle product you created in Shopify
  5. You will now see your bundle variants inside Simple Bundles

Step 3: Map child items to each bundle variant

For each bundle variant, assign the matching Printful variants.

Example mapping:

  • Bundle variant: T-shirt Large + Socks Small/Medium
    • Child items:
      • T-shirt: Ash / Large
      • Socks: Heather Gray / Small-Medium

Repeat until all bundle variants have child items assigned.

Step 4: Set pricing per variant

For each bundle variant, choose:

  • Sync price from child items, or
  • Manual price (example: set every bundle variant to $50)

Step 5: Test the bundle

  1. Click Test bundle
  2. Choose different bundle variants
  3. Confirm each variant adds the correct Printful items to the cart

✅ Result: Customers select options on the bundle, and Simple Bundles adds the correct Printful variants to cart.

Bundle type 3: Infinite options bundle — bypass Shopify variant limits

When to use this bundle type

Use this when:

  • You need more than 3 option types
  • You need more than 100 variant combinations
  • You want Simple Bundles to handle options (not Shopify)

Shopify limits:

  • 3 option types max
  • 100 variants max

Step 1: Create the bundle product in Shopify

  1. Go to Shopify Admin → Products → Add product
  2. Create the bundle parent product (Infinite Options bundle type)
  3. Do not create Shopify variants
  4. Leave price blank (or placeholder)
  5. Disable “Track quantity”
  6. Click Save

Step 2: Add all child variants in Simple Bundles

  1. Open the bundle in Simple Bundles
  2. Add all relevant T-shirt variants (colors/sizes)
  3. Add all relevant sock variants (colors/sizes)
  4. Configure how dropdown options will appear to customers

Step 3: Enable the bundle option selector in your theme (required)

Infinite options bundles require a theme widget to display dropdown selectors.

  1. In Simple Bundles, click Open theme editor
  2. In the theme editor, enable Bundle option selector
  3. Make sure it stays enabled (if disabled, customer options will disappear)

Step 4: Test end-to-end

  1. Add the bundle to cart
  2. Go to checkout
  3. Confirm the correct Printful items appear in the cart

✅ Result: You can sell complex Printful bundles in Shopify without Shopify’s variant restrictions.

What happens after purchase?

After checkout:

  • The Shopify order will include the individual Printful products as line items
  • Those items should appear in your Printful admin for fulfillment

This works because Simple Bundles breaks the bundle into its child items at cart/checkout.

Troubleshooting

My bundle isn’t breaking into Printful items at checkout

  • Confirm you mapped child items for every bundle variant (if using variants)
  • Use Test bundle to confirm the cart breakdown
  • Confirm all Printful products exist in Shopify before bundling

Customers can’t see the dropdown selectors (Infinite options bundle)

  • Open your Shopify theme editor
  • Ensure Bundle option selector is enabled

Shopify won’t let me create more variants/options

  • Switch to Infinite options bundle, which bypasses Shopify’s variant limits

FAQ

Can I bundle Printful products in Shopify?

Yes. Sync Printful products into Shopify, then use Simple Bundles & Kits to bundle them and ensure checkout contains the real Printful items.

Which bundle type should I use?

Use simple bundles for fixed sets or basic variant selection. Use infinite options bundles for complex bundles beyond Shopify limits.

Should I track inventory for the bundle parent product?

No. Disable “Track quantity” on the bundle parent product so Simple Bundles can manage bundle logic properly.

This video by Printful, can also gives you step-by-step instructions on how to create product bundles for your print-on-demand business.

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