BYOB FAQ and troubleshooting: common questions and fixes

This guide answers common questions about BYOB (Build Your Own Bundle) and covers the issues we see most in support, with fixes you can apply yourself or steps to get help from our team.

New to BYOB? Start with How to create a BYOB (build-your-own-bundle) experience on Shopify for the full setup steps.

Storefront and cart issues

Why isn't my BYOB showing on my storefront?

Check three things: the BYOB app embed is turned on in your published theme, the bundle status is set to Active, and the bundle product is linked from your menu or a collection. Preview works while a bundle is Unlisted, so a working preview doesn't mean the bundle is live.

Why doesn't my BYOB appear in the cart, or my cart drawer update, after clicking "Add to cart"?

The BYOB widget's "Add to cart" button needs to communicate with your theme's cart. On standard Shopify themes, this works automatically, but custom themes often handle cart updates differently.

If the bundle only appears after refreshing the page, or doesn't appear at all, your theme likely needs custom integration code.

The same applies to cart drawer apps like Upcart: if the drawer doesn't open or update after adding a BYOB, it needs to be connected.

What to do: Contact our support team. We can add the integration code to connect the BYOB widget with your theme's cart system. Once added, bundles will appear immediately without a page refresh.

Quick test: Try on a default Shopify theme (like Dawn) to confirm the issue is theme-specific.

Can customers check out without choosing their products?

They can if a quick-add button on a collection page skips the BYOB builder. To block this, turn on cart validation in Simple Bundles. Cart validation checks each Infinite Options and BYOB bundle in the cart for:

  • Missing selections: the customer hasn't chosen the bundle's options yet (for example, the bundle was added with a quick "Add to cart" button).
  • Invalid selections: the chosen options are no longer valid (for example, the bundle's product options changed after it was added to the cart).

To turn it on:

  1. Go to Simple Bundles > Settings.
  2. In the Advanced settings section, click Manage advanced settings.
  3. In the Cart transform and order editing fallbacks section, click Manage cart transform.
  4. In the Cart validation: require bundle option selections at checkout card, click Turn on. If Shopify asks you to grant validation access, approve it, then click Turn on again.

With validation turned on, customers who try to check out with missing or invalid bundle selections will see an error message instead of completing the order. You can customize both error messages in the same card.

See Cart validation for Infinite Options and BYOB bundles for the full setup guide.

Choosing products and selection rules

Can customers pick a set number of items from different categories, like 1 base and 2 toppings?

Yes. Organize your products into sections (Step 4a) and turn on Set quantity for each section to choose an exact number or a range (Step 4b).

Can I make one item required in every bundle?

Yes. You can do this with BYOB validation rules.

  1. Put the mandatory item in its own section of the BYOB.
  2. Add a validation rule for that section with a minimum of 1 and a maximum of 1.

The shopper still taps to add the item, and can't complete the bundle without it, while choosing freely from the other sections. Items can't be added to the bundle automatically yet.

For setup steps and examples, see BYOB validation rules: control what shoppers can pick in a Build Your Own Bundle.

Why can't I turn on Set quantity for a section?

The setting needs at least two sections and only one pack size or value tier. If your bundle offers several pack sizes, create a separate BYOB for each size.

Can I stop customers from choosing the same product more than once?

Yes, with a validation rule that limits each product to 1 per bundle. See the "any 3, all different" example in BYOB validation rules.

Can I set a minimum number of items with no maximum, like "5 or more"?

Not at the moment. A Build Your Own Bundle needs an exact number of items, set by the pack size or the item count rule. This means a setup like "at least 5 items with no upper limit" or "4 or more gets 20% off" is not available out of the box, and shoppers may see "Max quantity added" once they reach the number you set.

Here is a workaround you can use today:

  1. Create a separate pack size for each quantity you want to offer; for example, choose 5, choose 6, and choose 7.
  2. Give each pack its own price or discount. For "4 or more gets 20% off", set the 20% discount on every pack of 4 or more.
  3. Let shoppers pick the pack size first, then fill it.

This works best when you have a small set of quantities. If you need many different quantities, contact our support team and tell us what minimum you want. We have logged flexible quantities (a minimum and a maximum instead of a fixed number) as a feature request, and your request helps us prioritize it.

For the rules you can use today, see BYOB validation rules: control what shoppers can pick in a Build Your Own Bundle.

Why do variant selections reset when I switch between products?

Each product slot in a BYOB maintains its own state. When you select a variant (like "Size: Large") for one product, that selection doesn't carry over to other products.

If you need selections to persist across slots (for example, "always default to Size: Large for all t-shirts"), this would require custom development. Contact support with your use case so we can evaluate it as a feature request.

Products and catalog

Can I add a whole collection at once, or let customers search and filter?

Not yet. Products are added to BYOB individually, and the builder doesn't have a search or filter option. For stores with 50+ products in a single BYOB, this can make selection tedious for customers.

Current workarounds:

  • Create multiple smaller BYOBs organized by category ("Build Your Skincare Routine", "Build Your Haircare Set")
  • Use Shopify product tags to pre-segment products before adding them to a BYOB

Product filtering is on our roadmap. If you'd like to be notified when it ships, let support know.

Can I add a bundle as one of the BYOB products?

No. Nested bundles aren't supported. Add the individual products instead.

Can I exclude out-of-stock items from the BYOB product selection pool?

There isn't currently a built-in setting to automatically hide or exclude out-of-stock variants from a BYOB's selection pool. Customers will see out-of-stock items listed as greyed-out options.

If this is impacting your store, reach out to support with your BYOB setup so we can review your specific configuration and current options.

Pricing, discounts, and subscriptions

Can pack sizes be a range, or can discounts be based on spend?

No. Each pack size is an exact number of items with a percentage or amount off. Spend-based discounts aren't supported.

Does BYOB work with subscriptions?

Yes, when the bundle uses Fixed price. See Using subscriptions and selling plans.

Can I show BYOB in upsells or on my other product pages?

Yes, in product page (PDP) upsells. When a product is one of your BYOB options, the PDP Bundle Upsell block can suggest the BYOB bundle. The card shows "From" plus the cheapest pack price and a + Select Options button that opens the bundle builder. See How to set up bundle upsells in Simple Bundles.

BYOB isn't available in checkout upsells, since customers can't choose bundle contents at checkout. The builder itself always lives on the BYOB product page.

Design and language

Can I change how the BYOB builder looks?

Yes. Adjust colors, fonts, and spacing in the theme editor, and use Custom CSS for more control (see BYOB style customizations). For layout changes beyond that, contact us.

Can I change the product selector from dropdowns to buttons?

The default BYOB interface uses dropdown menus for product selection. You can customize colors, fonts, and spacing using CSS variables documented in BYOB styles customization.

For structural changes like switching from dropdowns to button-style selection, contact support. This requires custom development work.

Can I translate the BYOB text?

Some labels are fixed text that Translate & Adapt can't change. Follow Translate BYOB bundle builder elements to update them.

Headless and custom storefronts

Can I use BYOB on a headless storefront?

Yes. Headless setups use the Storefront API's cartCreate mutation with a special line item attribute called _bundle_selection.

Pass the customer's selections as labels separated by <> (a space, <>, and a space):

Product A <> Product B <> Product C

The values must be in the same order as the options in the bundle. The first label is matched to the bundle's first option, the second label to the second option, and so on.

Simple Bundles' Cart Transform function reads this attribute and expands the bundle into its component products at checkout.

Important: Your headless frontend should validate that selections match the configured slot count before sending the cart to Shopify. Any labels beyond the bundle's item count are ignored. Enable cart validation as a backup to catch missing or invalid selections at checkout.

For implementation details specific to your architecture, contact support with your setup info.

Still stuck?

If your issue isn't covered here, contact support through the chat widget in the Simple Bundles app or email hello@simplebundles.com. Include your store URL and a description of what's happening vs. what you expected.

Still need help? Contact Us Contact Us