"Master catalog" is the name merchants use for the single list of products in your Shopify admin: every product, variant, SKU and price defined once. Shopify's catalogs feature then sits on top of it. A catalog decides which of those products a group of buyers can see and what they pay, for example a wholesale company or a country market. You don't copy products into each catalog; every catalog points back to the same master records.
We get asked about this most by merchants who sell personalized products to both retail shoppers and businesses, such as engraved pens for gift buyers and the same pens with a company logo for corporate accounts. Here's how the pieces fit together and where personalization options live.
What master catalog is
Think of it in two layers. The bottom layer is your product data: titles, descriptions, images, options, variants and inventory. The top layer is a set of catalogs, each attached to a market or to B2B companies, that controls visibility and price. Your online store, POS and other sales channels all read from the same product data.
The practical upshot: edit a product description once and it changes everywhere. Change a price on a catalog and only that catalog's buyers see it.
Options in master catalog
Products in catalogs follow the same limits as any Shopify product: three options and up to 2,048 variants per product. Catalogs don't create new variants. They only decide which products are included and what each variant costs for that group. Our explainer on the variant limit vs the option limit covers the difference.
Personalization fields are separate again. A Print It My Way text field, font picker or logo upload is attached to the product, so it shows for every buyer who can see that product. If wholesale buyers need different fields (say, a logo upload and a PO number instead of a gift message), the cleanest setup is often a separate B2B product with its own field set, included only in the wholesale catalog.
Per-catalog pricing
Each catalog can carry its own price list. You can set a percentage adjustment across the whole catalog, or fixed prices for specific variants. The same variant can then sell at different prices to different groups:
| Buyer group | Catalog | Price for one engraved pen |
|---|---|---|
| Retail shoppers | Online store (no catalog adjustment) | $50 |
| Company A | Wholesale tier 1 | $35 |
| Company B | Wholesale tier 2 | $32 |
One thing catalogs don't change is add-on pricing set by an app. If engraving adds $8 as a separate cart line, that fee applies the same way for every buyer unless you build a separate product or rule for B2B. For more on structuring trade prices for custom products, see our guide to B2B option pricing.
Plan availability
Which catalog features you can use depends on your Shopify plan and on what Shopify has rolled out to your store, and that has changed over time. Check Settings in your admin for Markets and, if available, B2B companies and catalogs. If your store doesn't have B2B catalogs, the common alternatives are a wholesale pricing app, a password-protected wholesale page, or tagged customers with their own discount. Our roundup of product options apps for wholesale stores covers how each handles custom orders.
Selling into several countries adds another layer. Market catalogs let you hide products or adjust prices per region, which our guide to multi-region B2B catalogs walks through.
For region-specific sizes or SKUs, see per-market variants.
Setting up a retail and wholesale split
- Build the product once in the admin with its physical variants (size, color, material).
- Add personalization fields in Print It My Way: a name or logo field, a font picker, and any add-on fees.
- Create a catalog for your wholesale buyers and include the products they should see.
- Set the catalog price adjustment, or fixed variant prices for your key items.
- Assign the catalog to the right companies, then place a test order as a B2B customer and check that the personalization shows on the order as line-item properties.
Frequently asked questions
What is Shopify Master Catalog?
It's the common name for the single set of products in your Shopify admin. Catalogs for markets and B2B companies sit on top of it and control which products each group sees and what they pay.
Do master catalog products have separate variants?
No. Catalogs reuse the same products and variants, with the usual limit of three options and 2,048 variants per product. A catalog changes visibility and price, not the variant list.
Can B2B customers see different options than retail?
Catalogs control which products a buyer group sees. If wholesale buyers need different choices or fields, create a separate wholesale version of the product and include it only in their catalog.
Can I have different prices per catalog?
Yes. Each catalog can have its own price list, either a percentage adjustment or fixed prices for specific variants.
Is master catalog on Shopify Basic?
Every store has the underlying product list. Access to B2B companies and catalogs depends on your plan and Shopify's current rollout, so check the Markets and B2B settings in your admin to see what's available to you.
How does master catalog affect POS?
POS uses the same product data as your online store, so titles, variants and inventory stay consistent. Prices at POS follow your POS and location settings.
Can I automate B2B catalog assignment?
Shopify Flow can automate parts of B2B setup, such as tagging customers or companies when they meet a condition. Check which B2B actions Flow offers on your plan before building around it.
Related reading
Sources & further reading
Primary sources referenced in this article. We link to official platform documentation and standards bodies rather than secondary summaries so you can verify claims directly.
- Shopify Help Center: Product variants
- Shopify.dev: Product variant limits
- Shopify Help Center: Line item properties (customization)
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