Where SKUs Must Be Unique
Summary
Where a SKU has to be unique (inside one source, inside your Product Catalog, inside one channel), what that allows, the messages the app shows when a SKU is taken, and how the Source SKU Prefix keeps the same supplier SKU apart.
A SKU has to be unique only inside one place. The same SKU can be in two sources, and it can be on two channels. It cannot repeat inside the same source, inside your Product Catalog, or inside the same channel.
| Where | SKU you see | Unique within |
|---|---|---|
| Source Inventory (items and their parents) | Inventory SKU | One source |
| Product Catalog (variants and parents) | Master SKU, and the parent SKU | Your whole account |
| Channel Listings (variants and parents) | Listing SKU, and the parent SKU | One channel |
A listing's link to an item on the channel is also unique per channel: two listings on the same channel cannot be linked to the same channel item.
- Two suppliers can send the same SKU. Each one lands in its own source as its own Source Inventory item.
- Which items merge into one product is decided by the Product Builder's match rules, not by the SKU alone.
- In the Product Catalog a Master SKU can be used only once. Two different supplier products cannot both become variants with the same Master SKU.
- The same SKU can be on your Shopify store and on your GunBroker channel, because each channel has its own list of Listing SKUs.
- The listing SKU ... is already in use by another variant on this channel
- The parent SKU ... is already in use by another parent on this channel
- The master SKU ... is already in use by another variant
- The parent SKU ... is already in use by another product parent (in Source Inventory)
- The parent SKU ... is already in use by another parent
- The Variant SKU selected already exists for this source. Please select a new SKU to create
Choose a SKU that is not used in that place.
A Source SKU Prefix keeps the same supplier SKU from colliding when it comes from more than one source. The Get Started guide has it as the Source SKU Prefix card in the step Connect Sources & Import Inventory. Type a prefix of at least 2 characters, for example ABC-. The app says a prefix is required to make SKUs unique across all sources, and that it does not change the original SKU from your source.
The prefix is added to the item's Master SKU. If an item has no Master SKU, a rule named Ensure Master SKU Is Populated copies the SKU into it first. Both rules are saved in the source's Get Inventory [Primary] Post Mapping Workflow, and the prefix rule is named Add SKU Prefix.