How to Deactivate, Activate, or Delete Products

Watch Video Tutorial: [VIDEO_PLACEHOLDER]

Need to temporarily hide a product or permanently remove it from your shop? This guide explains when and how to deactivate, activate, or delete products - and the consequences of each action.

Quick Overview: What's the Difference?

Before we dive in, let's understand your three options:

Most Common: Deactivate/Activate (90% of cases)
Least Common: Delete (only when absolutely necessary)

When to Deactivate vs Delete

✅ Deactivate When:

1. Temporarily Out of Stock

   • You're waiting for inventory to restock
   • You'll have more available soon
   • You don't want to lose your product listing

2. Seasonal Products

   • Holiday-themed products outside the season
   • Summer items during winter (and vice versa)
   • You'll bring them back next year

3. Testing or Updating

   • You're updating product images
   • You're redesigning the product
   • You want to test new pricing before relaunching

4. Temporary Issues

   • Quality issues with current batch
   • Supplier problems
   • Shipping delays

5. Low Performance (But Not Ready to Give Up)

   • Product isn't selling well right now
   • You want to try again later with better images/description
   • You're waiting for the right season

❌ Delete When:

1. Permanent Removal

   • You'll never sell this product again
   • The design is outdated or no longer relevant
   • You're completely changing your shop's direction

2. Duplicate Listings

   • You accidentally created the same product twice
   • You have a better version of the same product

3. Mistake Listings

   • You created a test product
   • You listed the wrong design
   • The product violates platform policies

4. Complete Shop Overhaul

   • You're starting fresh with all new products
   • You're rebranding completely

Pro Tip 💡

When in doubt, deactivate instead of delete! You can always delete later, but you can't undelete. Deactivating gives you time to think and keeps your product data safe.

How to Deactivate a Product

Deactivating a product hides it from your shop while keeping all your data (images, description, variants, pricing, analytics).

Navigation: Two Ways to Deactivate

Method 1: From My Products List (Fastest)

1. Go to Seller Panel → Products and Orders → My Products
2. Find the product you want to deactivate
3. Look for the Status Toggle (green switch next to the product)
4. Click the toggle to turn it Off (it will turn gray/red)
5. Done! Product is now deactivated

Method 2: From Edit Page (More Control)

1. Go to Seller Panel → Products and Orders → My Products
2. Click the Edit button (pencil icon) next to the product
3. Go to Step 4: Images and Settings
4. Find the Product Status section
5. Toggle Active to Off
6. Click Update Product at the bottom

What Happens When You Deactivate?

Immediate Effects:

✅ Product is hidden from:

• Your shop's product listings
• Category pages
• Search results
• Homepage features
• Affiliate links (they'll show "Product unavailable")

✅ Product data is preserved:

• All images remain saved
• Description and details intact
• Variant configuration saved
• Pricing information kept
• Analytics history maintained
• Product URL still exists (but shows "unavailable")

✅ Existing orders are not affected:

• Orders already placed will be fulfilled normally
• Buyers who purchased before deactivation still receive their products
• Order history remains intact

❌ Buyers cannot:

• See the product in your shop
• Add it to cart
• Purchase it
• Find it in search

Visual Indicators

When a product is deactivated, you'll see:

• Gray or red status badge in your product list
• "Inactive" label on the product card
• Dimmed product image in your dashboard
• Status: Inactive in the edit page

Pro Tip 💡

Deactivate before making major changes! If you're updating all your images or completely rewriting your description, deactivate the product first. This prevents buyers from seeing your product in a half-updated state.

How to Activate (Reactivate) a Product

Activating a product makes it visible in your shop again. All your data is exactly as you left it!

Navigation: Two Ways to Activate

Method 1: From My Products List (Fastest)

1. Go to Seller Panel → Products and Orders → My Products
2. Filter to show Inactive Products (use the status filter dropdown)
3. Find the product you want to activate
4. Click the Status Toggle to turn it On (it will turn green)
5. Done! Product is now live again

Method 2: From Edit Page

1. Go to Seller Panel → Products and Orders → My Products
2. Filter to show Inactive Products
3. Click the Edit button next to the product
4. Go to Step 4: Images and Settings
5. Toggle Product Status to Active
6. Click Update Product at the bottom

What Happens When You Activate?

Immediate Effects:

✅ Product becomes visible in:

• Your shop's product listings
• Category pages
• Search results
• Homepage features (if eligible)
• Affiliate links work again

✅ Everything is restored:

• All images appear
• Description and details visible
• Variants available for purchase
• Pricing as you left it
• Analytics continue tracking
• Product URL works again

✅ Buyers can:

• See the product in your shop
• Add it to cart
• Purchase it
• Find it in search

Before You Reactivate: Quick Checklist ✓

Before turning a product back on, make sure:

• Images are still high quality and relevant
• Description is up-to-date
• Pricing is correct (did costs change?)
• Variants you want to sell are enabled
• You have inventory/can fulfill orders
• Product still fits your shop's brand

Pro Tip 💡

Seasonal reactivation strategy: Set calendar reminders to reactivate seasonal products at the right time. For example, reactivate holiday products in October, summer products in March.

How to Delete a Product

⚠️ WARNING: Deleting is permanent! You cannot undo this action. All data will be lost forever.

Before You Delete: Final Check

Ask yourself these questions:

1. Am I 100% sure I'll never sell this product again?

   • If there's any doubt, deactivate instead

2. Do I have backups of my images and content?

   • Once deleted, you can't recover them

3. Are there any pending orders for this product?

   • Check your orders first - don't delete products with unfulfilled orders

4. Is this a duplicate or mistake?

   • If yes, deletion makes sense
   • If no, consider deactivating

Navigation: How to Delete

From My Products List

1. Go to Seller Panel → Products and Orders → My Products
2. Find the product you want to delete
3. Click the Delete button (trash icon) next to the product
4. A confirmation dialog will appear: "Are you sure? This cannot be undone."
5. Type the product name to confirm (safety measure)
6. Click Delete Permanently
7. Product is now deleted forever

From Edit Page

1. Go to Seller Panel → Products and Orders → My Products
2. Click the Edit button next to the product
3. Scroll to the bottom of the page
4. Find the Danger Zone section (usually red background)
5. Click Delete Product
6. Confirm deletion in the dialog
7. Product is deleted

What Happens When You Delete?

Immediate and Permanent Effects:

❌ Product is completely removed:

• All images are deleted
• Description and details are gone
• Variant configuration is lost
• Pricing information is deleted
• Product URL returns 404 error
• Cannot be recovered or restored

❌ Analytics data is archived:

• Historical sales data is preserved (for your records)
• But you can't see product-specific analytics anymore
• Revenue from past sales still counts in your totals

✅ Existing orders are preserved:

• Orders already placed remain in the system
• Buyers can still see their order history
• You can still fulfill pending orders
• Past orders show product name but link is broken

❌ Affiliate links break:

• All affiliate links to this product return 404
• Affiliates can no longer promote it
• Past commissions are still honored

Safety Measures

The platform has several safety measures to prevent accidental deletion:

1. Confirmation Dialog: You must confirm you want to delete
2. Type Product Name: For important products, you must type the name
3. Warning Message: Clear warning that deletion is permanent
4. Pending Orders Check: System warns if there are unfulfilled orders

Pro Tip 💡

Save your content first! Before deleting, copy your product description and download your images. You might want to reuse them for a future product!

Common Scenarios and Best Practices

Scenario 1: Out of Stock Temporarily

Situation: You sold out of inventory and are waiting for restock.

Best Action: ✅ Deactivate

Why: You'll have more stock soon, so you want to keep your product listing, analytics, and customer reviews intact.

Steps:

1. Deactivate the product
2. Optionally update the description to say "Temporarily out of stock - back soon!"
3. Reactivate when inventory arrives

Scenario 2: Seasonal Product (Holiday Theme)

Situation: You have Christmas-themed products, and it's now January.

Best Action: ✅ Deactivate

Why: You'll sell them again next holiday season. Keep all your data and reviews!

Steps:

1. Deactivate all seasonal products after the season
2. Set a calendar reminder for next year (e.g., October)
3. Reactivate in October with updated images if needed

Scenario 3: Product Not Selling Well

Situation: Your product has been live for 3 months with only 2 sales.

Best Action: ✅ Deactivate (for now)

Why: Give yourself time to improve it without it sitting in your shop with poor performance.

Steps:

1. Deactivate the product
2. Analyze why it's not selling (check analytics)
3. Improve images, description, or pricing
4. Reactivate with improvements
5. If still no sales after improvements, consider deleting

Scenario 4: Duplicate Product by Mistake

Situation: You accidentally created the same product twice.

Best Action: ❌ Delete (the duplicate)

Why: No reason to keep a duplicate. Delete the one with fewer/no sales.

Steps:

1. Identify which is the duplicate (usually the newer one)
2. Make sure it has no pending orders
3. Delete the duplicate
4. Keep the original

Scenario 5: Rebranding Your Shop

Situation: You're completely changing your shop's style and products.

Best Action: ✅ Deactivate old products first, ❌ Delete later

Why: Deactivate gives you a safety net. You can always delete later if you're sure.

Steps:

1. Deactivate all old products
2. Launch new products
3. Wait 30-60 days to make sure new direction is working
4. Delete old products if you're certain you won't go back

Scenario 6: Quality Issues with Current Batch

Situation: Your supplier sent a bad batch, and you need to stop sales immediately.

Best Action: ✅ Deactivate immediately

Why: Protect your reputation. Fix the issue, then reactivate.

Steps:

1. Deactivate immediately
2. Contact customers with pending orders
3. Resolve the quality issue with supplier
4. Reactivate when quality is confirmed

Scenario 7: Testing New Pricing

Situation: You want to test if a higher price works better.

Best Action: ✅ Keep active, just change price

Why: No need to deactivate for price changes. But if you want to make major changes, deactivate first.

Alternative:

1. Deactivate product
2. Update pricing
3. Update description to mention "new pricing"
4. Reactivate
5. Monitor sales for 2-4 weeks

Pro Tips for Managing Product Visibility 🚀

1. Use Deactivation Strategically

Don't just let underperforming products sit in your shop. Deactivate them, improve them, then relaunch!

Strategy:

• Review products monthly
• Deactivate bottom 10% performers
• Improve images/description/pricing
• Reactivate with improvements
• Track if performance improves

2. Seasonal Rotation

Keep your shop fresh by rotating seasonal products:

Example Schedule:

• January-March: Deactivate holiday products, activate spring products
• April-June: Deactivate winter products, activate summer products
• July-September: Deactivate spring products, activate fall products
• October-December: Activate holiday products, deactivate summer products

3. Create a "Coming Soon" Strategy

Deactivate products before launch to build anticipation:

1. Create product (with great images and description)
2. Deactivate immediately
3. Tease on social media: "New product launching Friday!"
4. Activate on launch day
5. Announce: "Now available!"

4. A/B Testing with Deactivation

Test different versions of the same product:

1. Create Product A with one set of images/description
2. Let it run for 2 weeks, track performance
3. Deactivate Product A
4. Create Product B with different images/description
5. Let it run for 2 weeks, track performance
6. Keep the better performer, delete the other

5. Bulk Deactivation for Shop Maintenance

When making major shop changes:

1. Deactivate all products
2. Update shop profile, banner, sections
3. Update product images/descriptions in batches
4. Reactivate products gradually (best ones first)
5. Creates a "grand reopening" effect

6. Use Analytics Before Deleting

Before deleting any product, check:

• Total revenue generated
• Number of sales
• Traffic it brought to your shop
• Customer reviews

If it generated significant revenue or traffic, consider keeping it deactivated instead of deleting. You might want to bring it back!

7. Keep a Deletion Log

Before deleting products, keep a simple spreadsheet:

This helps you:

• Remember what you deleted and why
• Avoid recreating the same mistakes
• Track patterns in what doesn't work

Common Mistakes to Avoid ❌

1. Deleting Instead of Deactivating

Mistake: Deleting a product that's just temporarily out of stock.

Why It's Bad: You lose all your data, reviews, and analytics. When you restock, you have to start from scratch.

Solution: Always deactivate first. You can delete later if needed.

2. Deactivating Products with Pending Orders

Mistake: Deactivating a product that has unfulfilled orders.

Why It's Bad: Confusing for customers. They ordered something that now shows as "unavailable."

Solution: Check for pending orders first. Fulfill them before deactivating.

3. Not Backing Up Content Before Deleting

Mistake: Deleting a product without saving images and description.

Why It's Bad: You might want to reuse that content later. Once deleted, it's gone forever.

Solution: Download images and copy description to a document before deleting.

4. Leaving Deactivated Products Forever

Mistake: Deactivating products and forgetting about them.

Why It's Bad: Your product list gets cluttered with inactive products you'll never reactivate.

Solution: Review deactivated products quarterly. Either reactivate or delete them.

5. Deleting Products with Good Reviews

Mistake: Deleting a product that has 5-star reviews.

Why It's Bad: You lose social proof. Those reviews helped sell the product!

Solution: If a product has great reviews, keep it deactivated instead of deleting. You might want to bring it back!

6. Not Communicating with Affiliates

Mistake: Deactivating/deleting products without telling affiliates who are promoting them.

Why It's Bad: Affiliates waste time promoting dead links. They'll be frustrated.

Solution: If affiliates are promoting your product, notify them before deactivating/deleting.

7. Deactivating Your Best Sellers

Mistake: Accidentally deactivating a product that's selling well.

Why It's Bad: You lose sales! Buyers can't find your popular product.

Solution: Double-check which product you're deactivating. Check recent sales first.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I reactivate a deleted product?

No. Deletion is permanent. Once deleted, the product and all its data are gone forever. This is why we recommend deactivating instead of deleting in most cases.

Do deactivated products count toward my product limit?

Yes. Deactivated products still count toward your total product limit. If you're at your limit and want to add new products, you'll need to delete (not just deactivate) some old ones.

What happens to my analytics when I deactivate?

Nothing changes. Your analytics history is preserved. When you reactivate, analytics continue tracking from where they left off.

What happens to my analytics when I delete?

Historical data is archived. Your total revenue and sales count still include deleted products, but you can't see product-specific analytics anymore.

Can buyers still see reviews after I deactivate?

No. When a product is deactivated, buyers can't see it or its reviews. When you reactivate, reviews reappear.

Can buyers still see reviews after I delete?

No. Reviews are deleted along with the product. This is another reason to deactivate instead of delete!

Will deactivating affect my shop's search ranking?

Slightly. If you deactivate many products, your shop might appear less active. But it's better than having underperforming products visible.

How long can I keep a product deactivated?

Forever. There's no time limit. You can deactivate a product and reactivate it years later.

Can I deactivate multiple products at once?

Yes! In your product list, select multiple products (checkboxes) and use the bulk action dropdown to deactivate them all at once.

Can I delete multiple products at once?

Yes, but be careful! Bulk deletion is available, but you'll need to confirm each deletion to prevent accidents.

What if I accidentally deleted a product?

Contact support immediately. In some cases, support can recover recently deleted products (within 24-48 hours). But don't count on it - deletion is meant to be permanent.

Should I delete products with no sales?

Not necessarily. Some products take time to find their audience. Consider:

• How long has it been live? (Give it at least 3-6 months)
• Have you optimized images and description?
• Is it seasonal? (Wrong time of year?)
• Is the price competitive?

Try improving it first before deleting!

Quick Reference Guide

Deactivate When:

• ✅ Temporarily out of stock
• ✅ Seasonal products (off-season)
• ✅ Making major updates
• ✅ Testing new versions
• ✅ Quality issues
• ✅ Low performance (but not ready to give up)

Delete When:

• ❌ Never selling again
• ❌ Duplicate listings
• ❌ Mistake listings
• ❌ Complete shop overhaul
• ❌ After being deactivated for 6+ months with no plans to reactivate

Never Delete:

• ❌ Products with pending orders
• ❌ Products with great reviews
• ❌ Products that generated significant revenue
• ❌ When you're unsure (deactivate instead!)

Need More Help?

Check out these related guides:

• How to Add Products - Create new product listings
• How to Edit Products - Update your existing listings
• Understanding Your Analytics - Track product performance
• Managing Your Inventory - Track stock levels
• Seasonal Product Strategy - Maximize seasonal sales
• Product Performance Optimization - Improve underperforming products

Still have questions? Contact our support team or visit the Help Center!

Watch Video Tutorial: [VIDEO_PLACEHOLDER]

Remember: When in doubt, deactivate instead of delete! 🛡️ You can always delete later, but you can't undelete. Keep your options open and your data safe.