Chuck Allen's leather and pottery goods might have started as a creative outlet, but they eventually allowed him to quit his day job and pursue his passion full time.

The pottery products and hand-stitched leather bags he creates and sells in-person and online inspired the name of his growing brand: Earth and Hide.

After revamping his website with the help of apps like SC Product Options Allen saw his sales increase tenfold. His e-commerce success allowed him to quit his office job and focus full time on what he is most passionate about: Inspiring others with his products and workshops.

In addition to hand-crafting beautiful bags, belts, pottery, and more, Allen runs workshops for people who are interested in learning how to make their own leather and pottery goods. This is how Allen passes along both his creations and his creativity.

With the help of SC Product Options, Allen was able to create an online store to reach a wider audience without losing the brick-and-mortar simplicity he had built his business on.

Turn your hobby or craft into a thriving e-commerce store

If you create or craft products by hand you might have a great budding e-commerce business idea without even realizing it. Shopify is the perfect solution for artisans and crafters who want to quickly sell their goods online, with no coding experience required.

Not only is Shopify easy to use and set up, but comes with the options of thousands of easy to install and use add-ons and apps. If you aren’t sure where to start, SC Product Options is a great app for offering customers product options like clickable swatches, gifting options like wrapping paper or a note, or personalization options like monogramming and embroidery.

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For some help getting started check out We've got swatches! Plus other tips for using SC Product Options

Got 99 option variants?

Another key feature of Product Options is the ability to exceed Shopify’s somewhat restrictive variant limit of 100 per product. Some merchants think of it as the “99 variants problem.” Let’s unpack this quickly.

A variant is a unique combination of options making up a product. For example, if you sell t-shirts available in colors, sizes, and a few different prints, a version that is XL in Blue with one of the prints is considered a variant.

If your product doesn’t come with a bunch of different options, variants might not be a big concern for you. For example the Earth + Hide bag shown above comes in one size, one material, and three colors. This bag only uses three variants, nowhere near the 100 variant limit.

However, if you want to sell a shirt in five sizes, 12 colors, and with three print options, 5 x 12 x 3 = 180 variants, over Shopify’s limit per product. You can see how this could quickly become a problem if you are trying to sell a product with some configurable options. Imagine the number of variants in highly customizable product like a computer or bicycle?

Product Options allows you to offer configurable products with unlimited variants so you can offer customers the options they need to make their product just right.

One example of a leading brand using SC Product Options to exceed Shopify’s variant limit is high-end furniture retailer Danish Design Store.

Many of their products, like this sofa shown above, come with hundreds of fabric or leather options, as well as different types of metal for the base, or chaise lounge configurations. It’s easy to imagine how 100 variants wouldn’t be enough for Danish Design Store.

They also can use the app to customize their store with the swatches and other product options they need.

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Getting started with Product Options

If you are thinking about launching a Shopify store to sell your beautiful hand-made crafts or items, we think you’ll love SC Product Options as a first app to go with it. If you want to try it for free, you can here.

Here's how 22 of Shopify's most successful brands are using SC Product Options to fully personalize their product offering and power sales. Read more.

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Shop Circle is the first operator of ecommerce tools, providing cutting-edge tools that help brands ignite sales, grow farther, faster, and scale without limits.