Shopify CSV Import Checker & Catalog Diff

Compare the Shopify product CSV you have now with the file you are about to import. SKUFuse surfaces risky price, inventory, SKU, variant, option, and overwrite changes before anything is written to your store.

This is a Shopify CSV import preflight and catalog comparison tool, not an importer. It never connects to Shopify, edits products, or writes inventory.

Shopify CSV import checker: what it catches

Depending on the selected profile, SKUFuse can flag:

• Price drops or increases beyond configured thresholds
• Tracked inventory changing from a positive value to zero
• Duplicate, unmatched, ambiguous, or uncheckable SKUs
• Variant identity changes
• Variant option columns missing from an overwrite import
• Populated values that would be cleared by present-but-blank cells
• Invalid compare-at-price relationships
• Inventory tracker or quantity problems
• Incomplete coverage instead of silently guessing

A generic CSV validator asks whether a file is structurally valid. A generic diff asks which cells changed. SKUFuse asks what the proposed Shopify import changes and which of those changes need human review.

Best for

• Shopify merchants reviewing product CSV imports before upload
• Agencies managing catalog and variant changes for multiple stores
• Teams that need repeatable checks for price, inventory, SKU, and variant changes
• Automated catalog workflows that need deterministic review output before the write step

Quick start: check a Shopify product CSV before import

1. Keep Run synthetic demo enabled and press Start for a safe first run.
2. Review the built-in 3-row example with a ~90% price drop and inventory going to zero.
3. For real data, turn the demo off and choose the appropriate comparison profile.
4. Upload the current Shopify product CSV and the proposed import CSV.
5. Confirm the required declarations, run the comparison, and open Review report (HTML).

You can also use inline CSV, public HTTPS URLs, Apify datasets, or a saved SKUFuse baseline.

Shopify product and variant comparison profiles

Profile	Best for
shopify_product_price_stock_single_location_v1	Price, SKU, tracker, and single-location inventory review
shopify_product_variants_v2	Variant identity, option structure, blank-overwrite, compare-at-price, price, and optional inventory review

The variants profile requires confirmOverwriteMatchingHandles: true because its import-sensitive checks model Shopify's Overwrite existing products that have matching handles behavior.

Inventory quantity is single-location data. Multi-location merchants can still use the variants profile for product and variant review while handling per-location quantities through Shopify's separate Inventory CSV workflow.

Outputs for human review and automation

Every completed comparison produces:

• REVIEW.html — readable review report
• OUTPUT — canonical JSON comparison report
• FINDINGS.csv — spreadsheet-ready findings
• Default dataset item — the canonical report for downstream Apify workflows
• RUN_METADATA — operational and billing metadata

The report distinguishes review findings from unmatched, uncheckable, or ignored image/metadata-only rows and uses bounded output for large catalogs.

Saved baselines, schedules, and webhooks

SKUFuse can store named catalog baselines for later comparisons. For recurring checks, save the input as an Apify Task and attach an Apify Schedule. An optional reviewWebhook can send a small summary only for selected statuses such as review_required or incomplete.

SKUFuse itself does not schedule imports or write to Shopify.

Pricing

Pay per event, with platform usage included. All prices below are USD per event, not per 1,000 events.

Event	Free	Starter	Scale	Business
comparison-completed	$0.01	$0.009	$0.008	$0.007
row-evaluated	$0.00001	$0.00001	$0.00001	$0.00001
apify-actor-start	$0.00005	$0.00005	$0.00005	$0.00005

• Comparison: the primary, infrequent event; charged at most once when a completed report evaluates at least one proposed row.
• Rows: one event per evaluated row, including unchanged rows. Multiple findings on one row still count as one row event.
• Start: charged by Apify, including failed runs. One event at up to 1 GB; higher memory adds start events.

Example, at up to 1 GB	Free	Starter	Scale	Business
Built-in example: 3 evaluated rows	$0.01008	$0.00908	$0.00808	$0.00708
Comparison: 1,000 evaluated rows	$0.02005	$0.01905	$0.01805	$0.01705

Maximum cost per run is a spending cap, not a minimum bill. The minimum allowed cap is $0.011. That covers the built-in example at up to 1 GB; for 1,000 evaluated rows on Free, use $0.021 or more.

Unmatched rows, uncheckable rows, ignored image/metadata-only rows, header-only files, and insufficient-budget runs are not billed as evaluated-row events. Custom events are charged after report delivery and a complete-cost budget check. The Pricing tab is authoritative.

Important boundaries

• Comparison only: no import, store connection, live-state verification, repair, or automatic approval.
• A report with no findings is not a guarantee that a later import is safe.
• Matching is deterministic; ambiguous identities are not guessed.
• Shopify product CSV input is comma-separated; other CSV dialects are outside this Actor's Shopify product CSV contract.
• Catalog comparisons support up to 100,000 comparison-relevant data records per file under the documented limits.
• Remote CSV sources are HTTPS-only and subject to strict size and network limits.

API

Use the Actor technical name:

overbifrost/shopify-csv-import-checker-catalog-diff

import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

const client = new ApifyClient({ token: process.env.APIFY_TOKEN });
const run = await client.actor('overbifrost/shopify-csv-import-checker-catalog-diff').call(input);

Related SKUFuse Actors

• WooCommerce CSV Import Checker & Catalog Diff — review WooCommerce product and variation CSV changes before import.
• Inventory CSV Diff & Stock Change Checker — review inventory snapshot and stock-sync changes by SKU or SKU + location.

FAQ

Does SKUFuse import or modify Shopify products?

No. It only compares the current and proposed data and produces review outputs. The write/import step stays outside SKUFuse.

Is this only a Shopify CSV validator?

No. A validator checks whether one file is structurally acceptable. SKUFuse compares current vs. proposed product data and highlights material import changes, variant identity risks, ambiguity, and incomplete coverage.

What about Shopify stores with multiple inventory locations?

The product CSV's Inventory quantity semantics are single-location. In the variants profile, multi-location merchants can omit that quantity column and still review price, SKU, option, and variant changes; use Shopify's Inventory CSV workflow for per-location quantities.

Can I try it without preparing files?

Yes. Leave Run synthetic demo on and start the Actor. The default Store run uses fixed synthetic data and produces a normal review report and dataset item.

Can I run recurring checks?

Yes. Saved baselines can be combined with Apify Tasks, Schedules, and the optional conditional review webhook for recurring catalog review.