What a product is in Riverr

Three things share the word product. They are not the same object, and they do not live on the same screen.

Ask one question: is this a base product, a designed retail product, or a channel listing? Answer that and the click-path is obvious.

This is the map. The other Products & Catalog articles are how-tos for one of these three.

Physical stock — blanks on a slot, house retail, seller inventory — is Warehouse & 3PL. Catalog access tiers are not stock.

The first question

Does it need a new blank first?

• No — the blank is already in Catalog. You are designing a retail product. Open Products → Catalog, pick the blank, customize, Create Product.
• Yes — Catalog does not have this garment or specialty. You are adding a base product. Open Base products → Add product, search, finish setup. Then design.

A third case is not a create at all: the SKU already exists on Shopify or Etsy. That is a listing. Map it. Do not rebuild it.

Base product

You configure it. Colors, sizes, placements, decoration methods, mockups. It is the thing sellers (and you) decorate against.

The page heading is Base products. Nav: Base products → All base products. Add: Add product — heading Add a product.

It used to be called a blank. The code still says blank. On the floor it is still a blank. In the admin nav it is a base product.

A base product is not a storefront listing and not on-hand. Enabling it for Catalog does not put units on a shelf.

Where you do it: Add a base product or Build a blank by hand.

Retail product

You design it. Art on a base product, a price, a channel. After Create Product it lives under Products → Retail Products (breadcrumb My Products).

Default path: you lock the art in the customizer (print-on-demand). The shopper picks size and color. Production decorates what you designed.

Where you do it: Browse the catalog and create a retail product.

Listing

A shop already has it. Riverr pulled the channel product in. Products → Listings is mapping and sync — variant to base-product variant — not a designer.

Do not create a second retail product to “fix” an unsynced listing. Map the one that is already there.

Side by side

	Base product	Retail product	Listing
Job	Configure decoration	Design and sell	Reconcile a shop SKU
Who sets it up	Admin (enterprise catalog)	You, in Catalog	Sync, then you map
Nav	Base products	Catalog → Retail Products	Listings
On a shelf?	No	Only if you later stock it	Only if that shop’s inventory is stocked

Two phrases that sound like warehouse

Sell as → Finished good on a base product means the shopper does not design. They buy it as-is (plain blank or already decorated). That is a storefront setting. It is not house finished goods in the warehouse.

Catalog access tiers decide which buyers see which base products in Catalog. They are not a bin cap and not a pricing tier — Access tiers and product categories.

Starting from scratch

Situation	Use
Blank is already in Catalog	Create a retail product
Need a SanMar / S&S / AS Colour style in the catalog	Add a base product
Not in any supplier feed	Build a blank by hand
Stickers, DTF, poster, necklace	Search in Add a product — specialty cards open their own wizard
SKU already on Etsy or Shopify	Products → Listings
Recording units already on a shelf	Add inventory — not Catalog
Printing a run to shelve	House stock order

Seller vs admin

Enterprise admins see Base products in the main nav. Sellers add blanks under Settings → Catalog → Blank products (admins hitting that URL land on Base products).

Everyone designs from Products → Catalog. On the older seller nav, Retail Products is still labeled Products.