How to use custom sales in Shopify POS and find them in reports

How do I add a custom sale in Shopify POS?

On the Shopify POS smart grid, tap Add custom sale, enter an optional title and the price, set the quantity and tax, then tap Add to cart. Use it for anything you haven’t set up as a product, like the display easel in Shopify’s painting example. Give it a title so it’s easy to find in reports.

1. On the Shopify POS smart grid, tap the Add custom sale tile.
2. Enter an optional title and the sale price.
3. Adjust the quantity and choose whether the item is taxed.
4. Tap Add to cart.

If the tile isn’t on your smart grid, add it: tap Add tile, choose it, then tap Save. A custom sale can also be the replacement item in an exchange.

Why can’t my staff use Add custom sale?

A staff member can’t use it when their POS role lacks the Add custom sales permission, or when the tile isn’t on the smart grid (add it as above). The permission sits in the Checkout section of POS permissions. Set it to Approval required and a manager with the manager approval and Add custom sales permissions enters their PIN to approve each one. Permissions go by role, so change the role.

Why does the “Product title is not None” filter hide custom sales in POS total sales by product?

A custom sale’s Product title, Product vendor and Product type are all None in reports, so every custom sale fails the report’s default filter. With the filter removed, all custom sales appear as one combined row until you split them by Product title at time of sale, where an untitled custom sale shows as “Custom sale”.

How do I report on custom sales in Shopify?

In Analytics > Reports > POS total sales by product, delete the “Product title is not None” filter and add the Product title at time of sale dimension. You don’t need a new report or an app, and Save as keeps the view for next month.

1. In the Shopify admin, go to Analytics > Reports and open POS total sales by product.
2. In the configuration panel’s Filters menu, click the trash icon next to Product title is not None.
3. In the Dimensions menu, click the plus icon, search for Product title at time of sale, select it, then click Apply.
4. Optional: click Save as to keep it as a custom report.

To see only custom sales, keep the filter instead: click is not and change it to is, click Select value, choose None and click Apply. Then add the Product title at time of sale dimension as in step 3, and click Save as. If you like, delete the Product title, Product vendor and Product type dimensions and drag Product title at time of sale to the top.

Merchants have asked about this on the Shopify Community, and older answers point to reports and filters merchants say they can no longer find. The steps above follow Shopify’s current retail sales reports help.

What should I call a custom sale so the report makes sense?

Use the same short title every time for the same kind of charge. The report splits custom sales by their exact title, so two spellings of one charge become two lines, and every untitled sale lands under “Custom sale”. Keep a short agreed list of titles by the register.

For example, a jeweler might agree on “Engraving”, “Ring sizing” and “Watch battery”, and ring up an engraving charge of US$25.00 as “Engraving”. If jobs move through stages, compare repair and service ticket apps. Job details, like the words to engrave, belong in a note on the order: see how notes work on Shopify POS orders and items.

Should I use a custom sale, a custom item on a draft, or a product?

Use a custom sale for a one-off the customer pays for at the counter. Use a custom item on a draft order when the job is made or paid later and priced per job (a quote in Shopify POS works the same way). Create a product for anything you charge again and again at a set price.

Shopify’s own advice is “Whenever possible, create products in your admin instead of using custom items.” Products help Shopify calculate shipping rates and assign orders to locations. For a service product, leave Track quantity off, as Shopify suggests for services and made-to-order products. Since Shopify’s Spring ‘26 Edition you can override line-item prices on draft orders, so one service product can carry a different price for each job.

For a catalog item that’s out of stock, see special orders in Shopify POS. To send a payment link for a custom amount, see Shopify payment links for a custom amount.

How do I put a one-off job on a draft order for later?

Build it as a custom item on a draft order in the Shopify admin or the Shopify app, with a name, price and quantity, and say whether it’s taxable or a physical product. When the customer is ready, load the draft into the Shopify POS cart. Draft orders in Shopify POS need POS Pro.

1. In the Shopify admin, go to Orders > Drafts and click Create order.
2. Click Custom item.
3. Enter the item name, price and quantity.
4. Select Item is taxable and Item is a physical product if they apply, then click Add.

In the Shopify app, tap the Orders icon, the Add icon, then Create order. To add the custom item, open the draft from Draft orders, tap Add custom item, enter the name, price and quantity, and tap Save or ✓.

In Shopify POS, open the horizontal menu, tap Load draft order, then Load to cart. An admin draft’s custom shipping rate is removed when it loads. Every other draft action is in Shopify POS draft orders.

What are the limits of custom sales and custom items?

A custom item on a draft order has no image or clickable title and no product page, because it isn’t in your catalog. It isn’t tracked as inventory, doesn’t change your stock levels, and doesn’t appear in product sales reports. It can’t be used with automated fulfillment or shipping apps. A POS custom sale is left out of POS total sales by product until you remove the report’s filter.

How do I get a one-off job to the workshop and paid?

Build the job as a draft from your products (a service product priced for the job), print it for the workshop, and collect payment when the customer is ready. See how to print a draft from Shopify POS.

Prep Ticket, from Countermade (the Shopify POS apps from Invenire Studios), prints a ticket from a draft order in Shopify POS with item names, quantities, customer and notes. It leaves prices off, so the workshop gets just the job details. It prints through the iPad’s print dialog (AirPrint) and works with drafts made in POS or the Shopify admin. See how it works for made-to-order job tickets, or visit Prep Ticket.

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When the customer will pay later, Pay Link, from Countermade, makes a payment link for the order, and they pay in full on Shopify’s own secure checkout, so staff never see card details. Staff see the total up front, with a note when checkout will add shipping. Turn on local pickup so the customer can choose it. Staff can also see when the link is paid. Compare each kind of Shopify payment link, or see Pay Link.

Both need Shopify POS Pro.

Next step

Open POS total sales by product in your Shopify admin and remove one filter to see your custom sales.

Prep Ticket and Pay Link aren’t on the Shopify App Store yet. Get early access and we’ll email you when each is ready to try.