The shared field makes the difference.
In this fictional family, ARC-24 measures 610 mm wide and ARC-30 measures 762 mm. Both exact-item source passages can be correct. A single product-level width cannot represent both variants accurately.
| SKU | Exact width | Shared width repair |
|---|---|---|
| ARC-24 | 610 mm | Hold |
| ARC-30 | 762 mm | Hold |
Native CSV has a specific boundary.
Shopify documents product metafield columns in its product CSV format and explicitly excludes variant metafields from that import/export path. Its guidance points to the variant bulk editor for editing variant metafields. Choose a workflow that matches your actual field definitions and variant identifiers.
Specstead will hold incompatible sibling facts instead of collapsing them into a product field. It does not create metafield definitions, move data into variant metafields, or write to Shopify.
Use the hold as a useful result.
Confirm that the measurements refer to the same basis, such as overall product width rather than packaging. If the variants really differ, resolve the data model and variant-level workflow before proceeding. A separate purchase from the brand family is not required to resolve a hold.
The downloadable different-sibling-widths example makes this boundary inspectable. It produces no approved shared-width proposal in the deterministic example review.
Inspect an example, then check your own family.
Download the fictional catalogs, exact-item records and expected reviews. The preliminary fit checker helps separate a supported repair from a task that needs another workflow.
The free preflight checks whether your CSV fits Specstead’s supported scope. It does not change your file or store. Source-backed proposals and customer decisions follow in a private workspace.
Sources and method.
Examples on this page are invented to explain review decisions. They are not customer results or measured platform tests. Guidance checked 2026-10-11; Specstead’s implemented scope is described in the file guide.