We have a poster store.
Posters come in varying sizes and have optional frames.
Both the size and frame change the price.
These are print-on-demand, so no inventory is needed.
In the Magento world:
- This can’t be a simple product with attributes due to the pricing differences (?)
- Configurable products seem like a maintenance nightmare (every variation is a separate product)
- “Custom Options” tab similarly have to be created for each individual product, and presumably have separate db entries for every product
- I’ve read about custom product types, but there don’t seem to be any complete examples anywhere
is there no drop-in solution for this kind of problem in Magento?
“Custom Options” tab is the way to go, and if you try any other solution, it will be like trying to fight against the core system and the way it is designed.
The Custom options is one product entry, with multiple entries in the Product Options data tables.
It will not be that hard to maintain.
The problem you are referring to is a feature in Magento, and not really a problem for some of us.
Options can also help you later on with Shipping calculations on different frame sizes, and so forth.
You will be happy later on, if you do not go with a custom solution, as that will cause you way more grieve than maintaining bits of data.
The Bulk update feature in the Admin area can help you update data accross multiple products quickly too.