thread Re: Getting "item and its variations must match" with items that are not variations in Payments Troubleshooting

Getting "item and its variations must match" with items that are not variations

PermafrostDes — Sun, 21 Sep 2025 17:14:58 GMT

I'm just trying to update my categories. I downloaded my inventory as .xlsx, I updated the categories, and I'm re-uploading.

Yet I get this error:

An item and its variations must have the same item name. Update the item names for the following rows: [224 225 226 227 228].

Since the item names are different, and there is no (and never was) a variation entered, and I'm not adding any of these items, I can't figure out why it would be giving me this.

I have tried clearing the description field, resorting the file, etc. My next step is just downloading the file and making my changes again.

I've done the download/upload process successfully probably two dozen times before.

Any ideas?

Re: Getting "item and its variations must match" with items that are not variations

PermafrostDes — Tue, 24 Nov 2020 05:20:20 GMT

I pulled a fresh extract today, and just copy+pasted the categories column over from yesterday's sheet onto today's sheet. It uploaded fine.

No idea what caused the issue in yesterday's file, but at least I'm past it today.

Re: Getting "item and its variations must match" with items that are not variations

Helen — Wed, 25 Nov 2020 18:45:59 GMT

Very sorry for the frustration this caused @PermafrostDes but I really appreciate you coming back to let us know it's sorted now!

Re: Getting "item and its variations must match" with items that are not variations

karenscarlett — Wed, 01 Feb 2023 05:37:23 GMT

An item and its variations must have the same description. Update the descriptions for the following rows: [20 22].

An item and its variations must have the same description. Update the descriptions for the following rows: [19 37].

I have re tried downloading a new form and reloading my inventory. I still get the above error messages. HELP! thx karen

Re: Getting "item and its variations must match" with items that are not variations

Kassi_ — Thu, 02 Feb 2023 22:19:16 GMT

Hey there, @karenscarlett -

Welcome to the Community!

Just to make sure we are on the same page, are you exporting your Item Library and updating the information before importing again?

Then you're seeing those errors whenever you try importing. Here is a Support Article with some troubleshooting steps for those importing errors.

Let me know if these don't do the trick for you and you're still seeing this issue when importing.