---
title: "What should I do before discontinuing a product?"
slug: "what-should-i-do-before-discontinuing-a-product"
updated: 2026-03-31T15:39:02Z
published: 2026-03-31T15:39:02Z
stale: true
---

> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://help.skio.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# What should I do before discontinuing a product?

Swap your subscribers off the product before making any changes in Shopify. Unlike a one-time purchase, an active subscription is tied to a specific product variant. Deleting it without first moving subscribers off it can cause orders to be skipped or push subscriptions into a failed payment state on their next billing cycle.

Follow these steps in order:

## Step 1: Identify affected subscriptions

In your **Skio Dashboard**, go to **Tools** > **Bulk Operations** to find subscriptions tied to the product or variant you're discontinuing.

## Step 2: Swap subscribers to the replacement product

Run a bulk swap to move all affected subscribers to the new variant before any orders process. See [How to swap products in bulk](/help/docs/how-to-swap-products-in-bulk) for step-by-step instructions.

## Step 3: Remove the product from your selling plan

Go to **Products** > **Selling Plans** and remove the discontinued product from any subscription groups it belongs to. This isn't done automatically when a product is deleted in Shopify. If you skip this step, the product may still appear as a subscription option at checkout.

## Step 4: Delete the product in Shopify

Once subscriptions have been swapped and the product is removed from your selling plans, it's safe to delete it in the Shopify Admin.

## Already deleted the product?

See [How to swap a deleted product variant in existing subscriptions](/help/docs/how-to-swap-a-deleted-product-variant-in-existing-subscriptions-with-bulk-operations) for instructions on finding and replacing deleted variants using Bulk Operations.