Shopify checkout link on website buttons: sell from a page, ship from Shopify
If you already run a Shopify store, an Anticode page can sell for it without becoming a second shop. Create a checkout link in Shopify, paste it into Anticode's payment-link connector, and the page's Buy and pricing buttons open Shopify's checkout in a new tab. The cart, stock, shipping rates, tax and order emails all stay where they already work: in Shopify.
When this set-up makes sense
The pattern suits a Shopify merchant who wants a focused page outside the theme: a launch page for one product, a campaign page for a pop-up, a booking-led studio that also sells a few prints. The page does the persuading; Shopify does the selling. You don't copy products into a second system, and nobody has to reconcile two order lists at the end of the week.
It suits less well if visitors need to browse dozens of products and build a basket on your page. Anticode's design-engine stores show items with a Buy link each, but there's no cart on the page itself, so a full catalogue belongs in your Shopify theme.
What a Shopify checkout link is
Shopify calls these links cart permalinks. Each one is a reusable address that opens a fresh checkout with the variants and quantities you chose, for every person who clicks it. According to Shopify's checkout link guide, there are two ways to make one:
- From the admin. With the Buy Button sales channel installed, open Products, pick the product, choose More actions, then Create checkout link, select a variant and Copy link. This route gives you one variant at a quantity of one.
- By hand. Start from your store's domain, add
/cart/, then one or morevariant_id:quantitypairs separated by commas. Shopify also documents optional parameters, such as a discount code, after a?.
The hand-built form matters here, because it lets one address carry a bundle (two candles and a matchbox, say) or apply a launch discount automatically.
Connecting it to your Anticode page
- Create the checkout link in Shopify and open it once in a private window to check it lands on checkout with the right items.
- In Anticode's dashboard, open Connectors and choose Payment link.
- Paste the address into Your payment link (it must start with
https://) and press Save and turn on. - Make sure the site asks for payments: tick it as a must-have when you build, or ask for it afterwards in a sentence such as "add payments".
- Rebuild or republish the site. The connector itself reminds you that buttons only pick up a new link when the site is rebuilt or republished, because the address is written into the page's HTML.
What visitors see
| Part of the page | With the link saved | Without it |
|---|---|---|
| Store items (online store builds) | Each item gets a Buy link to your Shopify checkout | No Buy link |
| Pricing plan buttons | Open the checkout in a new tab | Jump to the page's booking or contact section |
| FAQ answer about paying | Says payment is online through a secure checkout and the business never sees card numbers | On a store, suggests getting in touch for a payment link; elsewhere, says card or cash on the day |
Links open with noopener noreferrer, so the checkout tab can't reach back into your page. Prices shown on the Anticode page are words in your project, not live Shopify data: when you change a price in Shopify, change it on the page too, or the two will disagree at the moment someone decides to buy.
Choosing what the link should open
The payment link belongs to your Anticode account (or Team workspace), not to one site, so every Buy and pricing button on every site opens the same address. That makes the choice of address the main design decision:
- One product
- A permalink for a single variant. Best for a launch page about one thing.
- A fixed bundle
- A hand-built permalink with several variants and quantities. Good for a kit or a gift set sold as one offer.
- Several products
- Point the link at a Shopify collection or product page instead of checkout, so the buyer chooses there. One extra click, but it works with one account-wide link.
What stays private
A checkout link is public by design: it's printed in your page for anyone to click. Anticode therefore keeps it as visible configuration you can read and edit, unlike the sealed, write-only secrets used by message connectors such as Slack. Shopify needs nothing else from Anticode. Never paste an Admin API access token or app secret into the payment-link field; nothing on this path uses one. Card details are entered on Shopify's checkout and never touch your page, which runs no scripts at all.
Limits
- One link per account. Different sites can't open different Shopify products; use a collection page, or a separate Anticode account per brand.
- No sync. Stock levels, sold-out states and prices on the page don't update from Shopify.
- No order data in Anticode. Orders, refunds and customer emails live in Shopify's admin.
- On-site card payments are switched off. Anticode has built its own pay pages, but they aren't available, so a link to your provider is how a site takes payment today.
- App builds can't sell. Model-written apps run in a sandbox with no network or payments.
Troubleshooting
- Buttons still open the old address
- The site hasn't been rebuilt or republished since you changed the link. Publish again.
- The link opens an empty cart
- A variant ID in a hand-built permalink is wrong or the variant was deleted. Rebuild the link from the product's current variants.
- No Buy links appear on items
- Buy links show on online-store builds only; other kinds use the pricing buttons. Check the connector reads On.
- The save is refused
- The address must start with
https://. Copy it from Shopify again rather than typing it.
For the wider picture of taking money through a link, see payment links. If you're planning a short-run release, the limited product drop workflow and selling merch from your website cover the page around the button.
Questions people ask
Do I need a Shopify app or API key?
No. Anticode only needs the public checkout link. Nothing on this path calls Shopify's API, so there's no token to create or protect.
Can one link add several products to the cart?
Yes, if you build the permalink by hand with several variant and quantity pairs. The admin's Create checkout link option makes single-variant links only.
Does Anticode take a share of Shopify sales?
The sale happens entirely at Shopify, under Shopify's terms. For what Anticode's plans cost, see pricing.