Shopify's own free app, Translate & Adapt, auto-translates a store into up to 2 languages (8 in select countries), as its listing says on Nov 9, 2026. Paid translation apps charge from $14.90 to $99 a month. In the EU, new marketplaces keep opening: Kaufland.es started on Oct 6, 2026 with more than 3,100 online sellers active from day one (ecosistemastartup.com, Oct 8, 2026).
What to build
A program that takes the product file exported from a store (a CSV from Shopify or Etsy, or a listings report downloaded from eBay's Seller Hub) and translates titles, descriptions, tags and variant names into German, French, Italian, Spanish and Polish, following the seller's own list of terms: the brand name, words that stay in English, fixed pairs like "sweatshirt" for a given product line. It converts inches to centimeters and pounds to kilograms, and it never touches the Handle, SKU, price and ID columns. Shopify matches import rows to existing products by their Handle (help.shopify.com), so a translated handle no longer points at the product. Doubtful rows are flagged. Output: a Shopify translations import file (Settings, Languages, Import) and a side-by-side table, original next to translation, for proofreading.
What the marketplaces already do: Etsy translates listings automatically, and a seller's own translation replaces the automatic one (help.etsy.com); Etsy's Shop Manager offers Download CSV for the listings. Amazon's Build International Listings uses machine translation, and Amazon's own seller blog (Feb 21, 2025) advises a fluent translator and localized units of measurement. For UK sellers, eBay's free European Sales Booster lists their items with translated listings on eBay's German, French, Italian and Spanish sites (ebay.co.uk; the page does not say whether people or machines translate).
Automatic translation is free on Shopify and Etsy and built into Amazon, so what a seller pays for is the proofread text, the glossary and a file that imports without breaking anything. Start with your own store's export, or a friend's store with the owner's permission.
The prompt
Open Claude Code, an AI coding tool, in an empty folder and paste this:
Build a program that translates product listings. Input: a CSV from Shopify, Etsy or eBay, plus the seller's glossary (the brand and words marked "do not translate", fixed term pairs). Languages: German, French, Italian, Spanish, Polish. Translate titles, descriptions, tags and variant names; convert inches to centimeters and pounds to kilograms. Do not touch the Handle, SKU, price and ID columns: Shopify matches products by Handle. Flag doubtful rows. Output: a Shopify translations import file (fill only "Translated content" in its export from Settings > Languages) and an "original / translation" table for proofreading. API keys go in .env, never in the chat. Test on your own store's export, or on another seller's only with the owner's written permission. Show me the plan and a cost estimate first, then the code.
Rules
- Translate only listings you own, or with the seller's written permission. Test on your own export first.
- Review every output before import: someone who speaks the language reads the table. AI mixes up sizes, materials and brand names.
- The translation says only what the original says. No new claims, no "best seller", no invented reviews.
- Ingredients, safety warnings and care labels are regulated text. Do not ship a machine translation of them without a professional check.
- Keep Handle, SKU, prices and IDs exactly as exported, and import with a backup export in hand.
- Do not promise more sales, better rankings or native-level text without proofreading.
Running costs
- Translation with Google's gemini-3.5-flash-lite: $0.30 per million input tokens and $2.50 per million output tokens; a free tier exists.
- Shopify's own translation of up to 2 languages (8 in select countries) is free with the Translate & Adapt app.
Market prices
- Shopify Translate & Adapt, by Shopify: free; auto-translation for up to 2 languages, or 8 in select countries.
- langify: Basic $17.50 a month (up to 20 languages, 10,000 words), Growth $29.95 (50,000 words, bulk translation), Premium $59.95 (200,000 words).
- Weglot: Starter $17 a month (1 language, 10,000 words), Business $32 (3 languages, 50,000 words), Pro $87 (5 languages, 200,000 words).
- Transcy: Local Plus $14.90 a month (1 language, 100 products), Continental $69 (15 languages, 300 products), Cross-Border $99 (50 languages, 1,500 products).
Prices are vendors' public prices on Nov 9, 2026. They are not income figures.
Sources: apps.shopify.com (Translate & Adapt, langify, Weglot, Transcy), help.shopify.com (importing products with a CSV; adding translations using CSV files), help.etsy.com (translating a shop and listings; downloading listing information), sell.amazon.com (seller blog, Feb 21, 2025), ebay.co.uk (European Sales Booster), ebay.com (Seller Hub Reports), aistudio.google.com/docs/pricing, ecosistemastartup.com (Oct 8, 2026).
We are not affiliated with the companies mentioned.