diff --git a/ac-shop/set-help-tiers.mjs b/ac-shop/set-help-tiers.mjs
new file mode 100755
index 000000000..7ca856f6b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/ac-shop/set-help-tiers.mjs
@@ -0,0 +1,159 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env node
+/**
+ * set-help-tiers - configure price-tier variants for the
+ * "1 hour of remote help from jeffrey" product.
+ *
+ * The sliding-scale-buy.liquid snippet builds its slider + chips from
+ * the product's variants, then checks out natively (no custom endpoint,
+ * so it survives lith/DigitalOcean outages). This script gives the
+ * product one variant per "pay what feels right" tier.
+ *
+ * Creds come from the vault .env (same as shopify.mjs) — NOT MongoDB —
+ * so this works while lith/DO is down. Shopify Admin API is off-DO.
+ *
+ * Usage:
+ *   node ac-shop/set-help-tiers.mjs            # dry run (prints plan)
+ *   node ac-shop/set-help-tiers.mjs --apply    # actually write to Shopify
+ */
+
+import { readFileSync } from "fs";
+import { fileURLToPath } from "url";
+import { dirname, join } from "path";
+
+const __dirname = dirname(fileURLToPath(import.meta.url));
+
+// Load env from vault manually (matches shopify.mjs).
+const envPath = join(__dirname, "../aesthetic-computer-vault/shop/.env");
+const envContent = readFileSync(envPath, "utf-8");
+for (const line of envContent.split("\n")) {
+  if (line && !line.startsWith("#") && line.includes("=")) {
+    const [key, ...valueParts] = line.split("=");
+    process.env[key.trim()] = valueParts.join("=").trim();
+  }
+}
+
+const STORE_DOMAIN = process.env.SHOPIFY_STORE_DOMAIN;
+const ACCESS_TOKEN = process.env.SHOPIFY_ADMIN_ACCESS_TOKEN;
+if (!STORE_DOMAIN || !ACCESS_TOKEN) {
+  console.error("❌ Missing SHOPIFY_STORE_DOMAIN or SHOPIFY_ADMIN_ACCESS_TOKEN");
+  process.exit(1);
+}
+
+const API_VERSION = "2024-10";
+const BASE_URL = `https://${STORE_DOMAIN}/admin/api/${API_VERSION}`;
+
+const HANDLE = "1-hour-of-remote-help-from-jeffrey";
+const OPTION_NAME = "Amount";
+const TIERS = [25, 50, 100, 150, 250, 500]; // whole dollars
+const APPLY = process.argv.includes("--apply");
+
+async function shopify(endpoint, options = {}) {
+  const res = await fetch(`${BASE_URL}${endpoint}`, {
+    ...options,
+    headers: {
+      "X-Shopify-Access-Token": ACCESS_TOKEN,
+      "Content-Type": "application/json",
+      ...options.headers,
+    },
+  });
+  if (!res.ok) {
+    throw new Error(`Shopify ${res.status}: ${await res.text()}`);
+  }
+  return res.json();
+}
+
+function tierVariant(dollars) {
+  return {
+    option1: `$${dollars}`,
+    price: dollars.toFixed
+      ? dollars.toFixed(2)
+      : Number(dollars).toFixed(2),
+    requires_shipping: false,
+    taxable: true,
+    inventory_management: null, // untracked → a help session never "sells out"
+    inventory_policy: "continue",
+    fulfillment_service: "manual",
+  };
+}
+
+// Already configured exactly right? (idempotent no-op check)
+function matchesDesired(product) {
+  const opt = product.options?.[0];
+  if (!opt || opt.name !== OPTION_NAME) return false;
+  const have = (product.variants || [])
+    .map((v) => Math.round(Number(v.price) * 100))
+    .sort((a, b) => a - b);
+  const want = TIERS.map((d) => d * 100).sort((a, b) => a - b);
+  return (
+    have.length === want.length && have.every((c, i) => c === want[i])
+  );
+}
+
+async function main() {
+  console.log(
+    `${APPLY ? "🛠  APPLY" : "🔎 DRY RUN"} — store ${STORE_DOMAIN}\n`,
+  );
+
+  const { products } = await shopify(
+    `/products.json?handle=${HANDLE}&limit=1`,
+  );
+  const product = products?.[0];
+  if (!product) {
+    console.error(`❌ Product not found by handle: ${HANDLE}`);
+    console.error("   Create it in Shopify admin first, then re-run.");
+    process.exit(1);
+  }
+
+  console.log(`Product: ${product.title}  (id ${product.id})`);
+  console.log(
+    `Current variants: ${
+      (product.variants || [])
+        .map((v) => `$${Number(v.price).toFixed(0)}`)
+        .join(", ") || "(none)"
+    }`,
+  );
+  console.log(`Desired tiers:    ${TIERS.map((d) => `$${d}`).join(", ")}\n`);
+
+  if (matchesDesired(product)) {
+    console.log("✅ Already configured correctly — nothing to do.");
+    return;
+  }
+
+  // Single deterministic product update: rename the option to "Amount"
+  // and replace the variant set with the tiers. Safe here because the
+  // product is freshly launched (no orders) and the theme reads variant
+  // ids dynamically at render time — nothing hardcodes them.
+  const payload = {
+    product: {
+      id: product.id,
+      options: [{ name: OPTION_NAME }],
+      variants: TIERS.map(tierVariant),
+    },
+  };
+
+  console.log("Plan: PUT /products/%s.json", product.id);
+  console.log(JSON.stringify(payload.product, null, 2));
+
+  if (!APPLY) {
+    console.log("\n(dry run — re-run with --apply to write this)");
+    return;
+  }
+
+  const updated = await shopify(`/products/${product.id}.json`, {
+    method: "PUT",
+    body: JSON.stringify(payload),
+  });
+
+  console.log("\n✅ Updated. New variants:");
+  for (const v of updated.product.variants) {
+    console.log(`  ${v.title}  $${Number(v.price).toFixed(2)}  (id ${v.id})`);
+  }
+  console.log(
+    `\nProduct: https://shop.aesthetic.computer/products/${product.handle}`,
+  );
+}
+
+main().catch((err) => {
+  console.error(`\n❌ ${err.message}`);
+  process.exit(1);
+});
diff --git a/system/netlify/functions/shop-draft-order.mjs b/system/netlify/functions/shop-draft-order.mjs
deleted file mode 100644
index cc04d3a13..000000000
--- a/system/netlify/functions/shop-draft-order.mjs
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,123 +0,0 @@
-// Shop Draft Order API, 26.05.16
-// Create a Shopify draft order with a sliding-scale price.
-// Used by the storefront theme on whitelisted products (e.g. "1 hour of
-// remote help") to charge the price the customer chose with a slider.
-//
-// Credentials are pulled from MongoDB the same way as ../shop.mjs.
-
-import { respond } from "../../backend/http.mjs";
-import { connect } from "../../backend/database.mjs";
-
-// Products that accept sliding-scale pricing, with per-handle bounds.
-// Anything outside this list is rejected — no charging $1 for a $500 bike.
-const SLIDING_SCALE = {
-  "1-hour-of-remote-help-from-jeffrey": {
-    title: "1 hour of remote help from jeffrey",
-    minPrice: 25,
-    maxPrice: 500,
-  },
-};
-
-let cachedCredentials = null;
-
-async function getShopifyCredentials() {
-  if (cachedCredentials) return cachedCredentials;
-  const { db } = await connect();
-  const secrets = await db.collection("secrets").findOne({ _id: "shopify" });
-  if (!secrets) throw new Error("Shopify credentials not found in database");
-  cachedCredentials = {
-    domain: secrets.storeDomain,
-    token: secrets.adminAccessToken,
-  };
-  return cachedCredentials;
-}
-
-export async function handler(event) {
-  if (event.httpMethod === "OPTIONS") return respond(200, {});
-  if (event.httpMethod !== "POST") {
-    return respond(405, { message: "Method Not Allowed" });
-  }
-
-  let body;
-  try {
-    body = JSON.parse(event.body || "{}");
-  } catch {
-    return respond(400, { message: "Invalid JSON body" });
-  }
-
-  const { productHandle, price } = body;
-
-  const config = SLIDING_SCALE[productHandle];
-  if (!config) {
-    return respond(400, {
-      message: "Product is not on the sliding-scale allowlist",
-    });
-  }
-
-  const priceNum = Number(price);
-  if (!Number.isFinite(priceNum)) {
-    return respond(400, { message: "Price must be a number" });
-  }
-  if (priceNum < config.minPrice || priceNum > config.maxPrice) {
-    return respond(400, {
-      message: `Price must be between $${config.minPrice} and $${config.maxPrice}`,
-    });
-  }
-
-  try {
-    const { domain, token } = await getShopifyCredentials();
-
-    const draftRes = await fetch(
-      `https://${domain}/admin/api/2024-10/draft_orders.json`,
-      {
-        method: "POST",
-        headers: {
-          "X-Shopify-Access-Token": token,
-          "Content-Type": "application/json",
-        },
-        body: JSON.stringify({
-          draft_order: {
-            line_items: [
-              {
-                title: config.title,
-                price: priceNum.toFixed(2),
-                quantity: 1,
-                requires_shipping: false,
-                taxable: true,
-              },
-            ],
-            note: `Sliding-scale via ${productHandle}`,
-            tags: "sliding-scale",
-            use_customer_default_address: false,
-          },
-        }),
-      },
-    );
-
-    if (!draftRes.ok) {
-      const errText = await draftRes.text();
-      console.error("Shopify draft_orders error:", draftRes.status, errText);
-      return respond(502, {
-        message: "Could not create draft order",
-        detail: errText,
-      });
-    }
-
-    const data = await draftRes.json();
-    const invoiceUrl = data.draft_order?.invoice_url;
-    if (!invoiceUrl) {
-      return respond(502, {
-        message: "Draft order created but no invoice URL returned",
-      });
-    }
-
-    return respond(200, {
-      invoiceUrl,
-      draftOrderId: data.draft_order.id,
-      price: priceNum,
-    });
-  } catch (err) {
-    console.error("shop-draft-order failed:", err);
-    return respond(500, { message: err.message || String(err) });
-  }
-}