Hi does anyone do a stock take each year? I normally do but this year have done a super sized one as closed my website and moved over to Folksy. Who knew I had so much stock, lol. Found items had forgotten about. Still have 2 more boxes and odds and ends to do. Then plan a final check to ensure not missed anything off. Taken over a week so far and think this week should see the end.
Would love to see a stock list on Folksy, so you can run off and check against stock lists etc. Have looked and the only way is to print the listings pages, may still do that
Hiya, we do one in January after the Christmas madness. Usually find we have a lot less to take account of then as well so much quicker process
Keep a rolling sheet on Excel, lengthy process to start but easy to maintain.
I do one every few monthsā¦just to check that I can still locate where everything is and that all sold ones are no longer shown in the shopā¦
The worst thing I ever did was to delete a whole page of stock from my shop BY MISTAKEā¦hit the delete button instead of the relist one !!
Then I had to go through all my stock and find out which ones had been deleted and which ones were still listedā¦
Ihave everything numbered and listed in books but I still find errors, which is why I do a stock take on a regular basis.
I donāt do a full stock take: I do it by category. I keep my items packed in boxes depending on where they are on sale, and if I have a lot of items on that platform I split them up into earrings, bracelets and so forth. So I might stock take just Folksy earrings on one day, the dark side bracelets the nextā¦
Ironically I learnt to do it this way working for Argos!
Thank you for replying. I keep lists of each boxes contents on Numbers. Just that I have been known to make without adding to the list. Am trying to be more organised.
My next task after the proper stock take is to repack the boxes to match my collections on Folksy. May give that a break tough as have an event in mid May.
I donāt do a stock take as everything in stock is individually listed on my computer which is a far more accurate recording than me looking through all my boxes.
I file by photo and each photo has a meaningful name (I used to be IT) eg.
My beach hut is named :
BEACH HUT PICTURE 012 8inch #1904 FREE 47.50.jpg
That means itās the 12th Beach Hut picture Iāve made, I made it in April 2019, it is available for sale and is priced Ā£47.50.
If I sold it today I would rename it BEACH HUT PICTURE 012 8inch #1904@FOLKSY@190422@47.50.jpg
Amazingly useful information and I can run a script and extract a file from which I create a spreadsheet of everything I have in stock / Free; everything sold this month for my accounts etc.
It might seem complicated but it is actually very simple. I need photos anyway for my listings, I just keep one ābest photoā of each piece for my stock record and name it appropriately which is all part of my process for adding a new piece to my shop.
I organise myself with a spreadsheet. It shows the item type, name, a brief description, which box itās stored in, where itās for sale, when I sold it (and where) and other details. It was a little bit of work to set it up but now I just add each item as I make it, then amend the entry when I list it and sell it. As long as Iām disciplined about not mucking around with the contents of a box, I can always find anything thatās ordered within a minute or so. I only have myself to blame if I donāt put things backā¦
What I donāt have is any inventory of components, such as fabric, buttons, etc. That would frankly take the rest of my life to do so I just have to come across things when rummaging!
I do a stock take every year because my mum likes to have one when sheās sorting out the numbers for my tax returnā¦ which means really I should do it in April but always end up putting it off until the end of the year.
I donāt mind doing the finished pieces because almost everything is listed online, so I just have to check through my shop to see what Iāve got and count up the cards/prints, what I hate is counting up the unused materials. I donāt include every little thing, because like @Beesandblossoms says, itād take forever to remember everything I use and estimate things like how much bubblewrap Iāve got left, but I do at least count my canvases, bottles of paint and estimate how many blank cards Iāve got, as thatās what Iāll buy most regularly and spend the most money on.
I do a physical stocktake every April of finished items, but not materials. I used to have a spreadsheet system similar to Joy and Lois, but a virus destroyed a whole load of stuff several years ago and I never got around to recreating it.
Anyone who hasnāt got a list on the computer already and uses that other site - there is an option to download a file of your listings the same place as downloading a file of your sales data. Then I just have to add items listed on Folksy only, plus whatever has been sent to galleries.
I started a spreadsheet like that for my supplies listing what it was, where I bought it, when and how much butā¦I realised I have an awful lot of supplies.(ignoring the actual glass) :ā¦ flux, grinder wheel, solder, chain, 0.8 copper tinned wire, bubble wrap (3 types), boxes (several types) etc etc and I concluded
Lifeās Too Short
i think if I listed my supplies, fabric, threads, yarns, beads and all other gubbins, Iād die of shock. The fact that I have two overlockers and seven sewing machines is enough to cause my husband heart palpitations as it isā¦in my defence, I only bought three of the sewing machines, the other four are lovely vintage ones that Iāve been given by friends.
I donāt have enough stockā¦all of my items are on display at home inma glass cabinet for visitors so I can see at a glance what I have.
I tried doing a stock take of my fabrics, joints, etc etc last yearā¦gave up way too much so just guess nowā¦thats why I donāt need to do a stock take of finished items, all of my stock is still in my sewing room waiting to be used Wish I had enough stock to have to do a stock take of goods for sale though Iād probably enjoy that !
I have finally finished my full stock take, Checked every box, pricing labels (for fairs), paypal app, spreadsheets and Folksy. Over 400 items now on my Folksy shop and now have a tick list for all new makes. Not going to get in the same pickle again, fingers crossed lol, for a long time.
Have a list of raw materials which I update religiously just the stock I have had a problem with.
It was a worthwhile exercise although took 2 weeks!
Carolineā¦a silly question maybe but your shop front shows āSold Itemsā which means youāve sold something but nothing shows on that page.
Does that mean you delete your Sold listings and if so, why would you do that ? xx
Good luck with your renewed shop
Did you know that as a Plus seller you can use the Featured āfeatureā. It shows 3 of your feature selected listings at a time, randomly which is good if you set a few up so you have a constantly changing page. I basically select anything of mine which is Rainbow so the top of my page is always very bright.
You can get to it via the dashboard, shopkeeping list.
I stock take in January stock and keep a list on Excel. On the Excel list I add the date when something sells. Then in January, I delete all the things that have sold and save the document with the new yearās date. I also have a list of all the materials I have bought since I started doing this (with all the receipts) but this isnāt as comprehensive as it should be because sometimes friends give me fabric and wool they no longer want or I use some fabric that Iād bought to make something for myself.
Wish I had enough stock to have to do a stock take of goods for sale though Iād probably enjoy that !