With spring in full force, it’s really time to think about spring cleaning my office! And the number one priority needs to be going through boxes of product, inventorying them, and making sure they’re available for sale in the shop. (They certainly aren’t making me money just sitting in my office!) So I thought I’d ask you:
How do you keep track of your inventory?
What kinds of systems do you use? I’m a mix of Excel spread sheets and old fashioned paper and pencil, but I’d love to hear how you keep track of your products. Any great recommendations for an easy to use inventory system?
I just created an excel spreadsheet and took inventory last week! I was sick of winging it and then realizing I was out of a style and then having to quickly make one, because someone ordered it off my Etsy shop. Plus, I’m in production mode, and it helps me to see what I need to make for my upcoming spring shows. Now I just need to keep on top of it. Question – how often do you update your inventory?
What about inventory for large and/or one of a kind items? That’s where I struggle…
I’ve got a google docs spreadsheet that I use! That way it is always correct and available to my business partner who doesn’t have the stock with her. It’s a great way to share information, as long as I can remember to update it when I make a sale!
I used to be a completely pen and paper kind of person. Then my boyfriend introduced me to Bento. It’s organizational software that can be customized, and also viewed in list form (similar to how excel works). It’s AMAZING! I have an insanely organized system that allows me different sections for the different collection that I’m working on. I also just added a system for craft shows. Seriously, take a look. It keeps me from spending too much time on paperwork, and allows me to work on my artwork more! (Also, there are sections where you can add photos, so if I can’t remember what a piece looked like, I have a photo right there to remind me.)
I keep my inventory in an odd way but it works well for my needs I typically have 600 pieces of jewelry available and many pieces change monthly. I am a very visual person, so this method works really well for my studio…and easily makes my intern and assistant keep it up to date.
I have a binder of my line sheets (image side only) in plastic sleeves, there are two of the same page next to each other. The left is the “key” for the 16 images and the right side is where we keep track of inventory with mini post it notes. If I have an item made, a post it covers it up…if there is more then one, there is a small notation made in the corner. Sounds silly, but we can flip through the book in seconds and see what has to be made by what images we see open. Taking inventory is also pretty simple as there is no need to read the tags most of the time, you just look at what is there…or isn’t!
I am however very intrigued about Bento…off to check it out!
I use NolaPro accounting software which is great for tracking inventory! It’s free accounting software available on the web.
I started out with pen and paper inventory but now I have an Excel spreadsheet. My shopping cart software also manages inventory, but I have some stuff that I can only sell at local events right now and so that’s not in my shop, so I definitely have to keep the Excel spreadsheet for now.
I’ve wondered about Bento… I manage a museum database at work, so I’ve thought that some sort of database software seems to make more sense than a simple Excel spreadsheet, but I don’t know…
Mallory- I was pretty skeptical about Bento at first. I didn’t want to overly “computer-ize” my work, but I’ve found it so helpful. The more I turned my work into a business, the more helpful it has been with organization. I definitely recommend it.
I use Jewelry Design Manager for all of my Raw Materials….makes EOY accounting a breeze. I now am trying to get organized and enter all of my finished goods into the program as well now that i actually have a bit of inventory. It also is a helpful too for my wholesale and consignment accounts.
What about inventorying materials and supplies for tax purposes that are not easily inventoried. Such as bags of felted wool sweater peices or old wool socks that are usually free?
I was playing your seervr all night, and came across 2 players repairing a bus. Tracked them from the Factory near Polana, killed one with a hatchet. Then heard the other running up from the side, and we broke each others legs. I had a revolver secondary so after we both crawled away from each other I got up and shot him.I was promptly kicked from the seervr, tried getting back on a few times. Was pretty fun, but kinda bullshit getting kicked/banned for that.
My business partner and I live two states apart, so we have to be computerized. We use a free wiki – pbworks.com – for inventory (among other things like to-do lists and links to our suppliers and vendors and a place to store digital copies of any important documents). It’s great because we can both update it and keep so much other information current.
I have a number of haphazard half paper, half Excel, half Numbers documents. A quick look at Bento makes me think that is exactly what I need to figure out what is where with consignment/ wholesale/ stock items… hmmm, need more software!
First, I photograph almost everything and keep the images in files that are labeled by what year and season it is. At a show, when I sell something, I write a little description or draw a picture of it on the receipt so I can see what sold. (all of my pieces are one of a kind so I don’t have a numbering system). After wards, I enter sales into excel. This helps to keep track of what sold at each show and helps when deciding what to display the following year!
Mine is sort of like Helen’s at the minute–half Google Docs Spreadsheet half scribbled in a notebook! Updating inventory/spring cleaning/getting organized is definitely VERY HIGH on my to-do list, and hearing about the different types of electronic tools you guys use is very helpful!
I use an accounting software package called MYOB (Australian) which has inventory. This makes it nice and easy to track sales and to keep an eye on what products I am getting low on. Its quick to do reports over any given period. I created SKU’s for each product which are entered into MYOB and when I create an invoice for a sale the inventory is automatically adjusted. No double handling or entering things 2 or 3 times in different programs.
Every time I create a new product I have an Excel spreadsheet which notes the items code, descriptions, cost and sale price with space for any feedback on the product and totals for sales once the item is discontinued. These are then filed in a folder for easy reference along with a copy of any MYOB sale reports. This keeps allot of information together.
Justine
Funny you blogged about this yesterday as I was just playing with my relatively new software for inventory management! My husband bought me WASP QuickStore for Christmas to use as inventory control and I’m just now digging into it. I’m not sure yet if it’s really going to meet my needs, but I haven’t worked with it enough yet to tell.
I read about Bento last year and was very interested but didn’t see a PC version, only Mac, so I let it go. It sounds like Bento is specifically geared toward crafters, esp the one of a kind inventory, which is truly what I need.
I used to keep inventory on an Excel spreadsheet with photos, but that became a burden so now I print only the table from the spreadsheet, put it in a binder, and hand-write the descriptions of new product on the spreadsheet. It’s old fashioned but it’s actually faster than logging on to my computer every time I’m tagging product (my computer isn’t in my studio). By hand-writing inventory, I can do everything at one station – assign a SKU and description, measure the headsize on the hat, write on and attach the tag, and put the price tag on. The only problem is updating my sales log. Right now I have to scan each inventory page the old fashioned way – with my eyeballs – and list all items sold in each quarter.
Once I figure out the inventory software, I’m hoping it’ll cut down on time by minimizing duplication of steps.
If any of y’all know WASP or know of a PC version of Bento, I’d love some feedback! Cutting my Admin time would be a DREAM.
I second the Jewelry Designer Manager. It tracks everything, components as well as finished work. You can track your consignments. If you do wholesale, you can do your invoicing and inventory management through here as well. It has a connector to QuickBooks so you can export out the invoices so you can track the financial portion there. Best for business – because it tracks all of the items in a piece as well as their current costs, as well as tracking labor costs, it’s really easy to see when you are making money on an item or when you’ve gone upside down with it. For production work, it has Bill of Material feature that is really cool! You enter in all of the items you need to make either for orders or for restock, and it’ll tell you exactly how many of which things you need, how many you have left in stock, and what you need to re-order. I’ve been able to keep my component inventory very lean due to this as I really only keep on hand what I need to create the inventory for the month. Plus, Barbara (the creator of JDM) is great to work with too, either for technical help or new product enhancement requests. I’ve been using it since about 03 or 04 and I can’t imagine running my business without it!
I also use Jewelry Designer Manager. Barbara, the software’s creator, has always responded immediately to any questions or problems I have. I track all of my findings/raw materials on JDM, and am in the process of entering in all of my jewelry inventory with accompanying photos as well. The software’s invoice form is very useful, too. I still need to explore the other features of the program and may consider an upgrade to the next level up since I purchased the “Standard” feature.
I bought a program off etsy that helps me keep track of my inventory, whether or not it’s on etsy, what the fees are, and i can even insert a picture of the item so that I don’t forget what it is. in the same spreadsheet i can also keep track of monthly sales and expenses and there are graphs to show me how much inventory i sold, where i sold it, and how it was paid for.
I just tackled this a few days ago, thanks to your post information…I talked about how I did it on this blog post:
http://boredomisso2009.blogspot.com/2010/04/taking-inventory.html
Thanks for having such informative stuff…I love reading this blog!
-Emily
We don’t officially track inventory. Usually a glance around the studio will let us know if we have something in stock or not. If not in stock, most items will ship in 4 weeks or so and for furniture, people are usually very pleased with that. They also understand that we’re making it for them in some cases.
For sales, clients, and items, we use MYOB Account Edge. It does the job, but is a less than perfect.
I read a few comments about Bento. It’s a lighter application from FileMaker. I worked with FileMaker Pro to manage inventory/clients/sales for an art gallery. That system I loved. FileMaker is wonderful. Incredibly versatile in it’s ability to provide all the information very efficiently. I would imagine Bento is very similar.
I must have missed this post from last week.
I recently had a system created for inventory control. I had a guy customize Filemaker Pro for us.
The program keeps real time inventory numbers for us. So on the day we started using it we had to count everything and enter it into the system. Then, every time we write an invoice, the itemized stock that has been sold is subtracted immediately from the quantities in the system so that we always have accurate numbers of all our stock. And each time we produce new stock we enter the quantities into the system. I have set up a notification so that when an item reaches a certain low quantity it warns me that we need to produce more stock.
We can run reports to figure out best sellers etc.
It was the best money I spent on my business last year. I’d be happy to share more info if anyone would like it.
Hi Fiona, I would like some info on the Filemaker Pro can you please shoot me an email.
Thank you,
Same here sound interesting , would like to know more about it .
Thanks
I am looking for one program to manage all my inventory from (the ones listed on etsy, the ones that aren’t) – and ideally when something sells on etsy- for it to AUTOMATICALLY deduct the inventory from the master list. When something sells at a craft show, I can deduct it automatically (or better yet, have my mobile payment software deduct it.
I want to remove the manual updating of the list- because with technology today you shouldn’t have to do this. I can’t seem to find this anywhere- any ideas?
Lauren Forest said she bought a program off of Etsy to keep inventory…can you point me to what that was?
I wouldn’t mind supporting fellow Etsy folks.
Anyone found an app that will export your etsy purchases (i.e., jewelry making supplies you bought from other etsians) to a spreadsheet or program? I think I can do this from Paypal, but that’s only the total purchase, not the individual items. I think having something like this would really help me get going on inventory management of my supplies!
good morning all I have been having issues keeping track of my inventory i work with pipe and raw material i need a fresh look will take any advice thanks have a blessed day all
HI, I AM NEW HERE, I AM OPENING A CHILDREN CONSIGNMENT BOUTIQUE SHOP AND DONT EVEN KNOW WHERE TO BEGIN WITH RECORDING ALL SALES, INVENTORY, CONSIGNOR’S, ETC…
IS THERE ANYONE OUT THERE THAT CAN TELL ME THE EASIEST WAY TO KEEP TRACK OF SALES AND INVENTORY FOR A CONSIGNMENT SHOP, MAYBE GIVE ME SOME DIRECT ADVICE? WE ARE KINDA OF DOING THIS BLIND, JUST GOING INTO IT AND DOING WHAT WE KNOW HOW OR ASKING QUESTIONS LIKE THIS. I NEED THE EASIEST WAY TO RECORD ALL SALES, CONSIGNOR’S, INVENTORY,ETC…
THANKS AND GOD BLESS!
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I’m coming from the painting end of art, and am not sure if these would apply to all of you, but have found these useful for tracking art inventory:
Artist’s Butler. Mac/Pc
ArtworkArchive.com This is what I use, its internet based
Great title is the half of success, and great content is the other half. And your post just do it successfully, eager to your next post.
This is something we’re solving on Shopseen.com. It’s an inventory management app that we’re building which sends weekly business reports that show total sales across your stores (e.g. Etsy, Shopify, Bigcommerce, eBay, etc.) and the top products sold per week. It’s worth a shot and also integrates with your social media channels too. Try it out at http://www.shopseen.com/ (it’s FREE for your first 100 products to manage).
We use a point of sale to keep track of our inventory at our 2 locations. Right now we are using http://www.evendra.com for a cloud solutions that works pretty good and is free.