How I Store Inventory for a Modern Online Resale Business
If I had to offer 5 tips for people just getting started with reselling, I would say: SET UP YOUR INVENTORY SYSTEM NOW. Why? Because process makes perfect. Since day zero, I have use this exact system and hope it that wherever you are in your journey as a reseller, you find value in this.
At the end of this post you’ll find a list of all the items I personally have used, in case you want to replicate this exactly.
So why would a beginner need an inventory system? Because I know myself! If I let chaos take over, and didn’t put a system in place from the start, I never would.
Clothing that is inventoried with numbers, inside a storage bin.
The Breakdown
How to store clothing
There are bins letter A-Z. Once I grew beyond the alphabet, I started with AA, AB, AC, AD and so on. Each piece of clothing is stored in a plastic ziplock bag with a number. When a new piece of clothing is photographed, I put it into an empty ziplock bag, and place in into a lettered bin. When listing that piece, myself or my virtual assistant will include the letter and number into the listing so that it can be easily found when it sells. When the item sells, the item is removed from the plastic bag, and can be used again later.
I also maintain a spreadsheet where I can enter the inventory number just in case there is a mistake, or a listing is accidentally deleted, the sheet still holds that information.
Easy enough, right?! Cool!
How to store shoes
Shoes go in pre-taped shoe boxes, that are numbers above my inventory racks, stacked to the ceiling. I have never lived in an apartment larger than 600 sq ft, so this has been a great solution for my space when I couldn’t fit a dedicated shoe rack.Those boxes are numbered 1-54+, and when a shoe sells, I remove it from the box & ship it. That box is now empty & the number becomes available for more. The cool thing about these shoe boxes is that they were all found for free on the USPS website!
How to store bags and accessories
Now, I must say, that I personally don’t sell many pieces of jewelry, bags, or other accessories. But a solution I started with, that worked great for many years was an over the door hanger. There was no real method to this as everything was visible, and could be found in just a few seconds. It was great for space, and has worked for me!
Find what feels good for your business!
The kicker is, I know this works for my small business, but I can think of 5 problems off the top of my head where this won’t work, especially at scale! The most important thing here is getting started and getting organized. Your system may not look like mine, and that’s okay! Find what feels good for your business!
Something I hear way too often is “I spent 2 hours looking for this sweater that sold”, or “I don’t know how to get organized”. Both of those things are stressful, and wether you’re looking to take your online business into the full time realm or not, organization will save you time and energy leaving you free to do the fun stuff —SOURCING!
What does your inventory system look like? Do you have a tip for a Posher just starting out? Is there something you wish you knew? If so, drop a comment on this Instagram post so we can share the #PoshKnowledge!
PS: Check out my Youtube video from way back when I first set up my own system! Or my latest video showing how I moved everything into a 10x10 storage unit!
(2022 EDIT: This blog post is a bit outdated, but it still works at a totally functional system. I used this exact system for many years growing from just 20 items to well over 1000. Since moving into vintage, and doing markets I have updated the way I store inventory and talk more about there here if you’re interested in that.)
