For any eBay seller, one of your most valuable business assets is your eBay inventory. This is because it pays to understand that products are not simply the lifeblood of your eBay business; storage, replenishment, and data may all contribute greatly to helping you enhance sales and profitability.

So, how can you keep track of your goods on eBay when you have so many other things to do? This article will discuss how you can manage your eBay inventory like a pro and nail your sales every time.

Advantages of Having an Organized Inventory

Let's quickly go over the basics of inventory management. Simply put, it is the process of keeping, monitoring, and renewing your supply. Inventory management techniques span from the fundamentals such as sourcing products and updating stock levels to more complex strategies such as optimizing delivery processes and forecasting future product performance.

The key advantage of having an organized inventory brings countless benefits (such as ease of mind) to the seller. Among these are the following:

• Improved Inventory Accuracy: With good inventory management, you can easily and effectively track what's in stock and order only what you need to meet demand. You avoid wastage of goods and going beyond your storage capacity.
• Cost-effectiveness: Having stock is expensive until sold because they are an expense while in storage. Many things contribute to carrying costs, such as storage, handling, transportation expenses, insurance, and employee pay.
• Minimize vulnerability: Inventory is also vulnerable to theft, natural disaster loss, and obsolescence. Overstocking may lead to not just waste in inventory and expenses and can also leave your goods susceptible to fortuitous events.

How to Organize Your Inventory

It's not easy to stay on top of your inventory, but it is a skill you need to hone and master to ensure that your business stays afloat and that you meet your customer's demands. Your inventory management efficiency is determined by everything from good inventory control to how you organize your stock. Even if you think your facility is running smoothly, there is always room for improvement, especially if you want to expand. You can make the most of the space you have by implementing these tips:

• Use product photographs and information labels.
• Store products that are sold together in the same area.
• Keep the best-selling items at the front.
• Make sure the aisles in the warehouse are clear.
• Use vertical space by stacking stuff higher.
• Display seasonal products on mobile shelving units.
• For smaller items, use stacking bins.
• Reduce the number of different sizes of shipping containers.
• Allow enough room in the receiving area.
• Continue to look for ways to improve your company.

Storage Tips

As mentioned above, the key to good inventory management lies in nailing how to organize your stock as efficiently as possible. To do this, here are some tips on storage per category:

Clothes

• Vertical storage

  Most sellers with warehouse options use vertical stacking to store their inventory. This is because you can find items more quickly and scan up and down to find the right bin or container with your item. This saves you much time from walking down long rows of boxes on the floor.

• Open shelving

  This method depends on the average size of your inventory. You can get away with keeping your items stacked on open shelves. This gives you faster access to shirts, pants, or whatever clothing you sell. With this method, you no longer have to move large boxes up and down on shelves, nor do you have to go through opening and closing boxes every time you want to get something.

• Use boxes

  Most clothing sellers use boxes when it comes to organizing their inventory because, generally, inventory already arrives in boxes. So if you like to store your inventory in shipping boxes when they arrive, a good tip is to cut the top flaps off each box before putting them on the shelves.

• Bins and totes

  Bins and totes are considered the higher-end and more customizable approach to organizing your inventory. This is important to certain sellers who want to customize the look of their inventory storage. Fortunately, you can get a wide range of bins and totes from your local stores.

Shoes

• Acid-free tissues

  Using acid-free paper absorbs moisture and protects shoes from deterioration while maintaining the optimum moisture level. When stuffing shoes for moderate or long-term preservation, use acid-free tissue rather than newsprint.

  While paper may not be strong enough to fill boots and thick leather or felted shoes, unbleached muslin fabric is a great substitute. Muslin, like paper, wicks away moisture while protecting metal buckles and delicate sequins from damage.

• Shoe organizer

  Where you keep your shoes is one of the most critical components of how to store shoes. Wire racks, cartons, and custom cabinets are all alternatives for specialized shoe storage, but the best option depends on how long the shoes will go without being worn.

• Climate controlled environment

  You must know how your inventory works before you sell it. For shoes, the example is that temperature and humidity extremes make leather brittle, degrade textiles, and loosen glues; thus, climate-controlled storage is excellent for shoes.

  After a season or two of rigorous treatment in attics or basements, shoes might become unusable.

Jewelry

• Label them properly

  Always remember to give each item a barcode and/or a stock-keeping unit (SKU) number when organizing your jewelry inventory to make inventory tracking easier. This will prevent you from overstocking and make finding lost items much easier. After you've allocated an SKU number to your inventory, you can classify, track, and manage it using any of the classes listed below.

  • by classification
  • Season
  • Style
  • type of work
  • product variations
• Use photos for stocks

  Assigning a photo to each stocked item goes without saying when it comes to inventory management. This is because stock photographs are an excellent solution to visual inventory tracking. After all, our brains digest images 60,000 times faster than words.

  So when employing visual reminders, it's crucial to photograph each stocked jewelry piece with the highest precision and clarity to accurately portray what you have on hand, especially if the pieces are almost identical. It saves you time and gives you peace of mind knowing that the objects you're looking at are the real deal, not just a near copy.

Ways to track your inventory

An inventory tracking system lets you track your items right from the order to transit, receipt, storage, up to fulfillment—as well as returns, exchanges, and warranty processes, if applicable—across your supply chain. You must use accurate, real-time inventory tracking to cut costs, assess supply chain trends, and increase your revenue.

Inventory management systems frequently include tracking features. Here are some examples of ways to track your inventory:

Manually:

Those who aren't ready to invest in an inventory monitoring system generally use pen and paper to keep track of their goods. You'll need to update a master data sheet that categorizes all inventory at regular intervals or whenever a transaction occurs with this strategy.

Card System:

Kanban, often known as the visual sign or card technique, is a just-in-time (JIT) inventory management methodology. The name Kanban derives from the Japanese word for sign, which automakers invented in Japan. It is a pull system that uses cards to track stock, production, and inventory and communicate when more is needed, rather than trying to predict demand.

Spreadsheets:

Spreadsheets are used to organize and categorize large volumes of information. However, manually inputting and managing data is always prone to mistakes, so it is not considered a scalable option.

Inventory Management Systems:

Inventory management software keeps track of inventory, forecasts demand, and generates reports. They also offer customer service and training. They're beneficial when accounting and payment processing are combined.

Open Source Software:

For inventory management, some small businesses use open-source software. These platforms often have user interfaces, basic dashboards, and tracking capabilities. However, they frequently lack advanced functionality such as integration with the rest of your systems, resulting in a data silo. The lack of customer service and training is another disadvantage.

SaaS (Software-as-a-Service):

You may easily keep track of goods using a SaaS system that includes inventory tracking tools. This is especially handy for startups who aren't ready for a full-fledged business inventory.

Level up Your Business with Automation

It takes considerable time and effort to run a business, and good inventory management is a must to ensure that you are effective and efficient in your operations. So why not make your life easier by letting automation level up your daily tasks using OneShop?

OneShop is a helpful tool that allows you to access an abundance of tools such as inventory management and easily cross-list across different marketplaces like Poshmark, Mercari, Depop, Tradesy, eBay, and more marketplaces soon.

Also, with new features at your disposal, you can now print your shipping labels directly from the OneShop app, keep track of your seller goals and rankings, and view pending orders in one easy app.

You can also order shipping supplies for your business and schedule package pickups through the app for a more convenient way of shipping out your sold items. These and more features await you, so try it now by signing up to set up your account in less than three minutes and enjoy a 7-day free trial!