{"id":2670,"date":"2022-03-04T02:28:25","date_gmt":"2022-03-04T07:28:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/onecommerce.io\/blog\/?p=2670"},"modified":"2023-04-14T06:29:48","modified_gmt":"2023-04-14T10:29:48","slug":"ebay-inventory-management","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/onecommerce.io\/blog\/2022\/03\/04\/ebay-inventory-management\/","title":{"rendered":"eBay Inventory Management &#8211; A 2023 Complete Guideline"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Since it was founded in 1995, up to the present day, eBay has accommodated +20 million sellers at every corner of the globe. eBay empowers small, local businesses to reach a global audience where they can sell to anyone at any time.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But no matter whether you\u2019re a start-up that merchandises on eBay as a part-time job or a well-established company that is sold on this eCommerce platform, your <\/span><\/i><b><i>eBay inventory management<\/i><\/b><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> is surely the most important facet you should never underestimate.\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">That\u2019s because eBay lets you reach an immensely broad customer base &#8211; the global audience. This means you can leverage eBay to sell to anyone at any time. But to do so, you need to ensure your product data, storage and replenishment are up-to-minute.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">That\u2019s not an easy task at any cost! But we hope this complete guideline to <\/span><\/i><b><i>eBay inventory management <\/i><\/b><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">will take the burden off your shoulders.\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<h2><b>The importance of eBay inventory management\u00a0<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Similar to Amazon, Etsy, or Shopify, inventory management indicates your business\u2019 health. It helps companies identify <\/span><b>which and how much stock to order at what time<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When an item is sold, a part of your inventory turns into revenue. Otherwise, this item swallows a space in your warehouse and ties up cash, <\/span><b>inflicting costs<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But proper inventory management isn\u2019t just about pushing slow-moving goods out of your warehouse. It should also revolve around how you can predict future demand and prepare enough stocks accordingly to avoid overselling.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Your <strong>eBay inventory management<\/strong> is the bloodline of your business because if you manage your eBay inventory well, you can reduce the risk of stockouts or inaccurate records.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-2671\" src=\"http:\/\/onecommerce.io\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/Benefits-of-eBay-inventory-management.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"10417\" height=\"6933\" title=\"\"><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Apart from helping you round up your bottom line, here are some other perks you might reap from proper inventory management:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul class=\"penci_list_shortcode penci_list-checklist\">\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><b>Saves Money<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: Understanding stock trends means you see how much of and where you have something in stock so you could pull from anywhere to fulfill orders \u2014 decreasing both the costs tied up in inventory &amp; the stocks that go unsold before it\u2019s obsolete<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><b>Improves Cash Flow<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: With proper inventory management, you spend money on inventory that sells, so cash is always moving through the business<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><b>Satisfies Customers<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: One element of developing loyal customers is ensuring they receive the items they want without waiting<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>Does eBay have inventory management?<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">? Quick answer: Yes.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">eBay has the so-called \u2018<\/span><b>Selling Manager<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u2019 that functions as an inventory management tool. With this tool, you can:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul class=\"penci_list_shortcode penci_list-checklist\">\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Manage scheduled, active, sold, and unsold listings using custom views<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">View summaries of your sales, order status, and listing activity<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Save time by submitting feedback in bulk using custom stored messages<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Set up automation rules to automatically relist unsold items<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Quickly find listings using advanced search<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Revise and relist multiple listings at the same time in bulk<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It should also be noted that if you opt for Premium, Anchor, and Enterprise Plan, you can have free access to \u2018<\/span><b>Selling Manager Pro<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u2019, which costs $15.95\/month if you stick to eBay Starter and Basic Plan.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">With \u2018<\/span><b>Selling Manager Pro<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u2019, you have these additional features below:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul class=\"penci_list_shortcode penci_list-checklist\">\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Manage inventory with quantity tracking<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">List with reusable product listing templates<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Set up automatic feedback using custom stored messages<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Generate sales reports<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Use additional automation rules to relist unsold items<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">However, even Selling Manager Pro isn\u2019t enough if you currently have multiple sales channels (Shopify. Etsy, Facebook Shop, Amazon, etc.) You need to employ an<\/span><b> eBay inventory management tool<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> to manage your inventory across channels in one centralized hub.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b>How to manage eBay inventory effectively?<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">To make sure that your eBay inventory management system works like a well-oiled machine, there are 3 things you need to nail<\/span><\/p>\n<ol>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Physical inventory management<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Data management<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Sales management<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<h3><b>#1. Physical inventory management\u00a0<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The way you can manage your inventory at your physical warehouse is will affect directly how you can fulfill your customer\u2019s orders and prepare enough stocks to avoid overselling during perk times.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">To manage your physical inventory efficiently, you need to manage well three things &#8211; your product SKUs, your warehouse locations, and periodic audits.<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><b style=\"font-family: Raleway, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; letter-spacing: 0px;\">SKUs<\/b><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A stock-keeping unit (SKU) is an alphanumeric code assigned specifically to a particular product variant for inventory management and ease of tracking.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Stock keeping units are highly important and commonly used by retail stores, warehouses, and product fulfillment centers.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A well-structured SKU will help:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul class=\"penci_list_shortcode penci_list-checklist\">\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Save your staff\u2019s time by enabling them to find products quickly<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Determine which of your products are the most profitable on eBay<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Identify reorder points for products so you don\u2019t over or undersell on eBay<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Identify inventory shrinkage<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Unlike <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Unique Product Identifiers <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">(UPI), SKUs are used internally. That means you have to be responsible for the SKU architecture you\u2019re showing on eBay so make sure it\u2019s logical.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For instance, if you\u2019re selling a blue medium-sized T-shirt from a manufacturer at your retail store, the architecture should look something like this:<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-2672\" src=\"http:\/\/onecommerce.io\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/SKU-sample-of-a-blue-medium-sized-T-shirt.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"638\" height=\"468\" srcset=\"https:\/\/onecommerce.io\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/SKU-sample-of-a-blue-medium-sized-T-shirt.jpeg 638w, https:\/\/onecommerce.io\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/SKU-sample-of-a-blue-medium-sized-T-shirt-300x220.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/onecommerce.io\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/SKU-sample-of-a-blue-medium-sized-T-shirt-585x429.jpeg 585w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 638px) 100vw, 638px\" title=\"\"><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\n<h4><b>Warehouse locations<\/b><\/h4>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Warehouse locations are another factor you should be cautious about. If your warehouse location is far away from eBay customers, the shipping costs or waiting time may scare your customers away.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Not to mention that online shoppers these days aren\u2019t patient as they used to be. They all have a bunch of alternatives at their fingertips. In other words, they want to receive what they order ASAP.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Loads of companies tend to build a huge warehouse nearby their HQ office. However, this isn\u2019t a wise move unless most of the orders come from the headquarters\u2019 geographical location.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">To elucidate, a single warehouse location next to your office makes it more expensive to send orders worldwide. Not to mention that this practice makes you passively prone to overflows during peak seasons, resulting in damaged items or missing stock as well.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This is indeed avoidable by having multiple warehouse locations across the regions where most of your orders come from. This helps improve fast-moving stock\u2019s accessibility while at the same time getting slow-moving stock out of the way.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Nevertheless, acquiring even a small warehouse is now such a financially challenging task for most SMEs due to the proliferation of real estate prices.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">? That\u2019s why it\u2019s more reasonable to split the stock to keep at your own warehouse and at an <\/span><b>eBay fulfillment partner<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\n<h4><b>Audits<\/b><\/h4>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Last but certainly not least, a vital part of your eBay physical inventory management is auditing. Regularly auditing your stock enables you to confirm your stock levels, remove damaged items, and identify missing and slow-moving stock to reduce warehouse space, which means reducing costs.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><b>#2. Data management\u00a0<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">eBay data management simply means how frequently you update your product information so that it remains up-to-date and accurate on the eCommerce platform.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You can manage your eBay inventory data through 3 main methods:<\/span><\/p>\n<h4><b>Method #01: Using Spreadsheet<\/b><\/h4>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Using a spreadsheet in fact doesn\u2019t cost a buck and more importantly, it\u2019s free and quick to execute, making it an optimal solution for small startups to get off the ground.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But bear in mind that your data management\u2019s success hinges on timely and accurate updating. As your business scales up to a level where you have thousands of SKUs coming in from different categories, colors, vendors, etc. spreadsheets might be counterproductive.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This is because at this point, managing data manually like that is sure to suck all your team\u2019s time to input each product data by hand, exposing your listings data to unnecessary errors.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">That\u2019s when you need to try another method, which we\u2019ll discuss right below.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h4><b>Method #2: Using an inventory management tool<\/b><\/h4>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">An inventory management tool costs. But a robust one does bring more benefits than what it costs.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Particularly, an inventory management tool can help you better manage your eBay inventory by automating several tasks, ranging from auto-syncing stock levels, re-ordering new stock, and updating your warehouse system.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You can choose eBay-specific listing tools, or if besides eBay, you also have a store on Shopify and Etsy and many other channels then make sure you find suitable eBay multi-channel listing tools.<\/span><\/p>\n<h4><b>Method #3: Selling Manager by eBay<\/b><\/h4>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As mentioned above, eBay itself also offers an inventory management solution in the form of its selling manager system. With higher pricing plans or a fee of $15.99 a month, you can access a more advanced inventory management tool in the form of eBay Selling Manager Pro.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This upgraded option allows you to monitor inventory levels, schedule replenishment, and perform other duties.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The major drawback of eBay Selling Manager Pro is that it doesn\u2019t work with third-party tools or software. Thus, if you sell beyond eBay\u2019s empire, then you might love to consider using a multi-channel listing solution.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><b>#3. Sale management<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The last pillar of effective <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ebay.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-schema-attribute=\"\">eBay<\/a> inventory management is to use your physical inventory and process your <a href=\"&lt;a href=\">inventory tracking<\/a> \u00a0data to prepare for your eBay future sales positively.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You can achieve this by shifting slow-moving stock, anticipating sales trends, and getting yourself on eBay\u2019s fast shipping programs.<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\n<h4><b>Shifting slow-moving stock<\/b><\/h4>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Your audits and inventory management data combined should help precisely spot out any items staying too long in your warehouse and aren\u2019t selling well on eBay.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Afterward, try to incentivize your customers to purchase these slow-moving items to make room for your better sellers. This can be a discount code or free shipping, discount bundles, etc. whatever you name it.<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\n<h4><b>Predicting sales trends<\/b><\/h4>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The reports you generate from your inventory management data should also enable you to pinpoint which of your products sell best, and when.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This information can help you to predict trends to accurately price and stock products for the future, ensuring that you always have enough products to meet and take advantage of the demand.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For instance, if you sell confectionery on eBay, perhaps you\u2019d love to stock as many chocolate bars as possible so that you don\u2019t run out of stock on Valentine&#8217;s day.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b>Final thoughts<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In brief, <strong>eBay inventory management<\/strong> affects directly your revenue and profits. A poor performing inventory management will cost you in the form of lost sales, customer dissatisfaction and so many more. Therefore, we hope this complete guide on eBay inventory can help.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><em>Hey, want to know more about\u00a0<strong>OneCommerce<\/strong>?\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/onecommerce.io\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-schema-attribute=\"\">CHECK IT OUT<\/a>!\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>No matter if you\u2019re a newbie or a big fish, your eBay inventory management is surely the most important facet you should never underestimate.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":6148,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[60],"tags":[],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/onecommerce.io\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2670"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/onecommerce.io\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/onecommerce.io\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/onecommerce.io\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/onecommerce.io\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2670"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/onecommerce.io\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2670\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15646,"href":"https:\/\/onecommerce.io\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2670\/revisions\/15646"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/onecommerce.io\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6148"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/onecommerce.io\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2670"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/onecommerce.io\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2670"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/onecommerce.io\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2670"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}