Frequently asked questions · Stock of unique pieces

How do you track stock of unique pieces?

Per piece, not per article. A unique piece has no quantity: there is one, and then none.

Per piece. What you record is its own number, a photo, the purchase price and the date it came in. Those four together replace what an article number with a stock count does for series. Everything you want to know afterwards — your margin, your time to sell, your buying rate — follows from those four.

Four details per piece

You record

  • its own number
  • a photo
  • the purchase price
  • the date it came in

What follows

  • your margin
  • your time to sell
  • your buying rate

For series a list of quantities works: ten identical chairs are one article with a stock of ten. For unique pieces ten chairs are ten cards, each with its own photo, purchase price and margin. Force the first model onto the second and you keep a list where every row reads one and nothing is ever restocked.

Ten identical chairs, ten unique chairs

Series

1 articlewith a stock of ten

Unique pieces

10 cardseach with its own photo, purchase price and margin

The hard part is not the count but the holding-together: the photo, the purchase price and the provenance belong attached to the same piece. Once those three live in three places, every question about a piece costs a search.

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Also worth knowing

Do you need an article number per piece?

Yes, and it does not have to mean anything. For series an article number needs meaning, because it stands for a kind. For unique pieces it stands for exactly that one piece, so a running series does the job. What does matter: the same number appears on the label, in your list and with your photo.

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Is Excel enough for your stock?

Often yes. If your stock is manageable and you know it by heart, if you sell mainly on the premises and keep the list alone, there is little reason to change. The tipping point is not a number of pieces, but the moment your photos become more important than your descriptions.

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Every piece with its purchase price, photo and origin in one place

Vintro Pro keeps, per piece, what you paid, when, and where it came from. Your stock list and your margin VAT build themselves while you work.

30 days free, no card number.