Shop inventory: stock items, movements, reservations and minimum stock

Most print farms make to order: nothing sits on a shelf waiting to be sold, and every order becomes print work. Others print their best sellers ahead, or sell printed items with bought-in parts like magnets, bulbs or boxes. The Inventory tab (/panel/shop/inventory) is for the second kind: it counts what you physically have, in whole pieces, and keeps a history of every change.

This article covers the stock list, adding a stock item and linking it to a Project variant, recording and transferring stock, reserving and dispatching stock for an order, returns, minimum stock, and what the Shop does and doesn't do with your store's own stock counts.

Table of contents

• What inventory counts, and what it doesn't
• The stock list
• Adding a stock item
• Linking stock to what it is
• Recording movements and the journal
• Transferring stock between places
• Using stock for an order
• Returns
• Minimum stock
• Your store's stock counts
• Related articles

What inventory counts, and what it doesn't

Inventory counts physical pieces you have, at a place, in a state. It isn't a sellable quantity, and it never changes by itself:

• Finished prints are not added to stock automatically. Pieces made for an order belong to that order; they're on its trays and shelves (see Production work).
• Stock doesn't sync with your stores in either direction.
• Recording stock never starts a print.

If you print every order fresh, tell the Shop: the store's guided setup asks "Do you keep stock, or print each order fresh?", and the same choice is Does this farm keep stock? in the import settings. With Made to order - nothing is kept, product pages say "Printed to order" instead of showing stock.

The stock list

The list shows each stock item with its category and how many whole pieces you have in each state:

Search by name. Each row has Record movement and View stock and journal. New stock item adds one.

Adding a stock item

Choose New stock item:

• Stock item name, and optionally a description, a category (pick one or create it as you save) and a purchase link for where you buy more.
• Starting quantity: whole pieces, or zero if you have none yet. A starting count is recorded as an opening count of usable pieces with no location, with a reason ("Opening stock" by default).

A stock item can be anything you count and can run out of: finished items printed ahead, or bought-in components.

Linking stock to what it is

For stock to stand in for an order line, the Shop has to know which printed variant it is. On the stock item, choose Link a Project variant and enter the Project variant SKU. Then describe what one stocked piece means ("one complete finished unit, including material, colour and any finishing that matters"), and confirm that one counted piece is that complete variant, not a plate or one of its parts.

Packaging and bought-in parts need no link. Sets and whole Projects can't be linked yet.

On a product's page, the Stock card then says whether it's "Printed to order", "Sold from stock", or "1 of 3 listings sold from stock", with each linked stock item's pieces on hand.

Recording movements and the journal

Record movement changes a count:

• Add, Remove, Set count or Scrap
• Disposition (the state), Location, and an optional Lot reference. A movement only touches that exact location, lot and state.
• Reason, required

Only usable stock can be used up, and reserved pieces can't be counted or removed below what's reserved. A movement records physical stock only: it doesn't count production, fulfil an order or change a store.

View stock and journal shows the balances by location, lot and state (with how many are reserved), and the Movement journal: every change, with the amount, the balance after it, the reason, who recorded it and when.

Transferring stock between places

Transfer stock (on a balance row) moves pieces without changing the total: to another location, another state, or another lot, with a reason. Use In transit while pieces are on their way, and record their arrival when they're received. Changing a piece's state this way is a manual reclassification; it doesn't complete a quality check or a finishing step. Reserved pieces have to be released before they can move.

Using stock for an order

Stock reaches an order in two steps:

1. Reserve. On the stock item, under Order reservations, choose Reserve stock and pick an order line. You reserve complete finished units for an order that hasn't been released, held or cancelled. Reserving doesn't pack or ship anything.
2. Dispatch. When the pieces physically leave stock for the order, open the order's Pack & ship tab and choose Record stock dispatch under Stock dispatch. It shows each line's ordered, reserved and dispatched pieces. Dispatch can't be undone here, and a later cancellation or refund doesn't put the pieces back.

Dispatching doesn't buy a label, notify the store or start a print. Cancelling an order releases any reservation it still had.

Mixing stock and printing. An order with stock reserved or dispatched can't be released to the print queue in full yet, and releasing only the missing part isn't available yet. So for now, an order is either filled from stock or printed.

Returns

When a buyer sends pieces back, open the order's Pack & ship tab and choose Record physical return under Physical returns. Pick what was dispatched, how many came back, where they go and why. Returned pieces always go into Quarantined, never straight back into usable stock. Transfer them once you've checked them.

Minimum stock

For items you want to keep in stock, Minimum stock on the stock item keeps a planning rule:

• Minimum pieces: the level that counts as running low
• Target pieces: the level you want after refilling
• Batch size: refill suggestions round up to this

Rules are set per stock pool (a named set of locations). New pools start switched off. An account administrator sets them, and Account defaults for new pools.

Check replenishment shows where a pool stands: usable stock, minus outstanding demand, plus firm incoming stock. When it's low, it suggests a top-up, which you can save or dismiss with Review suggestion. Prepare replenishment saves a production plan for review.

Your store's stock counts

The Shop never changes stock in your store, and your store never changes stock here.

Reading a store's own stock counts is read-only, and it's switched on per store with Inventory quantities in the data-sharing settings (plus the store's own permission: on Shopify in the SimplyPrint app, on WooCommerce with Authorize inventory reads). A product's Stock card then has Store stock levels, which looks up the listing's stock locations in the store and shows a count for one of them, next to your own. Nothing is saved, nothing is imported, and nothing is written back. This is not two-way stock sync.

Related articles

• The Shop: run your 3D printing orders from store to shipped
• Shop products: map store products to Projects, variants and CSV import
• Shop packing and shipping: pack, ship and mark orders shipped in your store
• Shop orders: store orders, manual orders, review and release
• Shop settings and permissions
• Spare parts inventory: track and manage maintenance supplies

Updated on: 05/11/2026