A reseller inventory spreadsheet should help you answer three questions quickly: What do I own? How much cash is tied up? What is actually making money?
If your sheet only lists item names and purchase dates, it may be recording history without helping you make better decisions.
1. Buy cost
Track the actual amount paid for each item. This is the foundation for profit, ROI and capital-at-risk calculations.
2. Date acquired
The date an item enters inventory lets you measure inventory age. Old inventory is often a signal to review price, demand, listing quality or whether the capital would be better used elsewhere.
3. Expected sale price
Before an item sells, keep a realistic target based on current market evidence. This gives you a forecast rather than waiting until the end to learn whether the buy was good.
4. Marketplace fees
Fees vary by platform, category and policy. Keep forecast fee assumptions editable and replace them with actual fees after the sale when possible.
5. Shipping and other selling costs
Labels, packaging and other direct costs can turn a seemingly profitable sale into a mediocre one. Track them alongside marketplace fees.
6. Net profit
Net profit should reflect the modeled or actual selling costs—not just sale price minus purchase price.
7. ROI
ROI helps compare opportunities based on how efficiently your purchase cost produced profit.
8. Days in inventory
Two items can make the same profit but perform very differently if one sells in 5 days and the other sits for 180 days. Inventory age adds the time dimension to your numbers.
9. Cash tied up in unsold inventory
This is one of the most useful portfolio-level numbers for a reseller. Unsold inventory is money that cannot be redeployed until the item sells.
The A1 Resell Signal Decision System tracks these metrics together, including inventory age, stale-stock signals, sourcing, expenses, mileage and actual profit.
If you only need the sourcing decision before you buy, the Buy / Pass Calculator focuses on projected profit, ROI, margin, break-even and maximum buy price.