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Don't sell what you don't have: inventory on your website without surprises
You'll know the exact moment a unit gets subtracted from your stock (when the sale is paid, not when it's confirmed), what to do when a product runs out while someone's in the middle of buying it, and how to flag a stock shortage while still giving the customer an easy way forward, without promising a timeline you can't keep.
You've sold the same item twice. Or worse: someone paid for something you didn't actually have, and now you have to message them to say it's out of stock, with the money already charged and their trust already broken. You don't know the exact moment your site subtracts a unit from stock, or what happens when two people buy the last one at the same time. You're tracking stock in your head, counting by hand and hoping for the best.
This course solves it in the order it happens to you: first, the exact moment your website subtracts a unit, when payment comes through, and what you do with what you sell in person. Then, what you do if two buyers pay for the last unit at the same time, and how to separate stock when you sell different sizes, colors, or time slots, each as its own product. It ends with what to write when something sells out while someone's paying, and the cushion of units you should keep out of the store as a buffer.
This is for anyone selling a limited number of things through their site (time slots, sizes, seats, individual units) who doesn't want to promise something they no longer have. If your stock is unlimited, or you only work by custom order with no unit cap, you don't need this.
- Know that your website subtracts the unit when payment comes through, and log what you sell in person with "Record sale"
- Decide what you do if two people pay for the last unit at the same time
- Decide whether each size, color, or time slot goes in as its own product with its own stock
- Write the message you send when something sells out on someone who's already paid
It helps to already have your products loaded in your site's store, with the quantities you have of each one.
The 6 lessons
In the order it makes the most sense to read them.
- 1
The exact moment your website takes a unit off your stock
You'll come away knowing that a unit gets subtracted from stock when payment is collected, not when a product is added to the cart or the order is confirmed, and that if you're paid in cash, by Venmo, or by bank transfer, it's subtracted the moment you mark the order as paid.
6 min - 2
While payment is being entered, the unit stays available for sale
By the end, you'll know what happens to a unit of stock while someone's paying by card, and how long you wait for someone paying by bank transfer or Venmo before canceling their order.
7 min - 3
The last unit, two people buying at the same time: who gets it
By the end, you'll know the last unit belongs to whoever completes payment first, not whoever clicks first from their phone, and what to do and say to the person who misses out if they were charged anyway.
7 min - 4
A counter for each size, color, or time slot, not one for the whole product
You'll decide whether the stock for each thing you sell is tracked as one whole product or by each size, color, or time slot, setting each one up as its own listing with its own quantity, and you'll stop selling what you don't have left.
7 min - 5
You've sold out while someone's mid-purchase: what to write so you don't lose the sale
You'll know what to say on the spot when you've run out of something a customer already paid for, without promising a date you can't actually keep.
7 min - 6
The buffer of units you never sell
You'll decide how many units to always hold back as a buffer, based on where a sale can slip past your website unnoticed, and know when that number needs to be zero.
6 min