The Dead Stock Finder: Inventory Cash Audit & Markdown Plan

In the worked example, a ten-SKU shop holds $2,949 of cost on the shelf — and $1,759 of it, sixty cents of every inventory dollar, sits in five SKUs that are dead or slow. The beanies have 129 weeks of cover. The old phone cases have 771. Meanwhile the bestseller is 3.4 weeks from stocking out, because the cash that should reorder it is wearing a beanie.

How it works

• The Shelf Audit — on-hand, cost, price, sold-in-90-days per SKU → weeks of cover and a plain verdict: DEAD, SLOW, HEALTHY, or LOW STOCK. Plus the number that stings: the stuck share of your inventory cash
• The Markdown Math — the cost is sunk either way; the question is the next dollar. Set a discount and an honest clear rate per flagged SKU and watch $1,759 of stuck cost become $2,596 of recovered cash — with the 25→50% ladder and why 10% off clears nothing
• The Reorder Rules — reorder cover, not feelings; one in, one out; the 90-day test that stops "hope" from reordering; and the rule that sends clearance cash straight to the low-stock list before it evaporates

Built for

Makers and handmade sellers · boutiques and resellers · Etsy and Shopify shops · anyone whose stockroom is quietly a savings account that pays negative interest.

What you get

One .xlsx file, four tabs, instant download. Excel, Google Sheets, Apple Numbers, LibreOffice. No macros, no subscription. Thresholds editable if your season disagrees.