Keeping Up With Your Busy Shop

     How many times has this happened to you? Your shop is fully stocked with items, you have everything priced accordingly, and your shop is officially ready for business. But when you check your shop later that evening you find that a majority of your items in there have already sold out. How could this happen to you so quickly? You are absolutely thrilled that you have (hopefully) scored some major neopoints from your massive sales... but now you need to attempt to restock everything all over again. Where do you even begin? It's going to take so much time and energy to find each item again and price everything back to the way it was. You might even ask yourself if it's even worth it to start all over. Keeping track of your shop stock can be quite tricky, especially when you have a shop that is a larger size or if you are crunched with time that you can spend on Neopets each day. But can you actually keep up with a busy shop? Here are some tips and tricks to help you manage your shop when your items are selling rather quickly.

      Checking your sales history is a great way to keep a running count of the items you have been selling. Keep in mind that it will only display items that you have sold for over 1000 neopoints. This is not an option that will work for every shopkeeper or every item, especially if you sell a lot of items under the 1000 NP margin. Other than that, your sales history will show you every sale your shop has made and will hopefully give you an idea of what items are selling better than others. You will definitely want to keep those higher demand items stocked (or maybe keep some extras in your safety deposit box in case you run out) because it will be an easy way to make a much larger profit. Also, do not forget to delete your sales history frequently so you do not get confused! I usually delete mine at the end of each day so I can keep track of the items I have sold on that particular day. If your shop is not as large or you are not as picky with your shop's inventory, you might be able to go a few days or even a week without deleting your sales history. It is totally up to you and how you can meet the needs and demands of your shop.

      If you have the time to keep a running list of items and prices, a spreadsheet is another great way to keep track of what items are selling for you. I personally have a collectible card/TCG shop. On my spreadsheet, I have everything laid out by price, quantity, and it is even color coded by card color. This helps me quickly identify the card I am looking for. It also helps me when it comes to restocking items as well. I can look at my spreadsheet when I restock so I know which cards I need to restock more than others! It also tells me what cards I still have a high quantity of and do not really need to get more of at the moment. Spreadsheets can be a lot of work and upkeep, but it is well worth the effort when you check your shop till at the end of a long day. You can even have a spreadsheet and then check your sales history to update it instead of looking at each item in your shop. I have found this to be the easiest method for me, just because my shop has so many different items of the same kind.

      Another great way to keep track of items in your shop is to take full advantage of the Shop Wizard/SSW. Sometimes when I find I am selling a lot of items, I check the SSW and I am one of the first entries on the page! That is great if you want to have the cheapest items available for everyone and have the time to keep track of large quantities of items being sold in your shop. However, by using this method I find that I sell out of items so much faster than normal. Sometimes in order to maximize my profits and to be able to keep up with selling things rather quickly, I will price my items to be either last on the SSW list or just below the cutoff for the list at all. When the items at the top of the list are selling quickly, mine will be bumped up after they sell. It helps me to kind of slow down the pace of sales if I know I have a busy week ahead and cannot spend much time restocking items. But while doing this, it also helps me make more neopoints than I would have if I priced every item to be the lowest on the SSW. If it is an item that you know will be harder to sell, you might want to stick with keeping it pretty high up on the SSW/Shop Wizard just in case.

      The last tip I have that will help you keep track of items in your shop also involves pricing of your items. I have seen some shops where people end certain types of items in a certain number of neopoints to make it easier not only for them to identify their sales, but for their customers buying the items as well. For example: if you sell gourmet food in your shop but also sell other types of miscellaneous items, you might want to make all of the prices for your gourmet food items end in a certain number such as “45.” This will help you keep track of the gourmet items you sell compared to the rest of your shop stock. It will also make it easy on your customers who might be working on the Gourmet Club Avatar to quickly identify the items they are looking for. They might even recommend your shop to other users as well within that community, which will definitely boost your sales!

      Keeping up with a busy shop can be quite difficult, especially when you have a larger shop size or do not have a ton of time to focus on your shop stock. It can be a trial and error process to find what method will work the best for your individual shop’s needs. However, taking the time to keep track of what you are selling and how often will definitely help you to not only maximize your profits and to sell more high demand items. It can also help you keep track of your shop’s inventory in such a way that you can better meet the needs of your customers. It is completely possible to keep up with a busy shop, and I hope you put these tips to good use and start selling your items in a more organized and efficient way.