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Tutorial · Inventory

Consignment manifests

Track inventory you've consigned to a venue, whether that's a one-time craft-fair drop-off or a permanent space at a consignment shop you restock every few weeks. fiveanddime tracks what's out there, computes per-venue inventory automatically, and handles payouts as separate sales so they stay out of your booth tax totals.

Time: 10 minutes to read Difficulty: Easy Prereq: Catalog with the items you want to consign

The model in one paragraph

A manifest is your relationship with one venue. It's Active from the moment you create it until you explicitly close it. Inside that manifest you log transactions as they happen: Stock In when you ship items to the venue, Payout when they pay you and tell you what sold, Return when you bring units back home. The app computes how many units of each SKU are currently at the venue from that transaction history, so you always know what's still out there without keeping a side spreadsheet.

Two patterns, one model.

A one-and-done event (drop a box at a craft fair, get a check three weeks later, take returns home) is the same data shape as a perpetual space at a consignment shop you restock every month. Same Stock In / Payout / Return operations, just at different cadences. You don't need to pick a "mode" up front.

Where it lives in the app

Open the app, scroll to Settings, expand Consignment manifests.

Enable it (one-time, opt-in)

Consignment tracking is off by default. Vendors who don't consign anywhere never have to touch it, and the three backing sheets stay out of their spreadsheet. The first time you open the Consignment manifests section, you'll see a short intro and an Enable consignment tracking button.

Tap it. Behind the scenes the app:

Takes a couple of seconds. When it finishes, the section flips to the active view with a + Create manifest button. From here on, this tutorial picks up.

Creating a manifest

1

Tap "+ Create manifest"

The form asks for three things:

Tap Create manifest. The manifest opens to its detail view, ready for your first Stock In.

Stocking the venue (initial drop-off or restock)

2

Tap "Stock In"

The Stock In form has a date (defaults to today), a search box, and a list of items below. Use the search box to find products by SKU or name; tap a match to add it to the list. Each line shows the qty you're shipping and the price the venue will sticker it at (defaults to your catalog price; override per line if the venue lists it higher or lower).

The "price at venue" matters because itemized payouts later compute commission price from it. If the venue charges a markup over your wholesale price, set the listed price here.

3

Submit

When you tap Submit StockIn:

Same flow for restocks.

If this is a standing space you restock every few weeks, just repeat Step 2 each time you drop off more inventory. The per-venue rolling total keeps adding up.

Recording a payout

When the venue pays you, tap Payout from the manifest detail view. The form has two modes, picked with the radio buttons at the top.

A

Lump mode

You enter one total amount the venue paid you, plus (optionally) per-SKU sold counts if you can tell from the venue's report which SKUs moved. The lump mode is right when the venue gives you a single number ("here's your $124 for May") and you don't have item-level detail.

Adding the per-SKU sold counts is still worth it because it keeps your per-venue rolling inventory accurate: the app subtracts those counts from "currently at venue" so the total stays honest.

B

Itemized mode

You enter per-SKU sold counts; the app computes the total for you using each SKU's listed price (from the most recent Stock In) and your commission rate. Itemized is right when the venue sends you a line-by-line sales report and you want the math double-checked.

The preview line above the Submit button shows the computed total in real time as you add items.

Either way, when you tap Submit Payout:

Returns (bringing units home)

When the venue returns unsold units to you (whether you pick them up mid-relationship or take them home when the event ends), tap Return. The form pre-filters the search to items currently at the venue — you can't accidentally return SKUs that aren't there.

Submitting a Return:

Closing a manifest

When the relationship is over (the event ended and everything has been returned, the consignment shop closed, you decided to pull out), tap Close manifest. You'll be asked to confirm. After closing, no more transactions can be added; the manifest moves to the Closed history strip below the active list so the record stays available for reference.

Worked examples

Example 1 · Event-style craft fair

You drop a box of 23 items at a one-day fair. Two weeks later the organizer mails you a check for $187 covering everything that sold, and returns the unsold pieces.

  1. Create manifest "Brighton Spring Fair", commission 30%.
  2. Stock In on drop-off day: 23 items across 5 SKUs.
  3. Payout when the check arrives: Lump mode, total $187. Optionally enter per-SKU sold counts from the venue's report so the rolling inventory zeros out.
  4. Return: the unsold pieces you got back. Increments QOH.
  5. Close: the relationship is over.

Example 2 · Standing space at a consignment shop

You rent a small footprint at a local boutique. You restock every other Tuesday; they pay you on the 1st of each month.

  1. Create manifest "Linda's Boutique", commission 40%.
  2. Stock In: initial setup (50 pieces).
  3. Stock In: first restock two weeks later (12 pieces).
  4. Payout: monthly check arrives, Lump mode with per-SKU sold counts.
  5. Stock In: more restock.
  6. Payout: next month.
  7. ... and so on. The manifest stays Active for years if needed.

Where this shows up in reports

Open Settings → Sales reports and pick any date range. If consignment payouts fell in that window, you'll see a Consignment income section below the per-state and per-event tables. It breaks down what each venue paid you in the period. Booth tax totals above it stay clean — consignment doesn't pollute them, because the venue collected sales tax at the point of sale to the customer, not you.

What this does NOT do

Checkpoint Create a manifest, stock it in, record a payout, record a return, close it. Five operations cover both event-style and standing-space patterns. The Currently-at-venue view and the Consignment income section in reports keep the running picture honest without a side spreadsheet.

What's next