Reseller inventory spreadsheet template: columns
A reseller inventory spreadsheet template works best with one row for each unit you hold. Each row records the unit's share of its purchase cost and its status, and once the unit sells, the amount the buyer paid, the fees and shipping, any refund, and the profit.
The columns below let you trace every profit figure back to the purchase it came from. The names are plain English, so you can type them into a new sheet as they appear.
Which columns should the template have?
| Column | What to enter | Why it matters | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Unit ID | A code you assign to each unit, such as U-041 | Tells identical units apart and finds a unit after it sells | |
| Item | A short name and the condition | Keeps a long sheet readable | |
| Lot | The purchase the unit came from, such as D-017 | Links the unit to what you paid. FlipKeep calls this a Deal | |
| Purchase date | The date you paid | Starts the count for how long the unit has been held. See [[guide:days-to-sell-resale-inventory | days to sell]] |
| Allocated cost | The unit's share of the purchase, after shipping and other order costs | Per-unit profit is only as accurate as this number | |
| Status | In Stock, Listed, Sold, Returned, or Removed | Shows what is still available to sell | |
| Sale date | The date the sale was completed | Marks when the profit is realized | |
| Platform | Where the unit sold | Fees differ by platform, so you can compare them | |
| Amount from buyer | The price plus any shipping the buyer paid | The money that came in for the unit | |
| Fees and shipping | Every cost you paid to complete the sale, including return shipping and restocking | Counts each cost once. Enter a fee the platform gives back as a negative number | |
| Refund | Money returned to the buyer | A partial refund lowers profit, and the sale stays in the sheet | |
| Profit | Amount from buyer, minus refund, minus fees and shipping, minus allocated cost | The realized result for a sold unit |
Use Returned only for a unit you sent back to the source you bought it from. When a buyer returns a unit, record the amount as a refund on the sale row, and set the unit back to In Stock or Removed. The how to track resale inventory guide explains each status in more detail.
Lot and Allocated cost matter most. If the allocated costs of a lot do not add up to what you paid, every profit figure from that lot is off. How to split bulk purchase costs covers how to set those numbers. If the fee terms in the table are new to you, what a resale fee is defines them.
How do you set up the sheet?
- Make one row for each unit. Keep the lot total in a note or cell beside the lot ID.
- Add the twelve columns in the order of the table above.
- Turn Status into a drop-down with the five values, so every row uses the same spelling.
- Put the profit formula from the table's last row into the Profit column. Leave it empty until a sale date is entered.
- Before you finish a lot, check that its allocated costs add up to the lot total.
- Once a month, check the sold rows against the platform's payout statement. Then look at the listed and in stock rows for prices to change.
What does a filled-in row look like?
This example uses made-up numbers. You paid 60.00 for lot D-017 on 2026-09-03, and you split that cost across three units by the value you expected for each one.
| Column | U-041 | U-042 | U-043 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Item | Espresso machine | Cast iron pan | Ceramic lamp |
| Lot | D-017 | D-017 | D-017 |
| Purchase date | 2026-09-03 | 2026-09-03 | 2026-09-03 |
| Allocated cost | 30.00 | 10.00 | 20.00 |
| Status | Sold | Listed | Sold |
| Sale date | 2026-10-02 | 2026-10-11 | |
| Platform | Marketplace A | Marketplace B | |
| Amount from buyer | 85.00 | 60.00 | |
| Fees and shipping | 17.50 | 9.00 | |
| Refund | 0.00 | 15.00 | |
| Profit | 37.50 | 16.00 |
The three allocated costs add up to 60.00, which is the lot total. U-041 made 37.50 after 17.50 in fees and shipping. U-043 made 16.00 after a partial refund of 15.00. Realized profit so far is 53.50, from 37.50 plus 16.00. The 10.00 allocated to U-042 stays in your stock until that unit sells.
When does a spreadsheet stop working?
A spreadsheet works while one person edits it, the number of units stays small enough to check by hand, and you reconcile the totals each month. It stops working when the checks take longer than the decisions they support. Watch for these signs:
| Sign | Usual cause | What to change |
|---|---|---|
| Totals stop matching the platform's payout statements | A fee or refund is entered twice, or a sale is missing | Check one sale at a time against its statement, and enter each cost once |
| A unit is In Stock on one platform and Sold on another | The status is updated on one platform only | Change the status the same day you list or sell |
| A resold unit disappears from your totals | The new sale overwrote the first row | Add a second row with the same Unit ID and the new sale date |
| Finding units held 60 or 90 days means sorting by hand every time | The sheet has no aging view | Filter by purchase date, or use an app with an aging filter |
| Two people edit the file and changes get lost | Edits overwrite each other | Keep one editor, or move to an app that keeps a record for each item |
When these signs show up every month, the sheet is taking more time than it saves.
Where FlipKeep helps, and where it does not
FlipKeep keeps the same parts of a sale that this template tracks. Each unit is an item created from a Deal, so its cost stays linked to the purchase. The five statuses are fixed choices, so the spelling stays consistent. Partial refunds and returns keep the original sale in the history. The aging filter shows items held for at least 30, 60, or 90 days that are still available to sell. The sales and inventory exports take your records out of the app when you need them.
FlipKeep has limits that a spreadsheet does not:
- FlipKeep does not connect to marketplace accounts, so you enter purchases, sales, and status changes yourself.
- It does not create listings, find comparable sales, or estimate what an item is worth.
- Fee presets hold the rates you type in. FlipKeep does not download fee schedules.
- It does not prepare tax returns. The what to keep for tax season guide covers the records to keep.
- It is built for iPhone and iPad and needs iOS 17.0 or later.
What is free in FlipKeep, and what is paid?
FlipKeep starts with a 30-day trial that includes full access. When the trial ends, your existing records stay available to view, search, and export. Adding purchases and sales, and changing records, needs full access. Full access comes from a one-time purchase, with no subscription. iCloud sync and importing a backup also need full access.
Common questions
One row per unit or per purchase?
One row per unit. A purchase of several units gets several rows, each with the same lot ID and its own allocated cost. A single row for the whole purchase cannot show which unit sold or what that unit made.
What if a sold unit comes back and sells again?
Keep the first row, with its refund and sale details. Add a second row with the same Unit ID and the new sale date. FlipKeep works the same way: the original sale stays in the history, and the later sale is recorded as a new sale.
Can I move my records into a spreadsheet?
Yes. In Settings, FlipKeep exports a Sales CSV, an Inventory CSV, a Summary CSV, a Credit Ledger CSV, and a Report PDF. These exports stay available after the trial, without full access. Text cells that begin with an equals sign, a plus sign, a minus sign, or an at sign get a leading apostrophe, so a spreadsheet does not run them as formulas.
Do I need an app to stay accurate?
No. A spreadsheet stays accurate with one editor, one row per unit, and a monthly check of its totals against your statements. Move to an app when those checks take longer than the decisions they support, or when the signs in the table keep coming back.
Track your next flip in FlipKeep
Try the full app for 30 days. If it fits your workflow, unlock it once. There is no subscription.
