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Re: Consignment software (for consigner)

What is the best consignment inventory management software for a jewelry supplier?

KiriSchumacher
Shopify Partner
13 0 16

I am looking to manage my inventory (as a consigner) supplying to retail stores. I make jewellery and supply it to galleries. The gallery then sells the jewellery on my behalf. Once each item has sold they take a cut and pay me the rest.

 

I currently use Quickbooks as my inventory management software, but they're retiring the plan soon and I need to find replacement inventory management software. 

 

I was hoping there might be a Shopify plug specifically for consignment inventory management (note: I am a the supplier of the consignment goods, not the retail seller of the goods).


@nickrobot  I noticed you were looking for similar software in 2019. Did you find a good match? 

Some notes on what I need: 

- I don’t need all my stockists' inventory information to sync with my records. I simply need a way to keep a record of what is in stock at all of my consignment stockist locations. My records and their records don’t need to be connected in real time (instead I do a manual annual stocktake to check that my records match theirs). 
- I do need to be able to generate a document that shows what has been transferred from my location to their location. This document can't contain the cost price and must contain information such as: source location and destination location, SKU code, product name, retail price, qty, total qty. 
- Ability to have multiple price lists (I set a retail price, but each store takes their own consignment cut, e.g. 35% vs 40%) therefore what I receive from each store differs. 

Ideally I would use multiple warehouses within Shopify, i.e. assign each stockist a warehouse. When I transfer stock I would transfer it from 'my' warehouse to 'their' warehouse. And then as items sell I'd raise an invoice which would remove the items from their warehouse. But unfortunately Shopify only offers a small number of warehouses (between 3-8 depending on which Shopify plan you're on). I need between 15 - 50 warehouses. 

Recommendations appreciated!
 

 

Replies 3 (3)

KiriSchumacher
Shopify Partner
13 0 16

Update:

 

You might be interested to hear that in the end I transitioned to Airtable which is essentially a fancy version of Excel and costs NZ$28 per month. I am blessed in that my partner is a software developer and has spent many hours setting up Airtable up to suit my specs. Airtable is complex and there's a lot of room for major error (like accidentally deleting all products etc!) so I wouldn't recommend it unless you're technically confident.

 

I researched an astounding number of platforms before making my decision: 35 platforms! And none of them suited, even though I have fairly basic consignment software needs. There are higher priced options out there, but my budget is NZ$200 max per month.

 

My top consignment software pics were:

  1. Orderhive (most similar to Tradegecko) but I found the customer service inconsistent, it's reasonably expensive, and I never managed to find out if they could cater to all my software needs... they never replied to my repeat emails requesting more information.
  2. Swim - this app is specifically for jewellers. It's very comprehensive but its UX is challenging and would take a while to get your head around. Amazing customer service. But they don't allow invoice dates to be backdated (this feature is essential for my business).
  3. Tidy - this is a nice New Zealand based company but they lacked a lot of necessary features such as the ability to bulk upload / download information.

Feel free to reach out with any other Qs. 

yeeto
Visitor
1 0 0

Hi Kiri

 

I see that shopify now offer 1000 warehouses for the basic plans. Are you still using airtable etc? I am also looking at ways to track our consignment stock that we put into retail stores as well and looks like you did a lot of research. Are you still using the same work flow with airtable, make, cloud convert etc?

Alaydermen
Visitor
1 0 0

Managing inventory for consignment can be a bit of a puzzle, but it's great that you're looking for a solution. It's a bummer that Quickbooks is retiring your plan. Shopify is a solid option, but it seems their warehouse limit might be a roadblock for you. Have you considered IT Asset Management Software like Bluetally? It's not your typical choice for this, but it might fit the bill. Bluetally allows you to manage multiple warehouses and generate custom documents, which could work well for tracking transfers and pricing variations. You can check it out here: bluetallyapp.com