What lives in the warehouse

Five types of stock share the building. Two questions sort all of them: was it ever a blank, and who owns it. Answer those and everything else follows: how it arrives, where it sits, how it leaves.

This is the floor map. The same stock, seen as three kinds with their numbers, is in How Riverr inventory works (the three tiers). Every other article in Warehouse & 3PL is a click path for one of these types.

The first question sorts everything you own

A base product either needs decorating or it does not. That single fact decides how it enters the building.

Was it ever a blank?

• No, it never needed decorating. That is a finished good. Earrings, candles, a keychain, a tote you buy ready made. You buy it finished and you sell it finished. It arrives on a purchase order.
• Yes, it started as a blank. That is a pre printed retail product. A blank you decorated and put on a shelf instead of shipping. It stopped being raw material the moment it went through the press. It arrives on a stock order.

The second question is ownership: you own it, or a seller owns it and you hold it.

Every type is held when the order comes in

All five types follow the same timing. Stock is reserved the moment an order line for it comes in, and it leaves when the batch for that order is created. Cancel or ignore the line first and the hold is released.

So a pick task never has to fight another order for the same unit: Available already left those units out. The numbers are explained in What On hand, Reserved, Required, and Incoming mean.

Blanks

You own it. Base products bought to decorate. Raw material, not something you sell. A blank never appears on a storefront and never gets picked for an order as is. It leaves the shelf when a batch consumes it.

Arrives on	Purchase order
Sits in	House slot
Leaves by	Batch consume

A batch takes what is on hand, up to the line. A line for 50 with 30 on hand takes 30; the other 20 stay needed, go on the next purchase order, and print from new blanks when they arrive.

Where you do it: Buy and receive house blanks. See on hand at Inventory → Stock → Blanks.

Finished goods

You own it. Base products that never need decorating. Mark the base product as a Finished good in its settings. They come in the same door as blanks, on a purchase order from a supplier, with the same receive and count step. After putaway a blank waits for a batch to decorate it; a finished good waits for an order.

Arrives on	Purchase order
Sits in	House slot
Leaves by	Taken off stock when the order is batched, then picked

When the order's batch is created, the units come off on hand. The pick task is then the walk to the shelf and into the shipping bin.

Where you do it: Bring in house finished goods. See on hand at Inventory → Stock → House retail.

Pre printed retail products

You own it. A blank you decorated ahead of demand and shelved instead of shipping. You place a stock order on the manual order page, an order for yourself rather than a customer, and it runs through production like any other job.

Two things happen at once: your blank count goes down, and a new sellable product appears on a shelf. From that moment it behaves exactly like a finished good.

Arrives on	Stock order (owner: House)
Sits in	House slot
Leaves by	Taken off stock when the order is batched, then picked

Where you do it: Place a house stock order, then Produce a stock order. See on hand at Inventory → Stock → House retail.

Seller sent stock

A seller owns it. Finished products a seller already owns and ships to you to hold: their own candles, stickers, or jewelry, made somewhere else entirely. This is the core 3PL offer. It was never a blank and it never went through your press. You store it and pick it, nothing more.

Arrives by	Their shipment
Sits in	That seller's slot
Leaves by	Taken off their stock when the order is batched, then picked

You approve the seller once, with space in bins. They then send any product that fits your rules with Send inventory. A product that breaks a rule is checked on its shipment, at the dock. Approved with nothing on the shelf yet is a normal state. It means the box has not landed.

Your count is the count. They send 50, you count 47. Forty seven is what enters the warehouse. The gap opens a variance the seller can see on their shipment. The number they sent is never quietly rewritten.

An order line for seller stock reserves against that seller's Available. If Available does not cover the line, the line does not ship from stock.

Where you do it: Approve a seller to store inventory, then Receive a seller shipment. The seller's side: Send inventory to the warehouse. See on hand at 3PL → Retail stock or Inventory → Stock → Seller.

Seller pre printed stock

A seller owns it. The same mechanic as your own pre printed retail, with one difference that changes everything downstream: the finished units belong to the seller, not you. You place a stock order against their account. It runs through production like any other job.

Your blanks go in. Their inventory comes out. That handoff is the moment ownership moves, and it is the moment you have something to bill for.

Arrives on	Stock order (owner: that seller)
Sits in	That seller's slot
Leaves by	Taken off their stock when the order is batched, then picked

The seller must be approved, and the product must be theirs. If it is not stored yet, placing the stock order stores it for them.

Where you do it: Place a stock order for a seller, then Produce a stock order. You place it on their account. See on hand at 3PL → Retail stock.

Side by side

	Blanks	Finished goods	Pre printed retail	Seller sent	Seller pre printed
Was it ever a blank	It is one	No	Yes	No	Yes
Who owns it	You	You	You	Seller	Seller
Arrives on	Purchase order	Purchase order	Stock order	Their shipment	Stock order for them
Bought or made	Bought	Bought	Made	Neither, already theirs	Made
Whose blanks were used	Not applicable	None	Yours	None	Yours
Ownership changes hands	No	No	No	No	Yes
Needs an approved seller	No	No	No	Yes	Yes
Sits in	House slot	House slot	House slot	Seller slot	Seller slot
Reserved when	Order comes in	Order comes in	Order comes in	Order comes in	Order comes in
Leaves by	Batch consume	Batch, then pick	Batch, then pick	Batch, then pick	Batch, then pick

Starting from scratch

Everything above describes stock arriving from now on. When you first switch this on, things are already on shelves.

Use Add inventory to import stock that predates the system from the spreadsheet you already keep: blanks, finished goods, pre printed retail, or goods you are already holding for a seller. There is no purchase order, no stock order, and nothing to receive against. You are writing down what is on the shelf. Add a bin column and the file also says where it sits. See Import your current inventory.

Adding pre printed retail directly does not draw down your blanks. Those blanks were used whenever that run actually happened. A stock order is only for a run you are placing now.

Situation	Use
Buying blanks to decorate	Purchase order
Buying a finished product to sell as is	Purchase order
Printing a run to shelve, now	Stock order, owner House
Printing a run for a seller	A stock order against their account, for one of their products
Recording what is already on the shelf	Add inventory (import)
A box turning up unannounced	Log an arrival
A seller shipping goods in	Approve the seller, then receive their shipment

Directions: Import your current inventory and Add inventory and log an arrival.

Two rules that never bend

One owner per slot. House stock and seller stock never share a shelf location, and two sellers never share one either. If they did, a count that came up short would have no honest way to say whose units were missing. The system refuses the putaway.

Only blanks get decorated. A finished good was never raw material. Pre printed retail, yours or a seller's, stopped being raw material when it went through the press. Seller sent goods were never yours to decorate. A batch takes finished goods and seller stock off the books for the orders it holds, but they go to the shipping bin as is. Only blanks go through the press.

Where each one lives

Type	Bring it in	See it
Blanks	Inventory → Purchase orders	Inventory → Stock → Blanks
Finished goods	Inventory → Purchase orders	Inventory → Stock → House retail
Pre printed retail	Manual order → Stock order (House), then produce	Inventory → Stock → House retail
Seller sent	3PL → Sellers (approve), then Inventory → Receiving	3PL → Retail stock
Seller pre printed	Stock order for that seller, then produce	3PL → Retail stock

Running more than one location? Blank numbers can be kept per location. See Blank stock by location.

A customer order that mixes a print line with house retail or seller stock is not a stock order. That floor walk is Produce an order with print and stocked items.