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 — how it arrives, where it sits, how it leaves — follows.

This is the map. 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 doesn't. That single fact decides how it enters the building.

Was it ever a blank?

• No — never needed decorating. That's 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's 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.

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 — it leaves the shelf by being consumed when a batch runs.

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

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. 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; a finished good waits for an order.

Arrives on	Purchase order
Sits in	House slot
Leaves by	Pick task

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	Pick task

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	Pick task

Enrollment comes first. A seller cannot announce a shipment for a product you have not enrolled. Approved with nothing on the shelf yet is a normal state — it means the box has not landed.

Your count is the count. They declare 50, you count 47. Forty-seven is what enters the warehouse. The gap opens a variance the seller can see. The declared number is never quietly rewritten.

Where you do it: Enroll a seller's product, then Receive a seller shipment. 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	Pick task

Enrollment first, same as anything else they own. A stock order cannot be placed against a seller for a product you have not enrolled.

Where you do it: Place a stock order for a seller, then Produce a stock order. Sellers cannot place this themselves yet — you place it. 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 — theirs already	Made
Whose blanks were used	—	None	Yours	None	Yours
Ownership changes hands	No	No	No	No	Yes
Needs enrollment	No	No	No	Yes	Yes
Sits in	House slot	House slot	House slot	Seller slot	Seller slot
Leaves by	Batch consume	Pick task	Pick task	Pick task	Pick task

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 record stock that predates the system — 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, then putting it away so the system knows where it sits.

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	Enroll the product, then a stock order against their account
Recording what is already on the shelf	Add inventory
A box turning up unannounced	Log an arrival
A seller shipping goods in	Enrollment, then receive their shipment

Directions: 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. Blanks are the only thing a batch can consume.

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 → Enrollment, then 3PL → Receiving	3PL → Retail stock
Seller pre-printed	3PL → Enrollment, stock order for that seller, then produce	3PL → Retail stock

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.