Storing inventory as an antique dealer is one of the unglamorous but necessary aspects of reselling. Creating a system of organization is a process that continually needs tweaked! Today I am sharing with you how I store and organize thousands of items for my website.
Maybe you are wondering why and how you store and organize inventory is a process that evolves.
Stages of Business
For me, my business is constantly evolving, and as that happens my needs change. As my needs change, I also have to change my systems and processes. I started reselling in booths. I went from a small booth, to bigger booths, to multiple booths, to multiple locations.
Then, I added in selling at flea markets and antique shows.
Next came a brick and mortar.
And, eventually I got online, selling first off of facebook and later starting my own website.
Tour My Storage Room
During each of these stages of my business, my inventory changed. As my business and inventory changed, so did my needs.
Here are a couple older blog posts about my Top 2 Tips and this post about Making Time to get organized.
Selling Online
Currently I am selling completely on my website. I no longer need to store large pieces of furniture, but I do need to be able to quickly and easily locate items.
I went entirely online a couple years ago when we moved. My house was smaller and I no longer had a brick and mortar or out buildings to store inventory. Everything that I had would need to fit in the house, preferably in the unfinished storage area on our lower level.
I am a pretty organized person in general. I like everything to have a home and I like to put everything in that home. That’s not only how I am with my business, but also my personal life.
It has taken two years, but I feel like I finally have a good system.
Inventory on Wheels
The first challenge was furniture location. The house came with two built-in units made from 2 x4’s and plywood. They appear to have been roughly designed to hold storage totes. Although some spaces you can stack 2 totes, others do not have enough height for that and leave some wasted space.
So, the built-ins weren’t going anywhere and needed to be worked around. I also had the furnace, hot water heater, sump pump, and electrical box in this space to work around.
My furniture included a couple different styles of wire shelving that was on wheels, like THESE. I also had a wooden green shelving unit on wheels. I brought a homemade counter that I’ve used for years as my shipping station in the move, along with some temporary walls I have used in the past at shows. You can see all of these in the video.
HERE I show you what I’ve purchased to keep the storage room organized!
Shipping Station
When we first moved in I decided to make the back corner my shipping station. (Get all of my shipping supply links at the bottom of this post) The cement walls were wrapped in installation, so I needed to figure out a way to mount my counter. I ended up putting my temporary wall sections in an L shape and attaching the counter to them. Then I added a couple shelves above the shipping station. I used L brackets mounted on the temporary walls to set ripped plywood on. On top of the L brackets I placed shelves as another place to store the boxes I ship with.
Under the counter I placed totes for my packing supplies. I have one for small cardboard pieces, air bubbles, sheets of smaller bubbles, random paper, and styrofoam. I ship using a lot of recycled packing materials, so I know when my totes are low, I need to go hit up some neighbors or friends for their packing. Or then I know to order some. I do order this and this.
I wanted to partition off the shipping area from the rest of the storage room, so I placed one of my metal carts to do that. The rest of the space has had many looks the past two years. I have used an 8’ folding table as a desk in this space. I have had multiple racks placed in multiple directions as well. The current situation is working out the best.
I lined each wall with a metal cart for boxes. Underneath some of these metal carts I have some of my craft supplies in totes. I have used some scrap wood to make shelves for a couple of the wire shelves. The wood just helps things sit flush and helps them not fall through the openings that the wire shelves have uncovered.
I have the printer sitting on one shelf with the blank shipping labels I use beside it. I also have a small holding area for things that haven’t been shipped. When I went thrifting I picked up a hospital table. It was such a great purchase because most of the time I have it all the way extended so I can stand while I’m working. This table will wheel right in tight to the shelving unit (the wheels fit under the shelving unit). And yes, I’m very thankful for the wheels!
See What This Space Looked Like Last Year
Years ago I learned to put everything possible on wheels. One, it kept things off the floor in case of flooding. Two, it made it easier to change your mind. If you have a cart somewhere and it doesn’t seem to be working for you, you can just roll it to a new spot!
This back corner of my shipping station is a little more narrow than the rest of this storage room. Once the room gets wider I have more wire shelving carts lined up. I learned the hard way to make sure everything with the house is easily accessible.
When we first moved in I had the cart in front of the electrical box. I figured it was on wheels, so if I needed to access it I could. Short version is that something happened to enlighten me to just always have it accessible!
To do that I needed to turn my carts at a 90 degree angle from the wall. I chose to back two carts together and leave enough space for me to go between carts on the other side. This has worked really well.
Group Like Items
So on the built-in wooden racks and my metal racks I have my website inventory organized by category. So Christmas, metal, textiles, ephemera, etc. are placed close to each other. Many items are in totes that are labeled. Vases, bowls, candle holders, planters, wooden kitchen tools, etc.
When an order is placed, I can go to the area, or tote, for that category and quickly locate the piece that sold. I take it to the shipping station and pack it, calculate shipping size and weight, and print the label. Everything I need to accomplish that is all within a step of each other.
One of my goals for the past TWO years has been to get everything I own listed on the website. I am hopeful that by the end of 2025 this will actually be a reality. I have worked very hard to buy less inventory and spend more time listing what I already have. It’s definitely not as much fun, but a necessity for making a profit.
Create A System
Items I do purchase get placed on the green wooden shelf that you see first when you walk into the room. Or, there is also a metal rack across the aisle of things that have yet to be listed. I also often put these things on display on shelving in my lower level.
I am a person who likes routines and systems, so I do a monthly restock, the first Saturday of each month. In preparation for that I place items I want to list on the counter in our lower level kitchenette. There is a window close by that I use for photography.
So, items are placed on the counter, weighed and measured for the website. I then move them over to a table I set up in front of the window to take pictures. Next, items get moved to the organized shelving units according to what the item is.
Not only do I like routines, but I like creating systems that are efficient. Batch work is efficient. Assembly line style work is efficient. I talk about that a little more in THIS post.
And there you have it! This is how I stay organized with my website inventory! Leave a comment and let me know something that helps you stay organized1
This post may contain affiliate links for the products I use and recommend. I am not paid to promote these products. If you purchase using my affiliate links, I could make a small commission at no charge to you.
Shipping Supplies
Storage Room Organization Supplies
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