- Published
Free stock vs reserved stock vs on-hand quantity
Warehouse
Stock reserve
Inventory
Shop teams mix three stock words every day. They are not synonyms. Mixing them is how you oversell from chat or freeze goods that nobody will buy.
On-hand quantity (остаток «на полке» / учётный остаток)
On-hand is how many units the ledger says physically belong to you in that location — after receipts, sales, write-offs, and inventarization fixes. It answers: “How many of this SKU do we own here?” It does not answer: “How many can I still promise to a new buyer?”
Reserved stock (резерв)
Reserved units are still on-hand, but earmarked for a specific order, hold, or pickup. They should not be sold again. Reserve is a promise: “these pieces wait for client X.”
Typical reserve triggers: buyer said “I’ll take it,” prepayment, courier not yet shipped, fitting hold until evening. Without a clear reserve rule, two managers both sell the last unit.
Free stock (свободный остаток)
Free stock is what you can still promise: usually on-hand minus reserved (and sometimes minus damaged quarantined units). Free is the number you should trust when answering “есть?” in Telegram or Instagram.
When you inventarize, you count physical pieces against on-hand (free + reserved still sit on the shelf). When you answer chat, you promise only free.
Important: in some systems “remains” already means free; in others it means on-hand. Always ask which definition your sheet or software uses — the word alone is ambiguous.
One example
- On-hand: 5 dresses size M
- Reserved: 2 for paid orders waiting pickup
- Free: 3 — the only safe promise to a new chat
If someone answers “5” because they glanced at the shelf photo, you risk oversell.
Related ideas (not the same)
- In transit — bought but not yet received; usually not free until goods receipt.
- Quarantine / defect — physically present but not sellable; treat as neither free nor healthy on-hand for sales.
- Marketplace FBO stock — may be “yours” commercially but not free for your own channel until rules say so.
Common mistakes
- Promising on-hand instead of free
- Endless soft reserves (“hold for a week”) that starve free stock
- No expiry on unpaid holds
- Comparing a physical count only to free stock and “fixing” the difference — reserved units are still on the shelf (they belong in on-hand) but must not be treated as free to sell
Optional next step
Agree on the three words with your team first. Tools that show free vs reserved next to the catalog make the chat answer safer — for example stock views in datalizeCRM — but the definitions matter even on a shared spreadsheet.