In this guide 6 sections
With in-house packing you own every count, check and return yourself. With outsourced fulfilment the centre holds your stock and counts it, so you depend on their inbound checks, returns grading and reports. Decide which reports you need before you sign, and reconcile weekly.
Who owns the stock count
Your own stockroom keeps one count. Staff pick from shelves you control, a shortage surfaces when someone hunts for the item, and any bin can be recounted the same hour.
At a fulfilment centre their warehouse system holds one count while your store platform holds another, so two numbers now exist for one pile of goods. They drift apart unless someone compares them.
Decide which system is the master. Many sellers treat the centre’s on-hand figure as the truth for stock it holds and push it to the online store on a schedule.
- Master system named in writing
- Sync frequency to the online store
- Cut-off time for counting orders in transit
- A named person who reconciles weekly
Inbound checks when goods arrive
In-house, your own team opens cartons, matches them to the purchase order, counts and puts away, and faults are found early because the person receiving knows the product.
A centre works from your advance shipping notice, so send it with carton counts, SKUs, quantities and lot or batch numbers for every pallet. Ask about mismatched cartons.
Agree a receiving report within a set time, listing counted quantity against notice for each SKU and lot, and attaching photos of any damage. Without it you learn too late.
Returns and the stock they become
Returns in-house go back to your shelf after inspection, and you decide in the moment whether a jacket is resaleable, needs steaming or goes to the outlet bin.
A centre grades returns using your rules, so write the grades as resaleable, refurbish, damaged or dispose, and state how long a returned item may sit before restocking.
Ask about returned stock. A parcel in the returns cage is not sellable stock, so the report should list it on its own line, apart from the on-hand figure.
- Grade codes defined by you
- Photo evidence for damaged returns
- Restock time target
- Separate returns line in the stock report
Reports to demand from the centre
Ask for five reports: daily on-hand by SKU and lot, an inbound receiving report, order status with cut-off times, returns by grade, and an adjustment log with reasons.
Request cycle count results and the method used, and ask how storage and pick fees are calculated so the invoice can be checked against real activity.
Review the adjustment log monthly, because frequent write-offs of one SKU point to damage, theft or a mislabelled bin that you want to catch before the year-end count. Spot patterns early.
A fair way to choose
List what your own stockroom does well, such as quick answers, easy recounts and special handling for fragile or custom items, then list what it cannot do. Peak-day capacity and weekend dispatch come first.
Compare against the centre’s real reports, not its sales deck, and ask for a sample of every report above from a current client account with the names removed.
Run a trial with one product line before moving everything, then compare the centre’s counts with yours after thirty days of real orders, SKU by SKU.
Fulfilment stock control checklist
A checklist with two columns, in-house and outsourced. Rows cover count owner, inbound notice, receiving report, returns grades, adjustment log and weekly reconciliation. Each row has a box for the person responsible and a box for the last check.
Open a blank worksheet to printQuestions owners ask
Who is responsible if the centre loses stock?
It depends on the contract. Check the liability terms, the insured value and how shortages are claimed, and keep your own record of what you sent so any claim has support.
Should I keep some stock in house?
Many sellers do. Slow, fragile or custom lines stay at home while the centre handles fast sellers, though that means tracking two locations in one stock system.
How often should I reconcile with the centre?
Weekly is a sensible rhythm for most sellers, with a full cycle count each quarter. Compare on-hand by SKU and investigate every difference.
What should the advance shipping notice include?
Carton count, SKU, quantity per carton, lot or batch numbers and the purchase order reference. A clean notice makes receiving faster, and shortages become easy to prove.