How to work out a restock cost and correct a stock count

Two jobs that both start from a row on Store › Inventory: pricing a restock before you commit to it, and fixing a count that is wrong. The second one writes to your live Shopify store, so it is worth reading properly.

How do you work out what a restock costs?

Fill cost on each row is the suggested reorder quantity multiplied by unit cost. The summary line at the top of the view totals it across everything that needs restocking, and adds roughly how much in sales is at risk if you do not.

Those two figures together are the argument. One is what the order costs, the other is what not placing it costs, and having both is what turns a stock list into a decision.

Filter to one vendor first if you are pricing a single supplier's order, so the total is the total for that order.

A blank fill cost means no unit cost is recorded in Shopify for that product. Tideswell shows nothing rather than guessing, so filling costs in for your main lines makes this figure worth quoting.

Before you correct stock

Correcting stock needs write access to the store surfaces, and the button does not appear without it.

Your Shopify connection also needs permission to write inventory. A store connected before that was required shows a warning in Settings › Integrations, and every correction fails until it is reconnected. See How to manage integrations, your workspace name and the audit log.

This writes to your live store immediately. The new number is visible to orders and reports straight away, which is exactly why the dialog is deliberately loud.

How do you correct a count?

Press Correct stock on a low-stock or list row. A small editor opens inline showing the current on-hand figure.

Type the new on-hand number for the shipping location and press Update stock. A red confirmation dialog then lists precisely what will change, and you press Yes, set stock or Cancel.

A success message names the item, the new number and the location, so you can check it landed where you meant.

Whole numbers only. A decimal or an empty value is refused before the confirmation opens.

Which number are you setting?

On hand, the physical count at the location, rather than the shippable available figure.

That distinction is the one to get right. Shippable available is on hand minus what is committed to unfulfilled orders, and it is what the rest of the page ranks by, but the number you can count in a warehouse is on hand.

The correction is written to the shipping location that fulfils orders.

Why was my correction refused?

Because the stock changed between opening the editor and confirming, so somebody else's count would have been overwritten by yours.

Reopen the editor and re-enter the number. It now shows the current figure, and you can decide whether your count is still the right one.

Being refused is the safe outcome here. The alternative is two people counting the same shelf and the second one silently winning.

What if it says the stock updated but the record did not save?

Take the message at its word and do not retry.

It means the number reached Shopify but Tideswell could not write its own note of who changed it. Retrying would set the stock a second time, which is a real change to a correct figure.

When should you order rather than correct?

Correct a count when the number is wrong. Order when the number is right and too low.

An oversold item is frequently the first: a breakage or a miscount rather than genuine demand. Checking that before ordering saves buying stock you already have. See How to find items running out, oversold, or not selling.

When it is genuine, the list goes to a purchase order, per How to write a purchase order.