William Blake once said, “I must create a system, or be enslaved by another man’s.” I believe this to be true. In my house, this means that if I don’t create a system, my husband will throw it away! If you have a similar problem, or if you’re just tired of sorting through piles looking for what you need, or tearing through the house trying to remember the last place you saw something, then grab a cup of coffee and read on my friends.
In my opinion, neatly stored inventory is one of the most important parts of my job. Without this order, every aspect of my business would suffer. Shipping times and subsequently shipping stars would be affected, which would impact my performance rating with eBay/Amazon. If you want to be a top-rated seller or a featured merchant, you have to bring your A-game!
I believe the first place you need to clean house is online, in your storefront. Assess your store layout and categories. Are there enough? Too many? Do you have everything you need, or are a large number of items falling into an ‘everything else’ category? Buyers need to be able to find your items before they can purchase, so make your store as easy to navigate as possible to encourage multiple sales. Once your store is organized, it provides a guideline for the physical storage of your inventory.
I have my stores divided differently based on what I’m selling, but for this article I will focus on clothing. My clothing store sells both new and previously loved items, as well as loveys and personal odds and ends. I divided the clothing categories into boys and girls and broke them down according to size. I did not separate new and used items, as I’ve found the majority of my buyers to be more concerned with size than tags. My storage bins are labeled to correspond to the store categories, making it easy for me to locate a sold item according to size and gender.
I was fortunate enough to find some awesome collapsable, heavyweight nylon storage bins on mega clearance at Target several years ago. They have been a Godsend! They fit together very efficiently, can flatten for storage when they are empty, and are the perfect size for my closet shelves. The best part? They were under 50 cents each!
Our current home was new construction so I was able to have closets built to my specifications for inventory, but this DOES work for existing closets – I’ve done it in the past! The wire shelves can be purchased relatively inexpensively and they are easy to install, I promise. If you purchase from Lowe’s, they will even cut them to length for you so all you have to do is get out your screwdriver (Important – do not have them cut to the exact length of your closet! Leave yourself at least an inch or two of wiggle room or else you’ll damage your walls in the process!) Do not install your shelves until you’ve purchased your bins! As you can see from the above picture, I was able to maximize my usable space by having shelves built to snugly fit my containers. I have 6 rows of bins (plus floor storage) in this closet alone!
Definitely check your local stores to see if you can find a great clearance like I did. I also strongly suggest that you estimate how many bins you will need, and then purchase at least 25% more than that. You will not regret it! I find it is easier to have a standard system as my business expands – if you need to purchase more storage later it won’t match and might not fit as well. Also, and maybe this is just my own hangup, but once I have something looking good, I want it to stay perfect. (Think Flylady and her shining sink!)
A few containers I found online that might be promising:
Kmart clearance – great price! I’d snap these up; at this price I doubt they’ll last long.
Target – wide selection Target has a lot of good options – I particularly like the Itso’s and the RiverRidge 2-pc set.
Also, I couldn’t find them on the website but I purchased some great, inexpensive plastic bins from Walmart recently as well. I’m using them in my daughter’s closets to expand their shelf usage, and they were around $4 each.
Another lesson I’ve learned is to package my items before I store them! I used to put the clothing loose in the bins, and I wound up with this:
Lesson learned – not fun. I now buy inexpensive, non-ziploc gallon size bread bags (I can get 100 for $1 locally) and I place each item or outfit in a bag before putting it in the bin. I do not seal the bags at this point; I prefer to leave them open for one last inspection before shipping, just in case I missed a flaw or a spot. Not only does this keep my bins in order, it keeps the clothes folded nicely and the pieces together as well. Presto! – No more overflowing bins.
If purchasing new storage containers isn’t in your budget right now, all is not lost. Consider using cardboard boxes until you can invest in something more permanent. This is a great way to recycle and re-purpose!
I definitely understand that a system like this might not fit in your space. Large Rubbermaid tubs can also be used, and they can stack neatly in a corner or a closet. If you are going to use this method, I suggest that you label the outside of each container with masking tape so you know exactly what is in each. Also, consider using cardboard dividers inside the containers to make sorting through sizes a faster process. Finally, consider drilling small holes in the containers to allow for airflow. Over time, clothes stored in a closed container can become damp and/or develop must and mildew issues. I know I have received items with that yucky storage smell on them and it is not pleasant.
Some sellers use hanging racks for their clothing. You might find that this works well for you. I personally do not care for it (except for a select few very special items) as I find it restrictive in space and in ease of sorting, and I don’t like the clothing to be unprotected for any length of time.
One last storage suggestion I have is clear plastic drawers. I have two sets of these that I use for blanks for my design business:
These work out well for my needs and I am happy with them. However, they do have some drawbacks.
- They are expensive. At around $20/set, these can add up quickly.
- They don’t hold much weight without the drawers sagging and not closing properly.
- They don’t hold much, period. You get more useable space with traditional bins.
For those reasons, they would not be my top pick for organizing all of my inventory. However, they do come with rolling wheels, they can fit together to be stacked, and they are pretty easy to pick up later so you wouldn’t have to buy everything up front, you could expand your system over time.
For a point of reference, the system I am using, including storage bins and extra shelving for 2 double closets, cost less than $100 total. Yes, it is an out of pocket expense, and I know those can be hard sometimes. But, it is also a tax deductible business expense. Consider it an investment in the success of your company – you won’t regret it!
Finally, I promised a giveaway. Leave a comment here telling me how you organize your inventory, how you plan to organize, or how you’ve been living in disorganization! Whatever your situation, we’d love to hear about it. One lucky commenter will be chosen at random to receive a yummy assortment of hot drinks for cold days, courtesy of Garden Party Teas. Additionally, every comment this week will be entered in a drawing for an awesome home office organization package that I think you’ll really love! Drawings will be held on Friday, 1/8/10 at midnight EST, so be sure to get your comments in to be eligible!
The fine print: GPTeas package to be awarded based on comments on this post only. For the office organization package, only one entry per person, per post – each member can enter up to 5 times by commenting once on each post this week. If you’d like an additional entry, you can post on Twitter, Facebook, your blog, your website, etc and link back to this post. To receive an additional entry for spreading the word, please leave a comment showing where you linked.
Whew! And now, with the details out of the way, I hope you’re inspired to tackle your storage issues and maybe win a few prizes along the way!
Oh, and one last thing. If you decide to tackle a makeover project this week, might I suggest you take pictures along the way? Documenting your before and after will be immensely satisfying for you, and it might even come in handy in the future… (hint, hint!) 
Filed under: Better Selling Techniques, Freebies, Giveaways and Prizes, Organization and Storage by BellaBuggy
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