Your autumn delivery is coming in: unbox, count, and prepare for sale in five steps
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by Verpakkingdeals.nl
7 min reading time
Decisions made in the first ten minutes of an incoming delivery can cost you money later. Five steps to check, count, and prepare for immediate sale.
There's a pallet in the hallway, or four large boxes at the front door. The driver wants a signature and you have ten minutes. This is precisely when decisions are made that will cost you money a month later: do you sign blindly, or do you check first?
In September and October, most stores and webshops receive their autumn stock. More boxes than usual, often from multiple suppliers at once, and usually at the worst possible moment. These five steps together take less time than one subsequent discussion about a shortage of twelve items.
Step 1: Check the exterior before you sign
Receiving the shipment is the only time you can still link transit damage to the carrier. Therefore, first walk around the shipment without opening anything:
Does the number of packages match what is on the waybill?
Are any boxes dented, torn, or wet? Wet cardboard is grayer and wavy at the edges.
Has tape been reapplied, or is there tape of a different color or width over it?
Is a box upside down when it says "this side up"?
If you see anything, note it on the waybill before you sign — short and factual: "box 3 dented, contents not checked". Also, take photos immediately, including the label. What exactly you need to report and within what timeframe varies per supplier and per carrier; this is stated in their terms and conditions and that's the place to read up on it. You will need the photos regardless.
Step 2: Open neatly, because the cardboard is still worth something
Outer boxes from suppliers are often better than what you buy yourself: double-wall, sturdy bottom, hardly any signs of use. Therefore, don't tear them to shreds, but cut along the tape seam, and keep your knife shallow.
A sharp blade makes more difference here than you think: a dull blade will slide, and that's exactly how you cut through packaging. It's better to change the blade too early than too late: Kinzo Utility Blades 3 pieces (€ 1.95) are cheap enough for that. If you work with multiple people simultaneously, the Versatile Utility Knife Set 8 pieces Yellow (€ 4.95) is handy: everyone gets their own knife, no one is searching. Anyone who also needs to correct price stickers will find the Handy Ink Eraser and Utility Knife Blue 2-in-1 (€ 5.95) useful.
What to do with the outer boxes
Lay good boxes flat and set them aside for your own shipments or for storage. Damaged boxes go directly into the paper recycling — not on the "maybe" pile, because that pile only grows. For items you store indoors, an Action Moving Box 480x430x330 mm - 50 liters (€ 3.50) is a cheap, stackable standard size.
Step 3: Count against the packing slip, not your memory
This is the step most often skipped and yields the most. Grab the packing slip and count per line. Not "it looks good", but actually count.
Count the quantities per item. For large quantities, count in fixed groups of ten or twenty-five — it counts faster and you can restart more easily.
Check the variant, not just the item. Color, size, and content are most often incorrect. Two colors of the same product often look very similar on a packing slip.
Do a spot check on quality. For each new batch, open one item and see if it's what you expect. For items with a batch number or expiration date, note them immediately.
Record your findings directly on the packing slip. A checkmark per line, and for discrepancies, the number you did count. A packing slip with checkmarks is evidence; a packing slip without checkmarks is just a piece of paper.
Write clearly and with something that doesn't bleed on cardboard or foil. A set of Permanent Markers 5 Pieces 3 Colors (€ 4.95) is enough for this: one color for "counted", one for "discrepancy", one for the date. For measuring box sizes you want to order later, it's best to have a 30cm Ruler (€ 4.00) nearby.
Step 4: Make it ready for sale while you're at it
Anything you do now, you won't have to do later during busy periods. An item that you handle a second time costs twice as much time. If you sell in a physical store or at markets, you price it immediately.
Then "ready for sale" means something different: weigh and measure one item immediately upon arrival and note it down. This will help you determine your box size and shipping costs later — much harder to find if the box is already in the warehouse.
Step 5: Put it away so you can find it again
Inventory you can't find, you order a second time. Three basic rules that cost little and save a lot:
New behind, old in front. Even for items without an expiration date: packaging discolors and tape loses adhesive strength if it sits for too long.
One item, one place. Two half-boxes of the same product on two shelves is the most common cause of incorrect inventory levels.
Write on the box what's inside and how much. On the short side, in plain sight when the box is on the shelf.
Shipments that you forward yourself or temporarily set aside should be sealed with decent tape. KINZO Packing Tape 50 meters x 48 mm (€ 3.00) is the single roll; for those who tape boxes daily in the autumn, Tape Rolls 6 Pieces 48x66mm (€ 21.00) will last longer. If a box needs to remain demonstrably sealed until it reaches the next person, use Security Seal Stickers VOID - 60 pieces (€ 9.95): opening leaves a visible trace.
One missing box of fifty items that you only discover in November is a shortage you can no longer claim and lost revenue in your best weeks. Therefore, make it a habit: packing slip, knife, marker, and stickers are ready at the place where deliveries arrive. Then the question is no longer whether you check, but how quickly you're done.
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