After Halloween: mark down remnants, store, and switch to December
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by Verpakkingdeals.nl
6 min reading time
On November 1st, your seasonal stock is still there. This is how you count, price, and store what's left, and convert your store or webshop to December in an afternoon.
On November 1st, the same thing happens in most stores: nothing. The pumpkin is still there in mid-November, the boxes with cobwebs are moved to the warehouse without anyone counting what's inside, and in December, the same entrepreneur buys new items even though two boxes are already in the attic. The week after a season is boring work, but it's the week where you earn back the money you lost on purchases.
Below, that week is presented as a round of an hour or two: counting, sorting, pricing down, storing, and switching over.
First count, then tidy up
The temptation to immediately dump everything into boxes is great. Don't do that. What you count on November 1st is the only reliable measure of your season: the difference between what you bought and what you have now is what you've sold.
Walk through your shelf or warehouse rack and note three things per item: how much is left, what you paid for it, and whether it will still be saleable next year. A simple list on paper is enough, provided you keep it in a place where you can find it again in September. Also, take a quick photo of your shelf. Next year you won't remember how you set it up, and a photo is quicker than a description.
Sort into three piles
Every remnant belongs in one of three piles, and you make that choice now, not in a month.
Mark down and out. Everything with an expiration date, everything fashion-sensitive, and everything of which you have more than half a shelf left. Stock that sits for a year costs storage space and yields no return.
Store. Neutral items that don't spoil and will be exactly the same next year: masks, plastic decorations, empty packaging, boxes.
Discard. Damaged packaging, half-empty sets, items where the sticker no longer comes off. Keeping something 'because it's a shame' will cost you the same decision next year plus twelve months of space.
Put doubtful cases in the first pile. An item you get rid of with a discount now will always yield more than the same item that remains unsold next year.
If you work with "from-to" prices instead of a discount sign, first check which rules apply to displaying previous prices. A bin with 'all € 2' or 'three for € 5' is administratively simpler and often sells remnants better than a percentage.
Storing so it's still usable next year
The 'store' pile preferably does not end up in garbage bags. Garbage bags tear, sag, and look like waste in September — which causes you to treat them as such. Use boxes that you can stack and label. The Action Moving Box 480x430x330 mm - 50 liters (€ 3.50) is large enough for light decoration and stacks without collapsing.
Four rules that prevent most misery:
Dry and not on the floor. Cardboard absorbs moisture from a concrete floor. Place a pallet, board, or empty box underneath.
Heavy at the bottom, light at the top. Otherwise, the boxes will be flat in March, and the item inside too.
Label on the short side, not on the lid. You look at a stack, not on it. Write what's inside and how much.
Fragile items separately. Glass, candles, and anything with a thin stem should be wrapped in Bubble Wrap Roll 500 mm x 500 m Transparent (€ 12.95) before going into the box.
When storing, pay attention to what simply isn't durable. Makeup, glue, candy, and batteries have an expiration date. Latex changes color and flexibility after a year in a cupboard. If in doubt, the item belongs in the 'mark down' pile, not the 'store' pile.
Switching to December in one afternoon
As soon as your shelf is empty, it's tempting to slowly restock it. Do it all at once: a half-filled shelf sells worse than a small, full shelf. Start with the spot next to your cash register or your checkout page, as that's the place that yields results fastest.
Finish with ten minutes of writing, while it's still fresh in your mind. Which item was sold out by mid-October? What remained until the last weekend? What price turned out to be too high? When did the first customer ask for it, and when the last? Those four answers will be worth more next year than any purchasing guide, because they are about your customers and your street.
Keep that note with the list from step one and the photo of your shelf, in the same folder as your purchase invoices. Next August, you'll open that folder, and half your work will already be done.
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