Thrift Store Inventory App: Tag Every Item From Intake to Sale

A thrift store inventory app gives every donated or consigned item a tag number and a record, so you know what came in, what sold, what is sitting in the back room and what is due for a markdown. Describe how your shop works to Mythex and it builds the app on a real database, with a phone intake screen and statuses you choose.

Who it's for

Second-hand and charity shops where stock is a pricing gun and a pile of bags, the back room hides weeks of unsorted donations, consignors' items are tracked in a handwritten ledger, and markdowns happen when someone remembers.

What you can build

Unique tag numbers linked to item records
Intake date and a color code per week
Statuses: to sort, to price, to repair, on floor, listed, sold
Consigned items flagged with their owner
Markdown lists by color and week
Moved-on items recorded with where they went

Make the back room visible

Bags waiting to be sorted and items waiting to be priced or repaired are stock too, and often the largest pile in the building. Give them statuses and count them. A view of 'to sort' and 'to price' by week tells you when to call in extra volunteers, and stops good pieces sitting behind the door for a month.

Count by status
Oldest unsorted bags first
Repair queue with notes

Weekly colors and scheduled markdowns

Each intake week gets a tag color. The app knows which color is due for which markdown: say 25 percent off after three weeks, 50 percent after five, and moved on to another charity or a recycler after seven. Staff get a weekly list by color rather than checking each tag, and you record where moved-on items went.

Consigned items are someone else's property

Flag consigned items with their consignor, agreed price, split and how long you hold them. They must not be moved on with the donations at the end of their run; the consignor should be told to collect or agree a markdown. The same records feed the monthly consignor statement.

Mistakes to avoid

Do not try to record every 50-cent paperback individually; batch low-value items as 'books, mixed' and tag only what is worth tracking. Do not reuse tag numbers. And keep intake fast on a phone, or volunteers will skip the app when the bags pile up.

A prompt to start from

Build an inventory app for my second-hand store. Each item gets a unique tag number, category, price, intake date, weekly color code and status (to sort, to price, to repair, on floor, listed online, sold, moved on). Consigned items record the consignor, split and hold period. Show a weekly markdown list by color, count items by status, and give me a fast phone intake screen with photos.

Questions

Can volunteers add items on a phone?

Yes. Ask for a phone intake screen with photo upload and price. On Pro, Mythex can also turn the app into Android and iPhone apps that open your published app.

Can it print tags?

It can show or generate a tag number and a printable tag page. Printing on a label printer depends on the printer's own software.

Can I connect it to an online shop?

Yes. The same project can add a store where items marked as listed appear online and are removed when sold.

How much does it cost?

Build and publish free with no card. Pro is $25 a month and adds a custom domain, code editing, export and more credits.

Do I need to code?

No. You describe the statuses and rules you want, and change them by chatting.

Templates to start from

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