Dead stock: meaning, overstock, and how to find and clear it on Shopify
By Andrew Simpson, founder of Canopy Inventory. Last updated .
What does dead stock mean?
Dead stock is stock you hold that has stopped selling: it has had no sales over a period you choose, such as the last 90 days. Overstock is broader: you hold far more of a product than you will sell in a reasonable time, even though it still sells. Both tie up cash and space. To find dead stock, list every variant with stock and check its units sold over your chosen period. To clear it, bundle it with products that sell, discount it in a clearance collection, sell it to a trade buyer, donate it or write it off.
Dead stock meaning
In retail and ecommerce, dead stock (also written deadstock) means inventory that is not selling and is unlikely to sell at its normal price. It is usually measured as "no sales for N days" while the item is in stock. There is no single official number of days. Pick one that suits how fast your products normally sell and use it consistently.
In fashion and sneaker circles, "deadstock" means something different: new, unworn items, often in original packaging. This guide uses the inventory meaning.
Dead stock vs overstock vs slow-moving stock
- Dead stock: in stock, with no sales over your chosen period.
- Overstock (excess stock): still selling, but you hold more than you need. Measure it in weeks of cover, which is how long your stock lasts at your current sales rate, and set a ceiling such as 26 weeks.
- Slow-moving stock: selling at a low rate. That is fine if you bought to match it. It becomes overstock when the stock you hold is large compared with that rate.
- Obsolete stock: stock that cannot be sold as it is, for example a discontinued version or out-of-date packaging. It is often, but not always, dead stock too.
Dead stock and overstock formulas
- Dead stock test: stock > 0 and units sold in the last 90 days = 0
- Dead stock value = units in stock × cost per item
- Weeks of cover = stock ÷ (units sold in the window ÷ days in the window × 7)
- Overstock test: weeks of cover > your ceiling (for example 26 weeks)
- Excess units = stock − (ceiling in weeks × units sold per week)
- Excess value = excess units × cost per item
Worked example: one dead SKU, one overstocked SKU
Example (round made-up numbers).
SKU A has 200 units in stock and sold nothing in the last 90 days. It is dead stock. At a cost per item of £8, its dead stock value is 200 × £8 = £1,600.
SKU B has 600 units in stock and sells 10 a week, so it has 60 weeks of cover. With a 26-week ceiling you would hold 26 × 10 = 260 units. Excess units = 600 − 260 = 340. At a cost per item of £5, the excess value is £1,700. SKU B is not dead, it still sells, but £1,700 of cash is sitting in stock you will not need for at least 26 weeks. Do not reorder it until its cover falls back below the ceiling.
How to find dead stock in Shopify
- Export your stock: in the Shopify admin go to Products > Inventory, click Export, and choose all locations and all variants. The file includes the available and on-hand quantity for each variant.
- Get units sold for the period: the Inventory sold daily by product report shows the average units sold per day for each variant over the period you choose. Set it to the last 90 days and multiply by 90 for units sold.
- Match the two lists by SKU. Any variant with stock and no sales in the period is dead stock. Variants with sales but very high weeks of cover are overstock.
- Value it: the Month-end inventory value report values on-hand stock using your cost per item, or multiply units by the "Cost per item" column from a product export.
- Shopify's Products by sell-through rate report, based on the most recent 30 days, is a quick way to see which variants are barely selling.
How to clear dead stock
- Bundle it with products that sell, as a set or a gift with purchase. Check the bundle still makes a profit at the bundle price.
- Discount it in its own clearance collection, rather than in a site-wide sale, so full-price products are not discounted with it.
- Sell to a trade or clearance buyer. Recovery per unit is low, but you get cash and space back quickly.
- Donate it. In the UK, giving trading stock to a charity can have tax effects, so check the treatment with your accountant first.
- Write it off if it has no resale value and is costing you storage. Agree the accounting with your accountant.
Tracking end-of-season clearance sales
To see whether a clearance is working, keep the clearance lines together and measure them separately. Put them in one collection, use one discount for them, and record the starting units and value. Each week, compare units sold and units left against the start. If units left are not falling, change the offer or move to the next clearance option rather than holding the stock for another season.
How to stop dead stock building up
- Size every order from weeks of cover: enough for your lead time plus the cover you want, minus stock you have and stock on order.
- Order sizes and colours in proportion to what actually sells, not in equal quantities.
- Buy new lines in small quantities first, then reorder what sells.
- Review weeks of cover weekly so overstock is caught while it can still be sold at a fair price.
- Be careful with minimum order quantities: buying the minimum can create years of cover on a slow seller.
How Canopy Inventory does it
Canopy Inventory, a read-only Shopify app coming soon to the Shopify App Store, flags dead stock and overstock for every SKU using fixed rules:
Dead stock: in stock, with no sales (its own or inside bundles) in the last 90 days, or in all the history read if that is shorter. A SKU is never called dead with under 14 days of history.
Overstock: more than 26 weeks of cover at the planning rate, or no sales in the last 30 days, or in all the history read if that is shorter. Excess is the stock beyond 26 weeks of cover.
These thresholds are not editable in the first version. On the Pro plan, the Top 3 actions list can include clearing dead stock and not reordering overstock, with urgent buys first and then the actions worth the most. The Free plan covers your 50 most recently sold SKUs. See how Canopy calculates for the full rules.
See dead stock and overstock flagged for every SKU
Canopy Inventory shows how many weeks of stock each SKU has left, when it runs out and what to reorder. Read-only. Free for your 50 most recently sold SKUs.
Sources
- Shopify Help Center, exporting inventory with a CSV file: help.shopify.com/en/manual/products/inventory/setup/inventory-csv
- Shopify Help Center, inventory reports (Inventory remaining per product, Inventory sold daily by product, Products by sell-through rate, Month-end inventory value): help.shopify.com/en/manual/reports-and-analytics/shopify-reports/report-types/default-reports/inventory-reports
- Shopify Help Center, product CSV columns including Cost per item: help.shopify.com/en/manual/products/import-export/using-csv
- How Canopy Inventory calculates each figure: How Canopy calculates
Last updated 6th November 2026: our three dead stock and overstock articles merged into this one guide, with the dead stock meaning, formulas, a worked example and Shopify steps. Unsourced figures removed.
Frequently Asked Questions
Dead stock is inventory that has stopped selling: it is in stock but has had no sales over a set period, such as 90 days, and is unlikely to sell at its normal price.
Dead stock is not selling at all. Overstock is still selling, but you hold more than you need, for example more than 26 weeks of cover at the current sales rate.
There is no official number. Choose a period that suits how fast your products normally sell and use it consistently. Canopy Inventory uses 90 days.
In the sneaker and fashion world, deadstock means brand-new, unworn items, often in the original box. In inventory management, dead stock means stock that is not selling.
Keep clearance lines in one collection with one discount, record the starting units and value, and compare units sold and units left each week. If units left stop falling, change the offer.
Only after bundling, discounting, selling to a trade buyer and donating have been tried or ruled out. Agree any write-off or donation with your accountant.
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