What Inventory Style Do You Utilize?

I have a small business locally selling bicycle and motorcycle parts. I want to have all of the stocks, the prices, the quantities and etc. under one very good database. So far I found a free inventory software but I find it somewhat expensive... Any comment on this?

 

How big is your inventory? If you run a small biz why don't you just use excel to manage your prices/stock???

 

Yes I have seen other people use excel but for me, it is quite time consuming and a bit incomplete with what I prefer. I know that excel is among the top safest softwares to use, but are there any other softwares out there I can use to handle my stocks? So I can keep count of them everyday, icluding my sales, purchases and etc?

Thanks!

 

How many different brands?

How many different items?

This is a simple PHP/MySQL solution. You should be able to find someone to code this for you for $100 or less I would imagine.

Also, Zencart, which is a FREE script found in most cPanel hosted websites (its under Fantastico) has inventory. Free! You click a few buttons, it installs, you can then go in and admin it, add product categories, as many items as you want, manage inventory etc. it builds you a website based on what you put in, doesnt mean you need to make this website LIVE -- it can be hidden from view.

I can do hosting w/ this feature for $39 a year if you dont already have cPanel access with your host, or your host doesnt offer Fantastico.

 

Thanks for the information.

The inventory that Im looking for is for tangible goods. Motorcycle parts to be exact. So, for example, for a spark plug alone, I'd have 3-5 brands. This is pretty much the same with all the other parts... around... 200 - 300 different types of motorcycle parts with each type having about 3-5 brands each. And I would want to keep track of all of them. how many stock are left, added, sold, etc. including the costs and the profit I have earned from each sold item.

 

Zencart.

Like I said, free solution and offers what you are looking for. In addition, it sets a website up for you. So you could then also advertise this website to your customers.

You: Hey we have a website, you can go online and order your parts and pick them up locally
Customer: Really? Great - that would be convenient!

Something along those lines. Or you dont have to advertise the website and keep it hidden from public view, and just use zencart to do your inventory and management stuff. But its pretty powerfull, so why not use it? By entering all the data its already there, it builds your website off that. You dont do anything but enter the categories, create the parts, and it does the rest. Like I said, I have experience with zencart and im sure others on DP do - if you need any specific help, look me up.

 

Ahhh...
I didn't quite know that it worked that way.
Although I'm very much interested on how this stuff really works, especially that it sounds so amazing.
But I think it would bring me to a halt when talking about the price.