Dead Stock: What It Is, What It
Costs, How to Clear It
Dead stock is inventory that has stopped selling — and it costs far more than its purchase price. Here is how to identify it with velocity and aging data, what it is really costing you, six practical ways to clear it, and how forecasting prevents it coming back.
By Replenagise · Updated 11 July 2026 · 7 min read
What is dead stock?
Dead stock (or dead inventory) is stock that has stopped selling and is unlikely to sell at its current price through its current channel. A common working rule for ecommerce: any SKU with zero or near-zero sales in the last 90–180 days, excluding genuinely seasonal lines that are simply out of season.
Dead stock is not the same as slow-moving stock. A slow mover still earns its shelf space at the right reorder quantity; dead stock consumes cash, storage, and attention while returning nothing. The distinction matters because the fixes are different — you reorder slow movers more carefully, but dead stock you clear.
Six ways to clear dead stock
1. Markdown — early and honest
The first markdown is the cheapest. Stock that has not sold in six months rarely improves with age: price it to move while it still has any demand left, and treat the margin hit as recovering cash, not losing it.
2. Bundle it with winners
Attach dead lines to best sellers as bundles or gifts-with-purchase. You clear units at an effective discount without repricing the dead SKU on its own listing.
3. Switch the channel
What died on your Shopify store may still sell on eBay, an outlet marketplace, or a different region. Multichannel sellers clear dead stock by moving it to the channel where residual demand actually lives.
4. Liquidate in bulk
Jobbers and liquidators buy pallets at steep discounts. It feels painful, but compare the offer to another year of carrying cost — recovering 20–30% now often beats 0% later minus fees.
5. Return or swap with the supplier
Some suppliers accept returns, credits, or swaps on unsold lines — especially if you are about to place a bigger PO. It never happens unless you ask.
6. Donate and write off
When recovery costs exceed the recovery, donate the stock, take any available tax relief, and free the space. The worst outcome is paying to store zeros for another year.
What dead stock really costs — and how to prevent it
The purchase cost is only the visible loss. Carrying cost — storage, insurance, capital tied up, handling, obsolescence — typically runs 20–30% of stock value per year. £10,000 of dead stock quietly burns £2,000–£3,000 annually while occupying the shelf space and cash your best sellers need. That is the compounding argument for acting early rather than waiting for a miracle re-order.
Prevention is a forecasting problem. Dead stock is usually born at purchase time: an over-optimistic order with no velocity data behind it, seasonality misread, or a trend that had already turned. Replenagise flags it before and after the fact — stock aging and velocity reports surface dying lines while there is still time to act, and stockout-adjusted, seasonality-aware forecasts keep the next purchase order honest.
Keep going: measure the problem with the inventory turnover ratio, see what running out costs in our stockout guide, or prevent the next batch with inventory forecasting software.
Dead Stock — FAQs
What is considered dead stock?
Inventory with zero or near-zero sales over a sustained window — commonly 90 to 180 days for ecommerce — that is unlikely to sell at its current price through its current channel. Seasonal items that are merely out of season are excluded; they are dormant, not dead.
How do I identify dead stock?
Combine sales velocity with stock aging: any SKU whose units-sold trend has flatlined while stock on hand has not moved is a candidate. Replenagise’s aging analysis and velocity reporting do this automatically, ranking SKUs by days since last sale and days of stock remaining.
How much does dead stock cost?
Beyond the purchase price, carrying cost typically runs 20–30% of stock value per year — storage, insurance, tied-up capital, handling, and obsolescence. £10,000 of dead stock costs roughly £2,000–£3,000 every year it sits, before any eventual markdown.
How do I prevent dead stock?
Buy against a forecast rather than a hunch: demand forecasting with seasonality and trend detection, reorder quantities computed per SKU, and regular reviews of slow movers before they die. Replenagise automates all three, so over-buying gets caught at PO time — not at the year-end stock take.
Catch Dying Stock Before It Dies
Aging analysis, sell-through reporting, and forecasts that stop over-buying at the purchase order — for Shopify and Linnworks.