What is dead stock in inventory?

Dead stock is inventory that has stopped selling and is unlikely to sell at its normal price. Typical examples are last season's colours, discontinued variants, returned items that can't be sold as new, and goods close to their expiry date. It ties up the cash paid for it and keeps costing storage until it is cleared or written off.

What is the difference between dead stock and slow-moving or obsolete stock?

Slow-moving stock still sells, just below plan. Dead stock has stopped selling at its normal price. Obsolete stock can no longer be sold as it is, for example an expired product or a replaced model. Stock usually passes through all three: slow-moving first, then dead, then obsolete if nothing is done.

What causes dead stock in an ecommerce business?

Over-buying a new product before demand is known, ordering every size and colour in equal quantities, reorders that run by habit, seasonal stock that misses its season, listing changes that cut a product's visibility, and dated goods that pass the shelf life buyers accept. Returns that come back damaged or without packaging add to it.

How do you identify dead stock?

List every SKU with its stock on hand and the date it last sold on any channel. Flag the SKUs past a threshold you set for each category, such as 90 days for seasonal fashion. Then count the flagged bins, because some "dead" stock is really missing stock. Review the list monthly, not only at the year-end count.

How can a brand clear dead stock?

Bundle it with a fast-selling product, discount it during a marketplace sale event, move it to an outlet or liquidation channel, return it to the supplier if the contract allows, or donate it. Write-offs are the last step and are booked by your accountant. Selling early at a lower price usually recovers more than waiting.

How much does dead stock cost a business?

It costs the cash paid for it, the storage and handling every month it sits, and the shelf space a better product could use. In the example on this page, 300 units at ₹400 tie up ₹1,20,000, and storage at an illustrative ₹15 per unit a month adds ₹4,500 a month. The stock also loses value as it ages.

How can FEFO and batch tracking reduce expired dead stock?

FEFO, first expiry first out, sends the batch with the earliest expiry date out first, so older stock doesn't sit behind newer stock until it expires. Batch and lot tracking records which batch is in which bin and when it expires, so a warehouse can see stock nearing its date in time to sell, bundle or discount it.

How do you prevent dead stock?

Set reorder points per SKU so slow variants are reordered less, buy new sizes and colours in smaller first lots, and review days since last sale every month. For dated goods, send the earliest-expiring batches out first and record batches per bin. Run regular cycle counts, so the stock on record is the stock on the shelf.

What is dead stock?

Dead stock is inventory that has stopped selling and is unlikely to sell at its normal price, such as an old season's colours, a discontinued variant or goods close to expiry. It still takes up shelf space, ties up the cash paid for it and adds storage cost every month until the business clears or writes it off.

In inventory, dead stock means unsold goods. It is not the “dead stock register” that schools and offices keep for furniture and equipment, not a share that has stopped trading, and not “deadstock” in sneakers and fashion, which means new, never-worn items or unused fabric.

How to spot dead stock in an Indian D2C or omnichannel warehouse

Dead, slow-moving, obsolete and deadstock compared

Term	What it means	What to do
Slow-moving stock	Still sells, but well below plan	Cut reorders, promote, watch it
Dead stock	Has stopped selling at the normal price	Clear it before it costs more
Obsolete stock	Can no longer be sold as it is: replaced model, expired, banned	Return, rework, donate or write off
Deadstock (fashion)	Unused fabric, or vintage items never sold	A sourcing term, not an inventory problem

A simple test: days since last sale. For each SKU, look at the number of days since it last sold on any channel, and compare it with a threshold you set for the category.

Example thresholds a brand might set (illustrative, not a standard): 90 days for seasonal fashion, 180 days for home décor, and for dated goods a cut-off based on remaining shelf life rather than days since sale.

Steps

Export stock on hand and the last sale date per SKU, across every channel.
Flag SKUs past their category threshold.
Check the count: a SKU with stock “on hand” that never sells may be lost or damaged, which is inventory shrinkage, not dead stock.
Decide a clearing route for each flagged SKU and a date to act by.
Stop reordering it.

Example (₹). A brand holds 300 units of a SKU that cost ₹400 each and haven’t sold in 9 months.

Cash tied up: 300 × ₹400 = ₹1,20,000.
Storage at an illustrative ₹15 per unit a month: 300 × ₹15 = ₹4,500 a month, or ₹40,500 over the 9 months.

Selling the lot at ₹300 a unit recovers ₹90,000 and stops the storage cost; waiting another 6 months costs a further ₹27,000 in storage alone. All figures are illustrative.

How to clear it

Bundle it with a fast seller as a combo or kit.
Discount it in a marketplace sale event, when buyers are already looking for deals.
Sell through an outlet or liquidation channel.
Return it to the supplier, where the purchase terms allow.
Donate or write it off. How a write-off is booked is a question for your accountant.

How to prevent it

Set reorder points per SKU, so slow variants are reordered less.
Buy new sizes and colours in smaller first lots.
For dated goods, send the earliest-expiring batches out first (FIFO and FEFO) and record batches with batch and lot tracking.
Run regular cycle counts, so “on hand” means on the shelf.

Common mistakes

Waiting for full price. Every month on the shelf adds storage cost and lowers what the stock will fetch.
Judging by one channel. A SKU that is dead on the website may still sell on a marketplace, and the reverse.
No threshold. Without a days-since-sale rule per category, dead stock is found only at the year-end count.
Reordering by habit. Standing orders keep refilling a SKU nobody buys.
Ignoring expiry. Food and cosmetics become unsellable on a date, not gradually.

Dead stock share = value of SKUs past their threshold ÷ total inventory value. Example: ₹1,20,000 ÷ ₹20,00,000 = 6%.
Days since last sale, per SKU, compared with the category threshold.
Inventory turnover ratio per SKU. Example: 300 units sold in a year against 200 on hand is a turnover of 1.5.

Dead stock in the Indian context

Storage on marketplaces. Amazon.in’s FBA FAQ lists storage of your products in its fulfilment centres among the services FBA fees cover, so dead stock sitting there keeps using storage that those fees pay for. Check the current fee page before deciding to pull it back or clear it.
Shelf life at inward. Marketplace and quick-commerce buyers often set a minimum remaining shelf life for the stock they accept. Stock below it may still sell elsewhere, but not to that buyer, so check each buyer’s current terms.
Dated labels. Food labels carry “Date of manufacture or packaging” and “Expiry/Use by” under the FSS (Labelling and Display) Regulations, 2020 (regulation 5(10)), and the Legal Metrology (Packaged Commodities) Rules, 2011 require a “best before or use by” date where a commodity may become unfit for human consumption over time (rule 6(1)(da)). These dates set when dated stock turns dead.
Festive clearance. Diwali and the big marketplace sales bring in buyers looking for discounts; plan clearance around them.

Questions and answers

What is dead stock in inventory?: Dead stock is inventory that has stopped selling and is unlikely to sell at its normal price. Typical examples are last season's colours, discontinued variants, returned items that can't be sold as new, and goods close to their expiry date. It ties up the cash paid for it and keeps costing storage until it is cleared or written off.
What is the difference between dead stock and slow-moving or obsolete stock?: Slow-moving stock still sells, just below plan. Dead stock has stopped selling at its normal price. Obsolete stock can no longer be sold as it is, for example an expired product or a replaced model. Stock usually passes through all three: slow-moving first, then dead, then obsolete if nothing is done.
What causes dead stock in an ecommerce business?: Over-buying a new product before demand is known, ordering every size and colour in equal quantities, reorders that run by habit, seasonal stock that misses its season, listing changes that cut a product's visibility, and dated goods that pass the shelf life buyers accept. Returns that come back damaged or without packaging add to it.
How do you identify dead stock?: List every SKU with its stock on hand and the date it last sold on any channel. Flag the SKUs past a threshold you set for each category, such as 90 days for seasonal fashion. Then count the flagged bins, because some "dead" stock is really missing stock. Review the list monthly, not only at the year-end count.
How can a brand clear dead stock?: Bundle it with a fast-selling product, discount it during a marketplace sale event, move it to an outlet or liquidation channel, return it to the supplier if the contract allows, or donate it. Write-offs are the last step and are booked by your accountant. Selling early at a lower price usually recovers more than waiting.
How much does dead stock cost a business?: It costs the cash paid for it, the storage and handling every month it sits, and the shelf space a better product could use. In the example on this page, 300 units at ₹400 tie up ₹1,20,000, and storage at an illustrative ₹15 per unit a month adds ₹4,500 a month. The stock also loses value as it ages.
How can FEFO and batch tracking reduce expired dead stock?: FEFO, first expiry first out, sends the batch with the earliest expiry date out first, so older stock doesn't sit behind newer stock until it expires. Batch and lot tracking records which batch is in which bin and when it expires, so a warehouse can see stock nearing its date in time to sell, bundle or discount it.
How do you prevent dead stock?: Set reorder points per SKU so slow variants are reordered less, buy new sizes and colours in smaller first lots, and review days since last sale every month. For dated goods, send the earliest-expiring batches out first and record batches per bin. Run regular cycle counts, so the stock on record is the stock on the shelf.

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Last reviewed: 5 November 2026 by Fretron.

Sources

Fulfillment by Amazon: Frequently Asked Questions ("What are the charges?"). Amazon.in. https://sell.amazon.in/shipping-and-fulfillment/fulfillment-by-amazon/fba-faq (undated page; accessed 5 Nov 2026).
Food Safety and Standards (Labelling and Display) Regulations, 2020, compendium Version VI (22 Feb 2023), regulation 5(10). FSSAI. https://fssai.gov.in/upload/uploadfiles/files/Comp_Labelling.pdf (accessed 5 Nov 2026).
Legal Metrology (Packaged Commodities) Rules, 2011, with amendments, rule 6(1)(da). Department of Consumer Affairs. https://consumeraffairs.gov.in/public/upload/admin/cmsfiles/whatsnews/Book_on_Legal_Metrology_Packaged_Commodities_Rules,2011_with_all_amendments_whatsnews.pdf (accessed 5 Nov 2026).