# Available inventory

> Available inventory is the stock a customer can still buy. It is what you hold on hand, minus what is already promised to other orders.

- Source: https://storestandards.com/glossary/available-inventory/
- Also called: On hand vs available
- Updated: 2026-08-14
- Author: Marcus Ilori, Support lead, Store Standards

---

Shopify shows both. People read the wrong one all the time.

## The four states

- **On hand** is everything physically in the building
- **Committed** is on hand but already sold, waiting to be picked
- **Unavailable** is damaged, or reserved for something else
- **Available** is what is left, and the only one your storefront sells from

On hand 40, committed 12, available 28. All three numbers are correct at once.
Available can go below zero, but only if you have allowed
[backorders](https://storestandards.com/glossary/backorder/) on that line.

## Which one to trust

Available, for anything a customer sees. On hand, for anything you are
counting.

A [stocktake](https://storestandards.com/glossary/stocktake/) counts on hand, because the twelve
committed units are still on the shelf until somebody picks them.

## Where it goes wrong

Somebody sees available 28 during a count, finds 40 on the shelf, and adjusts
the number down by twelve. Twelve real units are now invisible, and the next
order for them fails.

The other one is a picked order that never got marked fulfilled. The units are
committed for weeks, available stays low, and the line looks like a
[stockout](https://storestandards.com/glossary/stockout/) while the stock sits in a box by the door.
Check your oldest unfulfilled orders before you reorder anything.

## Related terms

- [Stockout](https://storestandards.com/glossary/stockout/): A stockout is running out of something a customer wanted to buy. The lost sale is usually the smallest part of the cost.
- [Backorder](https://storestandards.com/glossary/backorder/): A backorder is an order for something you do not have in stock yet, taken on the promise that it is coming.
- [Stock accuracy](https://storestandards.com/glossary/stock-accuracy/): Stock accuracy is how often the number on screen matches the number on the shelf, counted line by line rather than in total.