# Dead stock

> Dead stock is inventory that is not selling and is not going to, tying up money and shelf space you need for something else.

- Source: https://storestandards.com/glossary/dead-stock/
- Also called: Obsolete stock
- Updated: 2026-08-14
- Author: Ruth Alderman, Words, Store Standards

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It is not a category you buy into. It builds quietly, one optimistic reorder
at a time.

## Spotting it early

Set a rule and let the report find it:

- No sales in 90 days, and stock on hand
- Sold fewer units this quarter than last, three quarters running
- More than a year of cover at the current rate

Ninety days is early enough to discount it while somebody still wants it. At
eighteen months your only buyer is a clearance wholesaler.

## Ignore what you paid

The money is already spent. Whether you paid £8 or £28 makes no difference to
what the stock is worth today, and holding out for the
[landed cost](https://storestandards.com/glossary/landed-cost/) is how one season's mistake becomes
three.

The question is what clears it fastest and what the shelf could earn instead.

## Where it goes wrong

Dead stock keeps its [safety stock](https://storestandards.com/glossary/safety-stock/) buffer. A line
that sells one a quarter still has a minimum of twelve set against it, so the
system keeps recommending a reorder for something nobody wants.

The other fault is counting it as an asset in your head. Stock is only worth
what it sells for, and a low
[inventory turnover](https://storestandards.com/glossary/inventory-turnover/) is the number that says so
before your accountant does.

## Related terms

- [Inventory turnover](https://storestandards.com/glossary/inventory-turnover/): Inventory turnover is how many times you sell and replace your stock in a year. Higher means your money is working harder.
- [Landed cost](https://storestandards.com/glossary/landed-cost/): Landed cost is what a unit of stock cost by the time it reached your shelf, including freight, duty and handling.
- [Safety stock](https://storestandards.com/glossary/safety-stock/): Safety stock is the extra you hold to cover the weeks when sales run high or a delivery runs late.