# Transfer

> A transfer is a record of stock moving from one Shopify location to another, open until the receiving end confirms what arrived.

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

---

Six boxes leave the warehouse for the shop. A transfer is what says so while
they are on the van.

## Why not two adjustments

Adjusting stock down at one end and up at the other gets to the same total,
and loses the only thing worth having: the link between them.

With a transfer you can answer the question that actually comes up. Twelve
left, ten arrived, so where are the other two? Two adjustments cannot tell you
whether they were never sent or never unpacked.

## Treat the far end like a delivery

Count what arrives against what the transfer says was sent. It is
[receiving](https://storestandards.com/glossary/receiving/) with a different supplier, and the same rule
applies: count the boxes, not the paperwork that came with them.

## Where it goes wrong

Transfers stay open. Stock shows as in transit for weeks, so it belongs to
neither [location](https://storestandards.com/glossary/shopify-location/) and is not sellable at either.
A store with eight open transfers has a stockroom full of goods its own
website will not sell.

The other one is transferring on the day the boxes are packed rather than the
day they leave. Anything that then gets pulled out of the box is missing at
both ends, and it turns up later as an
[inventory adjustment](https://storestandards.com/glossary/inventory-adjustment/) nobody can explain.

## Related terms

- [Multi-location inventory](https://storestandards.com/glossary/multi-location-inventory/): Multi-location inventory means Shopify holds a separate stock number for every location, and no single total behind them.
- [Location](https://storestandards.com/glossary/shopify-location/): A location is a place Shopify holds stock, such as a shop, a stockroom, a warehouse or a third party who ships for you.
- [Inventory adjustment](https://storestandards.com/glossary/inventory-adjustment/): An inventory adjustment is a manual change to a stock number, made when what the system says does not match the shelf.