SOH (Sellable on Hand)
SOH (Sellable on Hand) is the quantity of inventory that is available to sell right now: units in the network that could be picked and shipped to a customer immediately.
What is SOH?
SOH (Sellable on Hand) is the quantity of inventory that is available to sell right now: units in the network that could be picked and shipped to a customer immediately.
Which is not the same as total inventory. Damaged units, expired stock, inventory under inspection, and stock in transit between facilities all exist, cost money, and cannot be sold. Sellable on hand is the number that determines whether the listing can actually serve demand — and when it reaches zero, the listing stops earning.
Why the exclusion matters more than the total
A warehouse full of unsellable inventory looks like stock on a summary report and behaves like a stockout on the detail page. That gap is where planning errors hide: a seller plans replenishment against total units, the sellable figure is materially lower, and the listing runs dry earlier than any of the numbers suggested it would.
Storage costs also accrue on units that cannot be sold, so the problem compounds: inventory that generates costs and no revenue while occupying the capacity that sellable stock needs. The practical discipline is to plan against the sellable figure and treat the difference as a task list — what is damaged, what is under review, what needs a removal decision.
Keeping the number honest
Reconcile it regularly: the sellable figure should match a physical or systematic count of what could be shipped today. Persistent differences point at damage in handling, aged stock that needs disposition, or transfers that are slower than assumed.
And watch its trend rather than its snapshot. A sellable figure that is stable while total inventory climbs means the difference is widening — unsellable units accumulating quietly. That is the signal to resolve the damaged and stranded stock before it becomes the reason a peak-season shipment cannot be accommodated.
In practice
A seller reconciles sellable on hand against the total monthly, finds a growing gap made up of damaged and stranded units, and clears them — some returned, some liquidated, some written off. The sellable figure settles close to the total, replenishment plans stop under-delivering, and storage costs drop on stock that was never going to sell.
How Harpy Media helps
Inventory accuracy is part of our operations work: sellable units reconciled against total stock, unsellable inventory cleared rather than carried, and replenishment planned on what can actually be shipped.
SOH FAQ
What is sellable on hand inventory?
The quantity of units available to sell and ship immediately within the fulfilment network — excluding damaged, expired, under-inspection, and in-transit units.
Why is it different from total inventory?
Because not all inventory can be sold. The difference is stock that incurs storage cost without generating revenue, and it is the figure planning should use.
What does it mean if sellable on hand keeps falling?
Units are being lost to damage, ageing, or review faster than they are being replenished — or a transfer process is slower than assumed. It is a signal to investigate and clear the unsellable stock.
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