If you sell on eBay, Poshmark, Mercari, Depop, Etsy, Whatnot, or at local markets, your spreadsheet is not just a list of items. It is your profit system. Missing one fee column or shipping cost can make a profitable-looking flip turn into a break-even sale.
The best reseller spreadsheet template answers four questions quickly: what do I own, what did it cost, what did it sell for after fees, and what should I do next?
At minimum, track item title, SKU, source, cost, listing platform, list price, status, sale date, sale price, marketplace fee, shipping charged, shipping cost, net profit, ROI, and tax category.
The core reseller spreadsheet tabs
Keep the file simple. Most resellers only need four tabs until volume grows:
- Inventory: every item you bought, where it came from, what it cost, where it is listed, and its current status.
- Sales: sold date, sold price, platform fees, shipping, returns, and net profit.
- Expenses: packaging, mileage, storage, software, supplies, subscriptions, and other deductible costs.
- Sources: thrift stores, estate sales, garage sales, online auctions, wholesale lots, and marketplaces you buy from.
Inventory columns every reseller should track
Inventory tab
| Column | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| SKU or item ID | Stops duplicate rows and helps match the spreadsheet to photos, storage bins, and shipping labels. |
| Item title | The searchable name you use for listing, reporting, and finding old stock. |
| Category | Shows which niches make money: shoes, trading cards, electronics, clothing, collectibles, books, or vintage. |
| Source | Tracks whether a thrift store, estate sale, garage sale, marketplace, or wholesale lot is actually worth revisiting. |
| Purchase date | Turns your sheet into an ageing report so death pile items do not sit forever. |
| Cost of goods | The buy cost you need for profit, ROI, and tax records. |
| Listed platform | eBay, Poshmark, Mercari, Depop, Etsy, Whatnot, Shopify, local, or multiple platforms. |
| List price | Lets you compare asking price to sold price and spot items that need repricing. |
| Status | Draft, listed, cross-listed, sold, returned, donated, personal use, or lost. |
Sales columns that prevent fake profit
The sale price is not your profit. A useful reseller spreadsheet separates every cost that happens after the buyer pays.
Sales tab
| Column | What to enter |
|---|---|
| Sale date | The day the item sold or payment cleared. |
| Sale platform | The marketplace that took the order. Keep this separate from where it was originally listed. |
| Sale price | Gross item price before marketplace deductions. |
| Buyer shipping charged | Shipping collected from the buyer, if separate from item price. |
| Platform fee | eBay final value fees, Poshmark commission, Mercari fees, Depop fees, promoted listing fees, or payment processing. |
| Shipping cost | Postage, labels, packaging, insurance, and any shipping subsidy you paid. |
| Discounts and refunds | Offers, coupons, partial refunds, cancellations, and returned-item adjustments. |
| Net profit | Sale price + shipping charged - item cost - fees - shipping cost - discounts/refunds. |
| ROI | Net profit divided by item cost. This shows whether a $20 profit was worth the capital tied up. |
Simple formulas for reseller profit and ROI
Use formulas that make the money visible. If your row has cost in column F, sale price in K, shipping charged in L, fees in M, shipping cost in N, and refunds in O, your spreadsheet can calculate:
- Net profit:
=K2+L2-F2-M2-N2-O2 - ROI:
=IF(F2=0,"",P2/F2) - Days to sell:
=IF(J2="","",J2-E2)
Those formulas are only useful if the columns stay consistent. When you cross-list across marketplaces or import sales from multiple apps, standard names matter more than pretty formatting.
Expense and tax columns to keep clean
Do not bury business expenses in notes. Create an expense tab with date, vendor, category, amount, receipt link, and notes. Common reseller categories include packaging, postage, mileage, storage, software, platform subscriptions, office supplies, cleaning supplies, photography gear, and cost of goods not tied to a single SKU.
For tax time, separate inventory cost from operating expense. Cost of goods belongs with items. Packaging, mileage, software, and storage belong in expenses. If you are not sure how to classify something, keep the receipt and ask a tax professional.
When a spreadsheet starts costing you money
A spreadsheet is a great starting point. It becomes a growth blocker when you are spending listing time on manual updates. Watch for these signs:
- You forget to remove sold items from other platforms.
- Fees are estimated instead of imported or calculated consistently.
- You cannot answer which source has the best ROI.
- Old inventory has no ageing report or markdown workflow.
- Tax totals require a weekend of cleanup.
- You have separate sheets for eBay, Poshmark, Mercari, Depop, Etsy, and expenses.
If your reseller spreadsheet already has title, cost, platform, status, sale price, fees, and shipping columns, you can export it as CSV and import it into stokd instead of rebuilding your inventory from scratch.
Download or migrate your reseller spreadsheet
Use stokd’s CSV template if you are starting clean, or upload your existing spreadsheet when you are ready to move from manual rows to live inventory, sales, expenses, and profit reports.
Download the CSV template, then read the spreadsheet import guide to see how stokd maps your current columns into inventory and sales.