Product stock management

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Product stock management in GP247

Introduction

This document explains the stock management business logic of GP247/S-Cart for non-technical shop owners: when stock goes up or down, the two key settings that decide whether over-stock selling is allowed, and why an order created in the admin panel decrements stock exactly like an order a customer places on the storefront. After reading it you will be confident configuring stock and understanding how the numbers move.

1. The two numbers on every product

Every product has two quantity numbers to remember:

  • Stock (stock): the amount currently available to sell.
  • Sold (sold): the amount already sold (statistics only, increases automatically).

There is also a Minimum quantity (minimum): the least a customer must buy in one order (default is 1).

When an order is placed, the system decreases stock and increases sold by the same amount. When an order/line item is removed, stock is returned.

2. Stock lifecycle diagram

flowchart TD
    A["📦 Product stock"]
    A -->|"Create order (storefront OR admin)"| B["stock down · sold up<br/>by the ordered quantity"]
    A -->|"Add / increase a line item in admin"| B
    B -->|"CANCEL order · delete line · reduce quantity"| A
    A -->|"Re-open a cancelled order (stock is checked)"| B
    A -.->|"Bundle-type product"| C["Decrement EACH component's stock<br/>by its quantity in the bundle"]

If your reader cannot render the diagram, think of it simply: goods sitting on an order are not sitting in the warehouse. Placing an order takes them out, cancelling puts them back, and re-opening a cancelled order takes them out again.

3. The two settings that govern selling against stock

Two switches in Store configuration directly affect stock:

Setting Located in Meaning
Stock management (product_stock) Product config On = the shop tracks stock. Off = stock is ignored — always allow buying.
Allow buy out of stock (product_buy_out_of_stock) Order config On = customers may buy beyond stock (stock can go negative). Off = block when over stock.

The system's "enough stock to sell" rule is:

Allow the quantity if ( allow buy out of stock ) OR ( stock is not managed ) OR ( stock ≥ ordered quantity ).

Hierarchy (important): product_stock is the master switch. product_buy_out_of_stock only has an effect when product_stock is on. If stock management is off, the "allow buy out of stock" option has no meaning (the system always allows buying). The two switches do not conflict — they combine with OR.

There are also two related (optional) settings:

  • Hide out-of-stock products (product_display_out_of_stock): with stock management on, a product at 0 is hidden from the storefront.
  • Pre-order (product_preorder): allow pre-ordering even without stock.

4. When does stock DECREASE, when is it RETURNED?

Stock decreases (stock down, sold up) when:

  1. A customer successfully places an order on the storefront (checkout completed).
  2. You create an order in admin (the Create Order screen).
  3. You add a line item to an order in admin.
  4. You increase the quantity of a line item (only the difference is taken).
  5. You re-open a cancelled order — moving it from "Cancelled" to any other status. The goods returned when it was cancelled are taken back out. This step checks stock first — see the warning below.

Stock is returned (stock added back) when:

  1. Cancelling an order — status → "Cancelled" → returns stock for all of its line items.

  2. Deleting a single line item on an order.

  3. Reducing a line item's quantity (only the difference is returned).

  4. Deleting an order → returns stock if the goods have not come back yet (an order cancelled earlier is not credited a second time).

Nothing happens to stock when:

  • Any other status change, e.g. "New" → "Processing" → "Done". Only moving into and out of "Cancelled" affects stock.

ℹ️ Changed in v3.0 — read this if you are used to the old behaviour. Before v3.0, deleting an order was the only way to get stock back, and setting it to "Cancelled" did nothing. It is now the other way round:

  • Cancelling an order (status → "Cancelled") → stock comes back, and the order stays on file.
  • Deleting an order → stock also comes back (if it has not already), but the order is gone for good.

Why: getting stock back used to require deleting the order, so every cancellation cost you the record. Now you choose: cancel to keep the paperwork, or delete when the order should never have existed at all (a typo, a test).

✅ There is no order of operations to remember. Deleting returns the goods on its own, and if the order was cancelled earlier the system knows they are already back and does not credit them twice.

🚫 An order that has shipped cannot be deleted. While its shipping status is "Sending" or "Shipping done", deletion is blocked — crediting the goods back to stock while they sit with the customer would be wrong. Change the order status instead.

⚠️ Re-opening a cancelled order takes the stock back out — and may be refused. While the order sat cancelled, its goods were in the warehouse and may have been sold to someone else. When you re-open it, the system checks stock first:

  • Enough stock → it is taken out and the status changes normally.
  • Not enough stock and "Allow buying out of stock" is off → the system refuses, tells you why, and changes nothing at all: no line is touched and the order stays "Cancelled". To re-open it, restock the products or turn on "Allow buying out of stock".

That all-or-nothing refusal is deliberate: taking a few lines and stopping halfway would leave stock wrong while the order still showed its old status — wrong in a way nobody could trace.

ℹ️ Cancelling twice does not return the goods twice. The system remembers which orders currently have their goods sitting in the warehouse. An order cancelled, re-opened and cancelled again moves the goods exactly once each way — pressing cancel twice never doubles your stock.

Key point: admin-created orders decrement/return stock just like customer orders. Previously admin orders did not touch stock, causing inconsistent figures — this is now unified.

5. How do Bundle products decrement stock?

For a Bundle (Bundle/Build) product, selling 1 bundle decrements the stock of each component by the quantity declared in the bundle (and also the bundle's own stock if it is tracked).

Example: "Gift set" = 1 box of cookies + 2 bottles of water. Selling 1 set → removes 1 box of cookies and 2 bottles of water from stock.

For how to create and configure bundles, see Bundle products (Bundle/Combo) and Product structure.

6. Over-stock is blocked UNIFORMLY on both storefront and admin

When Stock management (product_stock) is on and Allow buy out of stock (product_buy_out_of_stock) is off, if the ordered quantity exceeds stock:

  • On the storefront (customer buying): the system blocks — an over-stock order cannot be placed.
  • In admin (you create/edit an order): the system also blocks, exactly like the storefront — an over-stock order/line cannot be saved and an error is shown. (Applies to: creating a new order, adding a line, and increasing a line's quantity.)

In short: both customers and admins are blocked on over-stock — same rule, same product_buy_out_of_stock setting.

Change note (from 2026-08-16): previously admin was only warned but could still save an over-stock order; now it is uniformly blocked to prevent overselling against real stock on any channel.

Still need to create an over-stock order in admin (sell first, backorder, restock later)? → turn on "Allow buy out of stock" (product_buy_out_of_stock). Both channels then allow over-stock (stock may go negative).

7. Step-by-step configuration (for beginners)

  1. Log in to the admin panel and open Store configuration.
  2. Open the Product group and find Stock management (product_stock):
    • Turn it on if you want to track stock quantities.
    • Turn it off for services / unlimited quantities (always allow buying).
  3. Open the Order group and find Allow buy out of stock (product_buy_out_of_stock):
    • Off to block over-stock selling (recommended for physical goods).
    • On to allow buying even when out of stock (stock can go negative).
  4. Open each Product and enter its Stock (stock) and Minimum quantity (minimum) if needed.
  5. Save. On success the system reports a successful update and the stock numbers apply immediately on the storefront.

Test tip: create a test order in admin for a product that has stock, then reopen that product to check that stock decreased and sold increased correctly.

Q&A

Q1: How do I make the shop ignore stock (always allow buying)?

→ Turn off Stock management (product_stock). The system will then always allow buying without checking stock.

Q2: How do I block customers from buying when out of stock?

→ Turn on Stock management and turn off "Allow buy out of stock" (product_buy_out_of_stock). When stock reaches 0, customers can no longer order.

Q3: Why did creating an order in admin not change stock (in the old version)?

→ That was an old bug: admin orders did not decrement stock. The current version is fixed — admin orders decrement/return stock like customer orders.

Q4: In admin, can I save an over-stock order?

→ No (when Stock management is on and "Allow buy out of stock" is off). From 2026-08-16, admin is blocked just like the storefront customer — an over-stock order/line cannot be created. If you genuinely need over-stock (sell first, backorder), turn on "Allow buy out of stock".

Q5: Can stock go negative?

→ Yes, only when "Allow buy out of stock" (product_buy_out_of_stock) is on. Then both customers and admins can order beyond stock and it goes negative (you owe stock). With that setting off, no channel (admin included) can create an over-stock order.

Q6: Does deleting an order return stock automatically?

→ Yes — and if the order was already cancelled (the goods are back), the system does not credit them again. Note that an order which has already shipped cannot be deleted at all, because its goods are with the customer, not in your warehouse.

Q7: How do Bundle products decrement stock?

→ Selling 1 bundle decrements the stock of each component by its quantity in the bundle. See the Bundle products document.

Q8: How is "Sold" (sold) different from "Stock" (stock)?

→ stock is the amount left to sell; sold is the amount already sold, used only for statistics and increased automatically when orders are placed.

Q9: How do I hide products when out of stock on the storefront?

→ Turn on Hide out-of-stock products (product_display_out_of_stock); with stock management on, a product at 0 will not be shown.

Q10: What is the Minimum quantity (minimum) for?

→ It forces customers to buy at least a certain amount per order (e.g. wholesale minimum of 10). The default is 1.

Change history

Date GP247 version Change
2026-08-29 v3.0 Cancelling an order now returns stock (it did not before); deleting still returns it but only when the goods have not already come back, and is blocked once the order has shipped; re-opening a cancelled order takes stock back and is refused when stock is short and "allow buying out of stock" is off; cancelling, re-opening and deleting repeatedly moves the goods exactly once each way

📅 Last updated: 2026-08-29 · ✍️ Author: GP247