Find dead stock and free up the cash it's tying up

Spot listings that have not sold in 60 days or are priced below cost, see the capital tied up, and jump to the repricer.

Dead stock is inventory sitting in listings that is not moving, and every day it sits there is cash you cannot use for anything else. The Dead Stock page finds the listings most likely to be a problem, that is, unsold for a long stretch, priced below what they cost you, or barely covering their fees, and shows you how much capital is tied up so you can decide what to reprice, bundle, or clear.

What counts as dead stock

DashVue flags a listing as dead stock using a combination of signals, not just one rule:

  • Unsold past 60 days. The listing has been live for more than 60 days with no sale.
  • Priced below cost. The current listing price is lower than what the item cost you, meaning a sale at that price would lose money before fees are even counted.
  • Thin margin. The listing is technically priced above cost, but the margin left after eBay and payment fees is small enough that it is barely worth holding stock for.

Any one of these can land a listing on the page. A listing that has been live 90 days and is also priced below cost is a much higher priority to deal with than one that just crossed the 60-day mark at a healthy margin.

Reading the capital tied up figure

Alongside each flagged listing, DashVue shows how much capital it represents, calculated from the item’s cost of goods sold (COGS) and how many units are sitting in that listing. Add these up across all your flagged listings and you get a total figure for how much cash is currently parked in stock that is not selling.

DashVueAsk DashVueAIOVERVIEWShipDashboardCalendarSTOCKStockRepricerSELLINGOrdersOffers3ReturnsMessagesFeedbackFINANCEReportsTax centreExpensesCost of GoodsInsightsSettingsSAccountseller@example.comSTOCKDead stockListings that aren't selling and the cash they're tying up - with one tap to mark them down.Open repricerCapital tied up£140.00Cash frozen in stock that isn't movingDead-stock items4Unsold past 60 daysPriced below cost1Every sale loses money - fix firstThin margin1Sells, but barely worth itHow stale is your dead stock?Cash tied up grouped by how long each listing has sat unsold. Thefurther right, the colder - and the more urgent to clear.£100£50£0360-89d190-179d£95.00 in 60-89d£45.00 in 90-179dThe number above each bar is how many listings sit in that age band. £45.00 is frozen inyour oldest band (90-179 days listed) - usually the first thing worth clearing.Clear these firstOpen repricerRanked by cash tied up. Mark them down with the repricer's SmartMarkdown, or open the listing on eBay to act.1Vintage Denim Jacket74 days listed · 4 in stock · £18.00 · -12% marginBelow cost£60.00View on eBay2Retro Game Console91 days listed · 3 in stock · £42.00 · 22% marginNot selling£45.00View on eBay3Sample Cable 2m (10 pack)63 days listed · 10 in stock · £4.20 · 4% marginThin margin£35.00View on eBay4Demo Gadget Case v268 days listed · 2 in stock · £9.99Not selling£0.00View on eBaySearch title, SKU or item number…All flagged4 listingsColumnsLISTINGWHY FLAGGEDDAYS LISTEDIN STOCKPRICEMARGINCASH TIED UPVintage Denim JacketSKU DEN-01Below cost744£18.00-12%£60.00ViewRetro Game ConsoleSKU RGC-02Not selling913£42.0022%£45.00ViewSample Cable 2m (10 pack)SKU CAB-10Thin margin6310£4.204%£35.00ViewDemo Gadget Case v2SKU CASE-2Not selling682£9.99n/a£0.00ViewShowing 4 of 4 listingsPage 1 of 1Dead stock = active listings unsold for 60+ days, plus 2 listings flagged for a pricing leak. "Capital tied up" is stock-on-hand × yourcost price, so items without a COGS set show £0 - add cost prices in Stock for accurate figures.
The full Dead Stock page: the four cash-at-risk KPIs, the aging chart and the Clear these first board, with the flagged-listings table highlighted (demo data shown).

Capital figures need a COGS set

The capital-tied-up numbers only work if you have set a cost of goods sold for an item. Any listing without a COGS entered is counted as £0 tied up, which understates the real total. If your dead stock totals look too low, check whether some of your flagged listings are simply missing a cost.

Working through the list

  1. Open Dead Stock and sort by days unsold or by capital tied up, whichever matters more to you right now.
  2. Check each flagged listing against its cost and current price. A listing priced below cost needs a price change before anything else, regardless of how long it has been live.
  3. For listings that are simply slow but priced fine, decide whether a price cut, a bundle, or a straight markdown is the right move.
  4. Jump to the repricer directly from a flagged listing to adjust the price without leaving the page.
  5. Re-check the list after a repricing pass. Listings that sell or get corrected drop off; anything still there after another stretch of time is worth a harder look.

Limits worth knowing

Dead Stock totals cover your oldest 2,000 listings. If your account has more live listings than that, the ones outside this window are not included in the totals or the flagged list, so a very large catalogue may have dead stock that is not surfaced here.

Repricing still needs Full Access

Jumping from a flagged listing to the repricer lets you change the price, but pushing that change to eBay needs a Full Access eBay connection. A read-only connection can show you the dead stock list and let you draft a new price, but it cannot publish the update until you upgrade the connection.

See the related articles below for more on setting cost of goods sold and using the repricer.

Last updated 2026-07-05.

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