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Shopify Available vs On hand vs Committed: which number to trust
Updated 9 November 2026 · 4 min read · ShelfTrue team
Shopify shows four stock numbers for every product at every location: Available, Committed, Unavailable and On hand. If your inventory never seems to sync with what's on the shelf, half the time it's because you're reading the wrong one of the four. Here is what each one counts, which one your store actually sells from, and which one to compare with your warehouse.
The four numbers, in one table
| Number | What it counts | Changes when |
|---|---|---|
| Available | Units a customer can buy right now at this location. | A sale (down), a received delivery (up), a hand edit, an app update. |
| Committed | Units already in orders that aren't fulfilled yet. Still physically there, but spoken for. | An order is placed (up), fulfilled or cancelled (down). |
| Unavailable | Units set aside for another reason: damaged, quality control, safety stock, or on hold for a draft order. | You or an app move units in or out of these states. |
| On hand | Everything at the location: Available + Committed + Unavailable. | Any of the above. |
There's a fifth, Incoming, for stock on a purchase order or transfer that hasn't arrived. It isn't part of On hand and isn't for sale until it's received.
Which one your store sells from
Available. When Available reaches 0, the product shows sold out online, unless you've allowed selling when out of stock for that product. On hand can be 20 and the product still shows sold out, because 15 are committed to orders and 5 are marked Unavailable.
This is the number to watch for both kinds of trouble: too high and customers buy what you can't ship; too low and you turn away sales for stock you have.
Which one to compare with your warehouse
Your warehouse or inventory software has its own names, but the same idea: an on hand count, an allocated or committed count for orders being picked, and an available (or fulfillable) count that is on hand minus allocated.
Compare like with like:
| Shopify | Warehouse | Use it for |
|---|---|---|
| Available | Available / fulfillable | The daily check: can I ship what I'm selling? |
| On hand | On hand minus damaged or quarantined | A stocktake: is the physical count right? |
The pair that misleads most: Shopify Available against the warehouse's on hand. The warehouse looks higher by every unit in an order being packed, and you'll "fix" a difference that was never there.
A worked example
| Blue hoodie, size M | Shopify | Warehouse |
|---|---|---|
| On hand | 20 | 18 |
| Committed / allocated | 5 | 5 |
| Unavailable | 3 | 2 damaged |
| Available | 12 | 11 |
On hand says Shopify is 2 high. Available says it's 1 high. The 1 is the real risk: one more customer can buy a hoodie the warehouse can't ship. The other unit is a damaged hoodie the warehouse already took out, and Shopify's Unavailable count simply hasn't caught up with it.
Three things that move these numbers without you
- Apps. A warehouse app, a point-of-sale app or a marketplace connection can each set Available. Open the product, find the Inventory section and click View adjustment history: the Created by column names who did it.
- Fulfillment holds. An order on hold keeps its units Committed. Old holds nobody released can keep units out of Available for weeks.
- Locations. Each location has its own four numbers. Stock at a location that doesn't fulfill online orders doesn't count toward what the online store can sell.
Quick answers
- Available is negative. How? The product was oversold, or allowed to sell when out of stock. New stock first fills the hole: at −4, the next 5 units received make Available 1.
- On hand matches the shelf but Available looks wrong. Check Committed and Unavailable. Units are sitting in one of them.
- I only care about one number. Available. It's the one customers see.
Related guides
- Why Shopify stock doesn't match ShipBob (and how to find which products)
- How to find paid Shopify orders that never reached ShipBob
- Shopify oversold but ShipBob has none: what to check first
- Shopify says sold out but ShipBob has stock
- ShipBob orders on hold, and why they make stock numbers differ
- Available, on hand, fulfillable: which stock numbers to compare
- How to check Shopify stock against ShipBob after Black Friday
- Shopify inventory discrepancy: how to find it, fix it and keep it from coming back
- Cin7 Core and Shopify stock don't match: what to check
- Katana and Shopify stock don't match: what to check
- Mintsoft and Shopify stock don't match: what to check
- Inventory reconciliation for a Shopify store: a routine you can keep
- How to move Shopify inventory to a third-party warehouse, step by step
ShelfTrue compares the right pair for you. Upload your warehouse's stock file and ShelfTrue sets Shopify Available next to your warehouse's available count for every linked product, takes out orders still on their way, and shows the differences with the money at risk. We can look, but never change anything at the warehouse.
Your first check is free.
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