Dead Stock
Definition
Inventory that has not sold for a long period, usually 6 to 12 months, and is unlikely to sell at full price. It ties up cash and storage and often needs to be written down.
Want a deeper explanation?
Dead stock is cash you already spent that is not coming back at full value. On Amazon it also costs you long-term storage fees every month it sits, so the loss keeps growing.
The fix is usually some mix of discounting, bundling, liquidating or donating, and writing down what is left so the balance sheet tells the truth. Watch for: inventory on the books that has not moved in six months, because it often means your reported profit is overstated.
Example
600 units of last year's colorway, unsold for 9 months, costing $4,200 in cash plus monthly storage fees.