What to Track in Your AllChinaBuy Spreadsheet

Every buyer needs these core fields regardless of experience level or order frequency. Item Name identifies exactly what you purchased. Seller Name connects the item to a specific source for future reference. Item Price records the base cost before fees and shipping. Order Date establishes a timeline for tracking delivery speed.

Status tracks where the item sits in the fulfillment pipeline. A simple progression from Ordered to QC Received to Shipped to Delivered covers most workflows. Notes captures anything that does not fit other columns, like communication with the seller or special instructions.

Buyers placing more than one order per month benefit from additional structure. Agent Fee separates the middleman cost from the item cost. Shipping Cost isolates international delivery expenses. Total Cost uses a formula to sum all expenses, revealing the true per-item price.

QC Photos links to quality control images for quick reference. Shipping Date records when the package left the warehouse. Delivery Date completes the timeline and enables delivery speed calculations. Weight helps estimate future shipping costs for similar items.

Experienced buyers and resellers track additional metadata that enables sophisticated analysis. Batch Code identifies the specific production run, crucial for reordering identical items. Factory Name reveals which manufacturing facility produced the item. Size and Color help when ordering multiples or reselling.

Quality Score is a personal rating after receiving the item, enabling seller performance comparison over time. Resale Price records what you sold the item for if you operate a resale business. Profit Margin calculates the difference between total cost and resale price automatically.

Resist the temptation to track everything from day one. Color, Material, and Season fields add clutter for most buyers. Factory Address and Seller Contact become obsolete when sellers change locations or communication channels. Purchase Link degrades as product pages disappear or change URLs.

Start minimal and expand organically. The best spreadsheet is the one you actually maintain. A perfect but abandoned tracking system provides less value than a simple but consistently updated one.