- What makes Craftybase different from other inventory software?
- Most inventory tools are built for warehouses or retail — not for makers who create products from raw materials. Craftybase understands recipes, batches, and the messy reality of small-batch production. We track materials through to finished goods, calculate your true COGS, and connect to the marketplaces where you actually sell.
- Can Craftybase handle complex recipes and multi-level bills of materials?
- Absolutely. You can nest as many component levels as you need — raw materials, sub-assemblies, finished products. Making soap with custom fragrance blends? Candles with your own wax formulas? Jewelry with pre-made findings? Craftybase handles all of it.
- Does Craftybase sync with my sales channels?
- Yes — we connect with Etsy, Shopify, Amazon, WooCommerce, Faire, Square, Squarespace, Wix, and PayPal. Orders come in automatically, materials get deducted based on your recipes, and for channels like Shopify and Etsy, we push your stock levels back so everything stays in sync.
- How does Craftybase calculate Cost of Goods Sold (COGS)?
- We use weighted average costing — factoring in your material costs, labor, and overhead. Every time you buy materials or manufacture products, your costs update automatically. And if you're using QuickBooks, you can sync your COGS and inventory valuations directly — no more manual journal entries.
- Is Craftybase good for small manufacturing businesses?
- That's exactly who we built it for. If you're manufacturing products — whether that's candles, cosmetics, food, jewelry, or anything else you make by hand — Craftybase handles the inventory tracking that generic small business tools can't. Production runs, material deductions, lot tracking, manufacturing reports — it's all built in.
- Is there a free trial?
- Yes — every plan comes with a 14-day free trial. No credit card needed. You can bring in your existing data, connect your sales channels, and see if Craftybase fits the way you work before you commit.
- How does inventory software differ from a spreadsheet?
- A spreadsheet requires you to manually update every stock level, build your own formulas for cost calculations, and reconcile data across multiple tabs. Dedicated inventory software like Craftybase updates stock levels automatically when you log purchases, production runs, and sales. Your material costs and COGS recalculate in real time. Orders import directly from sales channels like Etsy and Shopify. And you get capabilities a spreadsheet cannot replicate — recipe-based material deductions, lot traceability, low-stock alerts, and financial reports — without maintaining complex formulas or risking manual errors.
- How do I track raw materials and finished goods inventory?
- In Craftybase, you add raw materials (like wax, flour, fabric, or wire) as inventory items with their own units of measurement and purchase history. You then create recipes that define how much of each material goes into a finished product. When you log a production run, Craftybase automatically deducts the raw materials used and adds the finished goods to your product inventory. Both material and product stock levels stay current without manual counting — and you can set low-stock alerts to know when it's time to reorder.
- What is perpetual inventory and how does software help?
- Perpetual inventory is a system where stock levels are updated continuously — after every purchase, production run, and sale — rather than counted periodically. Craftybase implements perpetual inventory automatically: when you buy materials, your stock goes up; when you manufacture products, materials are deducted and finished goods are added; when you sell, product stock decreases. This gives you an always-current view of what you have, what it's worth, and what you need to make or order next — without manual stock counts.
- What features should craft business inventory software include?
- Inventory software for craft businesses should include recipe and bill of materials management, automatic stock deductions during production, raw material and finished goods tracking, cost-per-unit calculations, lot and batch traceability, sales channel integrations (Etsy, Shopify, Amazon), COGS reporting for tax purposes, low-stock alerts, and pricing guidance based on actual material costs. Craftybase includes all of these features and is purpose-built for small-batch makers and artisan manufacturers.