Skip to content
Stock & purchasing

Consignment (sale or return)

Receive a supplier's copies on sale or return, sell them like any stock, owe only what is sold or kept, send the rest back, and see each consignor's statement.

Some publishers and distributors leave copies in the shop on sale or return: you pay for what you sell and give back the rest. Those copies are not the shop's until they are sold, so BooksPOS keeps them apart from your own stock and your books. This guide covers receiving consigned copies, selling them, keeping or returning them, and each consignor's statement.

This policy was confirmed on 27 September 2026: the shop's own copies are always sold first. By default the shop's own copies are sold first, a consigned copy is owed to the supplier the moment it is sold, and damaged copies are kept at the agreed price. If your suppliers work differently (for example they expect their copies to be sold first, or settle monthly), tell the BooksPOS team.

How to receive copies on consignment

  1. Open New receipt, choose the supplier, and choose Consignment ("Sale-or-return copies from this supplier: receive, send back, keep"). The window Consignment: (supplier) opens.
  2. In What happened, choose Receive on consignment: "Copies stay the supplier's. Nothing is owed until one is sold or kept, and the books do not change."
  3. Add each item with its Unit, Qty and Price: the price agreed per unit, "owed for each one sold or kept".
  4. Type the Delivery note number (optional).
  5. Choose Receive. "MAIN-CR000002: Rs 24,000.00 received on consignment. Nothing is owed until copies are sold or kept."

The copies go onto the shop floor. On Stock they appear on their own rows marked Consigned; they are not in At cost or the inventory account.

The Consignment dialog receiving 10 atlases on consignment from Sample Press (demo)

Consignment. Copies on sale or return stay the supplier's until sold or kept. Screenshot of the current build (28 Sep 2026), synthetic demo data.

Selling consigned copies

Nothing changes at the till: the cashier sees one quantity per item, own and consigned together. When the bill is saved:

  1. the shop's own copies are sold first;
  2. the rest come from consigned copies, oldest delivery first (even across two suppliers of the same title);
  3. each consigned copy sold becomes the shop's at that moment, and its agreed price is owed to that supplier, added to their balance like a bill.

You pay the supplier with Pay supplier, as for any bill. See Supplier payments and advances.

Sending unsold copies back

  1. In the consignment window, choose Send unsold copies back ("Nothing is owed for copies sent back").
  2. Add the items and quantities. The line shows how many are here from this supplier. Tick Damaged to note their condition.
  3. Type a Reason (optional), for example season over, and choose Send back.

"MAIN-CT000001: copies worth Rs 6,000.00 sent back to (the supplier)." Nothing is owed for them and the books do not change.

Keeping copies

Choose Keep copies as the shop's own when the shop buys copies out at the end of the season, or when consigned copies are lost or damaged in the shop: "The shop owes the agreed price for them, as for a sale." "MAIN-CK000001: Rs 1,200.00 kept; now owed to (the supplier)." The copies become the shop's own stock at the agreed price. Tick Damaged to put them straight into damaged stock.

The consignor's statement

At the top of the consignment window, each title shows what came in, was sold, went back and was kept, what is still here, and its value. The supplier's balance on Suppliers includes what is owed for sold and kept copies.

Reports › Stock value shows consigned copies on their own line: "Also on the shelves, not the shop's stock and in none of these totals: consigned copies worth …".

Rules worth knowing

  • Customer returns of a bill with consigned copies go back into the shop's own stock at the bill's cost: the copy was already owed to the supplier when it was sold. If the supplier will take it back, send it as a publisher return.
  • A bill voided the same day is undone completely: its consigned copies go back to the supplier's deliveries they came from, and nothing is owed for them any more. See Returns, reprints and A4 invoices.
  • Counts never write off a consignor's copy silently. If more copies are missing than the shop owns, posting the count waits until you keep them. See Stock counts while the shop stays open.
  • Consigned copies stay on the shop floor. Moves to the godown, adjustments and publisher returns act on the shop's own stock only.
  • Who can do this: owners, managers and warehouse staff.

Common questions

Do consigned copies make my stock value look bigger?

No. They are shown apart and are in none of the stock totals, because they are not yours.

When do I owe the supplier?

For each copy the moment it is sold or kept, at the agreed price. Pay whenever you settle with them.

A customer returned a consigned copy. Does the supplier get it back?

It goes into your own stock. If the supplier will take it, send it back with a publisher return and their credit note.

Can two suppliers consign the same title?

Yes. Each delivery is tracked on its own, so what is owed and what can be returned is right for each supplier.

Last updated 27 September 2026. Still stuck? Contact us.