Tips for Moving and Storing Valuables

5 Tricks For Moving When You Run An Ecommerce Store From Your Home

11 October 2017

Candice Vasquez

Whether you sell handmade goods on Etsy or wholesale car parts through dozens of different websites, you likely store much of your inventory at home if your business is small and run by a sole proprietor. While this may work well on saving storage and transportation costs, it makes moving to a new home a little more of a challenge than usual. Taking care to plan your move carefully with your business in mind will minimize interruptions and loss while maximizing the ease of the transition to a new home.

Make Separate Moves

First, considering moving your store inventory at a separate time from your personal belongings and home furnishings. Getting the business move out of the way early allows you more time and space for focusing on the rest of your personal effects without mixing the two and potentially losing or damaging your stock. Planning the move of your inventory separately also allows you to pause your sales at a specific time without the extra stress of also moving the rest of your home at the same time. If you only have a home office or garage full of boxes and bags, you can likely use the same mover you're already hiring for your home move instead of having to invest in a separate commercial service.

Get Early Access

For best results and limited interruption of your business, ask the seller or landlord of your new home if you can access the property early and start storing the items there for now. Consider moving just back stock when you're concerned about quick access in order to ship a purchased product. Many home sellers and landlords are happy to make this kind of arrangement as long as you're willing to sign a contract to protect their rights as you wait on closing and other details. Of course, this strategy won't work if the seller is still occupying the home or there are existing tenants.

Find External Storage

In most cases, moving the entire inventory to a convenient storage unit is the best option to keep the business going as the rest of the move is handled. Choosing a storage unit an equal distance from both your old and new homes saves a lot of travel time. If you absolutely must keep some stock on hand to keep up with the volume of sales you make, try to store 80% of what moves the least and focus on the 20% of products that sell the most. This limits how much you're packing up from your inventory space in preparation for the big moving day.

Hire Temporary Employees

Even if you run your ecommerce store as a full-time business from home, moving to a new house is also a full-time job. This can leave you falling behind on order fulfillment, customer service, and other vital tasks. When you're moving in a hurry at a busy time of year for sales, you can quickly become overwhelmed even with professional moving help. Consider hiring a personal assistant, even a virtual one, to take on as much of your daily ecommerce workload as possible. With the help of the right team of professionals, you can keep your marketing plans on track as well and experience growth while you're busy sorting linens and packing plates.

Time Your Sales

Finally, the months and weeks leading up to your move are a prime window for running big sales on your current inventory at home. Marking down the items filling up your guest room lightens the load of what you must move, reducing moving costs and the strain on your back after a day of packing and lifting boxes.

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