Sell-through rate calculator
Sell-through rate is the share of the stock you had available that you sold in a period: units sold ÷ units available × 100. Count units available either as the units received in the period, or as beginning inventory plus units received; pick one and use it for every SKU and every period. With 120 units at the start, 480 received and 510 sold, sell-through is 510 ÷ 600 = 85%.
Divide units sold by
Example values for 6 of up to 8 SKUs; replace them with yours. Start is the stock on hand when the period began.
56%sold
Of the stock at the start plus units received, across 6 SKUs.
Fastest: Trail socks at 85%. Slowest: Notebook set at 12%, with 29 weeks of cover at this pace.
How sell-through rate is calculated
Divided by start plus received
1,693 sold ÷ (1,110 at the start + 1,920 received) = 56%
This counts every unit you could have sold in the period: what was on the shelf when it began and everything that arrived during it. Shopify’s sell-through report works this way, dividing units sold by units sold plus units still in stock at the end of the period. That comes to the same number when nothing else, such as a stock adjustment, changed the count.
Divided by units received
1,693 sold ÷ 1,920 received = 88%
This judges one buy or one shipment on its own, a seasonal order for example. It can pass 100% when a SKU also sold stock it already had.
Whichever you pick, use it for every SKU and every period so the rates compare. To turn the stock left into a stockout date and a reorder date, use the days of inventory calculator. For the business-wide view in dollars, use the inventory turnover calculator.
Every SKU, fastest to slowest
Weeks of cover is the stock left divided by what the SKU sold per week during the period. A fast seller with little cover is the next reorder; a slow seller with months of cover is cash sitting on a shelf.
| SKU | Sold | Divided by | Sell-through | Left | Cover, weeks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Trail socks | 510 | 600 | 85% | 90 | 0.7 |
| Phone stand | 225 | 300 | 75% | 75 | 1.3 |
| Water bottle | 300 | 480 | 63% | 180 | 2.4 |
| Canvas tote | 540 | 900 | 60% | 360 | 2.7 |
| Desk lamp | 70 | 350 | 20% | 280 | 16 |
| Notebook set | 48 | 400 | 12% | 352 | 29 |
| All SKUs | 1,693 | 3,030 | 56% | 1,337 | 3.2 |
What slow sellers cost to keep
Stock that doesn’t sell keeps paying rent. At Fulfillment Hub USA, storage starts at $3.00 a month for a small bin, $4.95 for a medium bin and $6.90 for a large one, and at $34.50 a month for a standard pallet or $41.40 for a large pallet. Those are first-tier starting rates; lower rates apply at higher volume tiers, as our published pricing shows.
Before you reorder a slow seller, weigh what it earns against what it costs to hold. For fast sellers, check the weeks of cover against your supplier lead time so the next delivery lands before the shelf is empty.
We receive, store and ship for ecommerce brands from five U.S. warehouses, in Dover, Miami, Houston, Los Angeles (Commerce) and South San Francisco. See how ecommerce fulfillment works with us.
Common questions
What is the sell-through rate formula?
Sell-through rate = units sold ÷ units available × 100, for a set period. Units available is either the units received in the period, or beginning inventory plus units received. With 120 units at the start of the month, 480 received and 510 sold, sell-through is 510 ÷ (120 + 480) = 85%.
Should I divide by units received or by beginning inventory plus received?
Divide by beginning inventory plus receipts when stock carries over from one period to the next; it counts every unit you could have sold. Divide by units received alone to judge one buy or one shipment, such as a seasonal order. Shopify’s sell-through report divides units sold by units sold plus units still in stock at the end of the period, which comes to the same as beginning plus received when nothing else changed the count.
Can sell-through be over 100%?
Only when you divide by units received. If a SKU sold units it already had at the start of the period as well as the new ones, units sold can be more than units received. Dividing by beginning inventory plus received keeps the rate at 100% or below, unless a count is wrong.
What is a good sell-through rate?
There is no single target. It depends on the product, how long it can sit before it loses value, your reorder cycle and your margins. Compare SKUs with each other and with your own plan for the period, and look hardest at the slowest sellers: they hold cash and take up storage.
How is sell-through rate different from inventory turnover?
Sell-through is the share of the units you had available that sold in one period, usually per SKU. Inventory turnover is how many times your average inventory sold through over a period, usually in dollars at cost: cost of goods sold ÷ average inventory.
What does weeks of cover mean?
Weeks of cover is how long the stock you have left would last at the pace you sold during the period: units left ÷ (units sold ÷ weeks in the period). A SKU with 90 units left that sold 510 units in 4 weeks has 90 ÷ 127.5 ≈ 0.7 weeks of cover.
Sources
Checked 2026-10-30. Rules change; confirm with the carrier or agency before you rely on a number.
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