Clay, glazes, and a kiln full of variables
Ceramics inventory does not behave like anything off the shelf. You buy clay by the box and glazes by the pint, then those become mugs, bowls, and planters over days of throwing, drying, and firing. What comes out of the kiln is not always what went in: some pieces are firsts, some are seconds, and some crack. On top of that, a lot of your work is one-of-a-kind. A generic inventory app was not built for any of this.
Track clay and glazes as materials
Your real raw materials are clay bodies, glazes, underglazes, and slips. Stockria links them to finished pieces with a bill of materials, so a batch of mugs draws down the clay and glaze it used, and you always know how much you have left and what to reorder before a studio session. Work out the true material cost of a piece with the recipe cost calculator, then price it with the handmade pricing calculator.
Kiln batches and the seconds problem
Firing is where counts get messy. You load a bisque or glaze batch, and it comes out as a mix of firsts, seconds, and losses. If your system assumes everything you made is sellable at full price, your stock and your numbers are both wrong. In Stockria you record what actually came out, adjust the counts, and can track seconds separately from firsts, so what you list for sale matches what is really on the shelf.
One-of-a-kind pieces and small batches
Much of a potter's catalog is unique or made in small runs, which means lots of low-count items and a constant stream of new SKUs. A clean, consistent code keeps them findable. Generate one in seconds with the SKU generator, and let real-time counts and activity history keep even single pieces accurate.
Sell across the studio, galleries, Etsy, and markets
Potters rarely sell in one place. There is the studio or a shelf at a shop, wholesale to galleries, Etsy or your own site, and fairs. That spread is exactly where overselling creeps in, because one channel does not know what the others sold. Stockria keeps one stock count synced across Shopify, Amazon, Square, and Etsy, and works offline at a fair or a studio with no signal, then syncs when you reconnect. More on that in how to stop overselling on Etsy.
Set up in an afternoon, free
Start free for up to 250 items with every feature, no credit card. If your pieces and materials live in a spreadsheet or another tool, send it to us and we set it up for you, free. Or see it in action first, no signup.
Common questions from potters
Is Stockria good for a pottery studio? Yes. It tracks clay and glazes as materials through bills of materials, handles the firsts-and-seconds reality of firing with stock adjustments, and manages lots of unique, low-count pieces with clean SKUs. It also syncs stock across channels and works offline.
Can it handle glazes and clay as raw materials? Yes. Set up a bill of materials for a piece or a batch, and Stockria draws down the clay and glaze when you make it, so materials and finished pieces stay accurate together.
How do I handle seconds and firing losses? Record what actually came out of the kiln with a stock adjustment, and track seconds separately from firsts so your sellable counts are honest. Activity history keeps a record of every change.
How does it compare to Craftybase for ceramics? Craftybase is strong on detailed cost accounting and is billed by monthly order volume. Stockria is flat-priced, starts free, works offline, and syncs stock across channels, while still doing bills of materials. See the Stockria vs Craftybase comparison, or the broader makers and Etsy sellers guide.