The Scratch Pile is where items go when they're no longer for sale -- whether they're damaged, kept for personal use, lost, donated, or removed for any other reason. Scratching an item removes it from your active inventory while keeping a record of the cost for your reports.
How to Scratch an Item
Open the item you want to scratch
Tap the more options menu (three dots)
Select Scratch Item
Choose a reason (damaged, keeping, lost, donated, or other)
Confirm the scratch
The item is immediately moved to your Scratch Pile.
What Happens When You Scratch
The item is removed from active inventory counts (Unlisted, Listed totals)
The item's cost is tracked separately as Cost of Goods Scratched in your reports
The item is not deleted -- it stays in your account for record-keeping
Scratch date is recorded for accurate tax reporting
Viewing Your Scratch Pile
Tap the Scratch Pile counter on the Home dashboard
Or filter your inventory by Scratch status using the filter bar
You'll see all scratched items with the reason and date they were scratched.
When to Scratch
Use the Scratch Pile for items that are leaving your sellable inventory:
Damaged -- Broken, stained, or otherwise unsellable
Keeping -- You decided to keep it for personal use
Lost -- Can't find it or it went missing
Donated -- Given to charity or someone else
Other -- Any reason the item is no longer for sale
Good to Know
Scratch vs. Delete -- Scratching keeps the item in your records for reporting and tax purposes. Deleting permanently removes it. Use scratch when you want to preserve the cost history.
Tax reporting -- Scratched items are recognized as a loss in the month they were scratched, not the month they were acquired. This matches standard inventory accounting rules.
You can undo a scratch -- If you scratched an item by mistake, you can restore it back to active inventory.
Scratch date updates -- Changing the scratch date on an item correctly keeps the item in Scratch status. The updated date is reflected in your reports.
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