Understanding Item Types

Every item in Peasy fits into a simple structure: one parent item with one or more variants for buying and selling. Understanding how these pieces connect helps you set up your items correctly — and explains why certain items show up (or don't) in different parts of the app.

How to Get There

Open any item from Buy > Items or Sell > Catalog to view its parent item, buy variants, and sell variants.

[Screenshot: Item detail page showing a parent item with buy and sell variants]

How Items Are Structured

When you create an item, Peasy sets up a few things behind the scenes:

• Parent item — The "container" that holds the item name, SKU, category, and custom fields. Think of it as the concept of the product (e.g., "All-Purpose Flour"). A parent item doesn't hold inventory directly.
• Inventory unit — A base unit that tracks stock internally (e.g., "pounds"). You set it during item creation, and Peasy handles it behind the scenes from there — you'll rarely need to think about it again.
• Buy variant — How you purchase this item from vendors. Has its own unit (e.g., "50-lb bag") and a conversion ratio to the inventory unit. Shows up in Buy > Items and on purchase orders.
• Sell variant — How you sell this item to customers. Has its own unit (e.g., "5-lb bag") and a conversion ratio from the inventory unit. Shows up in Sell > Catalog and on sales orders.

Any variants grouped under the same parent share one pool of inventory. When you receive a buy variant, stock goes up in inventory units. When you ship a sell variant, stock goes down. How you group items is up to you — some businesses link buy and sell variants under one parent, while others prefer separate items for what they buy vs. what they sell.

What Can an Item Have?

Not every item needs both buy and sell variants. Here are the common setups:

You can add or remove variants at any time from the item detail page.

Common Questions

How do I create a finished good? Create an item and add a sell variant. Skip the buy variant. If you produce it using a recipe, set up a template with this item as the output.

Why can't I find my item on sales orders? It probably doesn't have a sell variant. Go to the item detail page and add a sell variant — it will then appear in your catalog and be available for sales orders.

Can I sell something I also buy? Yes. You can add both a buy variant and a sell variant to the same item — they'll share one inventory pool, so receiving a purchase increases the stock available for selling. Alternatively, some businesses prefer to track what they buy and what they sell as separate items. Either approach works — it depends on how you think about your inventory.

How do I add non-ingredient items like labels or packaging? Create them like any other item with a buy variant. Set the category to something like "Packaging" or "Supplies" to keep them organized.

What's the difference between an item and a variant? The item (parent) is the product itself — "Organic Honey." Variants are the specific units you buy or sell in — "5-gallon pail" (buy variant) and "12-oz jar" (sell variant). Variants under the same parent share one inventory pool.

How do I set up a bundle or kit? If you sell a product that's assembled from multiple components — like a gift box with several items inside, or hot coffee served with a cup and lid — that's a template in Peasy. Create a Finished Good template where the output is your bundle and the inputs are the individual components. When you complete a work order from that template, Peasy deducts all the components and adds the finished bundle to inventory. See Creating Templates for step-by-step instructions.

If you're looking for a pricing bundle (buy 2 get 1 free, discount when purchasing together) — that's handled through price lists or sales order discounts, not through item structure.

Example: Small Bakery

A bakery called Sweet Spot tracks three items:

• All-Purpose Flour — Buy variant: 50-lb bag. Inventory unit: pounds. No sell variant (it's an ingredient).
• Vanilla Extract — Buy variant: 1-gallon jug. Inventory unit: fluid ounces. No sell variant.
• Sourdough Loaf — No buy variant (they bake it). Sell variant: each. Inventory unit: each.

When Sweet Spot receives 2 bags of flour, inventory goes up by 100 lbs. When they sell 10 sourdough loaves, inventory goes down by 10. The conversion math happens automatically.

Good to Know

• Organize items however fits your workflow. There's no single "right" way to structure your items. Some businesses group buy and sell variants under one parent to share an inventory pool. Others keep them as separate items for simpler tracking. Peasy supports both — set things up in whatever way matches how you think about your products.
• The inventory unit is set once. You choose it when creating an item. Changing it later can cause confusion if you already have inventory history — if you need a different base unit, it's usually better to create a new item.
• Variants can be added anytime. Need to start selling an ingredient you previously only bought? Add a sell variant to the existing item.
• Categories are on the parent. All variants of the same item share one category. Set it on the item detail page.
• "Make" items exist too. If you have a product that a co-manufacturer produces for you (you buy it, but it also has a recipe), it can have a "make" variant with a linked supplier.

Related

• Understanding Items and Units — How units and conversions work
• Adding Your First Items — Getting items into Peasy
• Managing Buy Items — Working with buy variants
• Managing Your Catalog — Working with sell variants
• Creating Templates — Setting up recipes for production