Concepts
The ideas Intakes is built on, one per page, in the order they are easiest to read. Each one explains how the product models something and why it was modeled that way, so the numbers it shows you can be trusted.
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1
Mixed-lot costing: sell before you finish counting
Buy a storage unit or a pallet for one price, sell before you have finished counting, and get the true cost of every piece when you close — including the ones you already sold.
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2
Why a sweater with a leash hole is its own item
Sizes, colors, a cuff sleeve, a leash hole: every version of a product that a buyer would not accept in place of another is its own item in Intakes. Here is the rule that decides it, how a whole item family is kept in one grid, and how a marketplace listing with only a couple of variation slots still lands every order on the exact item.
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3
Attributes and families: what belongs together
When is a difference between two products an attribute, and when is it a separate family? One test decides it, one rule forces it, and a real shop with three fabrics shows why the obvious answer — one color attribute for everything — is the wrong one.
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4
Selling on eBay and Etsy at once, without selling anything twice
List the same item on two marketplaces and sell it at a market too. What each shop offers should be what you can actually sell. Here is how Intakes keeps it that way, and the one minute it cannot.
What changed in the product, release by release, is the changelog; notes from building it are the blog.