Inventory and IMEI tracking alongside your POS
Keep the POS as the system of record for the sale, and give every used device its own record for everything the POS does not hold: the IMEI check, the grade, the buy price, the status and the listing. Sync the two both ways so the device exists in both systems and nobody types it twice.
By JJ Brown, founder of STACKS. Updated 2026-10-04.
Where used-device margin actually leaks
Shops that buy and resell phones lose money in the gaps between tools, not at the register. A device gets bought without a blacklist check. A grade lives in someone's head. The buy price was a guess. The phone sits in a drawer with a status nobody knows. The listing goes up late and sells for less. None of that is the POS's job, and so the POS does not do it.
What a device record needs
- The IMEI check, at intake. Blacklist, lost or stolen, carrier lock, model and storage. Run before money changes hands. STACKS includes a free CDBL check on every Stack and connects to paid checks for deeper history.
- The grade and the test. Condition, what was tested, and photos, attached to the device so the next person does not redo it.
- The buy price and the sell price. Both against live market data, so the floor on the buy and the ceiling on the sell are numbers, not instinct.
- The status. Testing, ready, listed, held, sold, returned. One field, visible to the whole team.
- The listing. Where it is for sale, and a sold sync so a phone sold at the counter comes down off eBay before someone else buys it.
How this sits beside the POS
The POS keeps doing what it does: the ticket, the invoice, the payment, the receipt. The device record lives in STACKS and syncs with the POS both ways. With MyRepairApp that sync covers customers, tickets and inventory. With RepairDesk it covers customers, invoices and tickets. Either way the device exists in both systems and the counter does not change.
The rule: actions record in both systems. A device bought in STACKS shows in the POS. A sale rung up in the POS updates the device status in STACKS. If you find yourself typing an IMEI twice, the integration is not finished.
A simple way to start
- Pick one intake path (walk-in buyback, or mail-in) and run every device through an IMEI check and a grade for two weeks.
- Give every device a status and make the team update it. The first thing you will learn is how much stock was "somewhere".
- Price against market data for buys and sells. Compare to what you were doing from memory.
- Then connect the POS, so the record and the register stop drifting apart.
The device checks, pricing and inventory tools live in The STACKS App, which runs on web, desktop and mobile and comes with every Stack. The IMEI and device check and inventory and marketplace pages show the workflow in detail.
Questions shops ask about this
Why does my POS not track IMEI well?+
A POS is built around the sale: the ticket, the invoice, the payment. A used device has a life before and after the sale: the IMEI check, the grade, the buy price, the test, the listing, the resale. Most POS systems record the sale and leave the rest to spreadsheets.
What does an IMEI check actually tell me?+
Whether the device is blacklisted or reported lost or stolen, its carrier lock status, its model and storage, and in some checks its financing and activation history. STACKS runs these checks at intake so a bad device never becomes inventory.
Does STACKS replace my POS inventory?+
No. The POS stays the system of record for the sale. STACKS holds the device record (IMEI, checks, grade, prices, status, photos) and syncs with the POS both ways, so the device shows in both without re-keying.
Which POS systems sync?+
RepairDesk (customers, invoices, tickets) and MyRepairApp (customers, tickets, inventory) have the deepest two-way sync. RepairShopr and RepairSpots also integrate, with fewer features so far. STACKS also works alongside GoHighLevel and Google Sheets.
Talk it through with JJ first.
Free consulting comes before any plan. Book a call, bring your site and your POS, and leave with a plan whether you sign up or not.
Book a Demo