# Dead Stock & Returns: The Best Way Out for Every Slow or Dead Item

> Dead Stock & Returns is the dead stock management agent in the Ai1 platform by MyZone AI for distributors and parts businesses: it sorts each part from healthy to dead and ranks the best way out for every stuck item, such as a supplier return, a relabel or another sales channel, for your team to choose.

Canonical page: https://myzone.ai/pages/agents/ai-dead-stock-agent
Part of Ai1, by MyZone AI. Book a Dead Stock walkthrough: https://calendly.com/d/ct6h-tcy-8qf/ai1-demo?a1=Dead%20Stock%20%26%20Returns&utm_source=myzone.ai&utm_medium=agent-page&utm_content=ai-dead-stock-agent-final
Last updated: 2026-10-30. Reviewed by the MyZone AI team.

Find the stock that stopped selling and the best way to clear each item.

## At a glance

- **Sorting:** Healthy, slowing, at risk or dead, at each location, by thresholds you set
- **Seasonal parts:** Checked against the same months in past years before any flag
- **Exits ranked:** Stop reordering, return, relabel, move to another location or sell through another channel
- **Supplier returns:** Return limits, age rules and shipping cost weighed; parts of unknown age held for a check
- **Money lines:** Cash back, credit, avoided reorders and exit loss on separate lines, as estimates
- **Protected parts:** Parts key customers rely on stay in stock and go to a person to decide

## What Dead Stock & Returns does

- **Sorts each stocked part:** It labels each part at each location as healthy, slowing, at risk or dead, using thresholds you set.
- **Checks the season first:** A seasonal part is compared with the same months in past years before it is flagged during its quiet period.
- **Ranks the exits:** Stop reordering, return it to the supplier, relabel it as a matching item, move it to another location or sell it through another channel.
- **Applies supplier return rules:** Return limits, age rules and shipping cost are weighed, and parts of unknown age are held for a check.
- **Keeps money lines apart:** Cash back, supplier credit, avoided reorders and any loss on the exit are reported on separate lines.
- **Drafts the yearly return list:** When your team shares a supplier's history, it drafts the annual return list within that supplier's allowance.

## How Dead Stock & Returns differs from a yearly clear-out

A yearly clear-out finds dead stock late, after it has tied up value on the shelves for months, and can clear parts a customer still needs. Dead Stock & Returns sorts every part each week, checks the season first, keeps parts your key customers rely on and ranks each exit with its trade-offs. Recovery figures are estimates for your review. It recommends only; your team approves each exit and handles every supplier and customer contact.

How this differs from the Inventory Lead (https://myzone.ai/pages/agents/ai-inventory-agent): To manage ongoing min/max levels, use the Inventory Lead; Dead Stock & Returns finds the stock that is already stuck and ranks the best way to clear it.

## How it works

1. **Set your thresholds** (When you first set up): Agree what counts as slow and dead, which customers are protected and the return terms of your main suppliers.
2. **It reviews the week's stock** (Each week): Each location's parts are sorted and the stuck ones get ranked exit options.
3. **Proposals join the review** (In the weekly review): Its list goes into the weekly review run by the Inventory Lead.
4. **Your team chooses** (you approve) (Before anything is cleared): People pick the exit for each item, or keep it. Talking to suppliers and customers stays with your team.

## When to use it

- **Shelves of parts nobody has ordered in ages:** They are listed by location and value with the strongest exit for each.
- **A supplier allows a yearly return:** The draft list fits the allowance and leaves out parts that do not qualify.
- **A slow part sells well at your other location:** It points this out so the stock can be moved instead of cleared.
- **A seasonal part looks dead in its off-season:** The year-over-year check stops it being flagged too early.
- **Nobody is sure how old some stock is:** Those parts are marked for a check before any return or sell-off.

## What you get

- A weekly list of slow, at-risk and dead stock by location
- Ranked exit options for each stuck item
- A yearly supplier return draft within the allowance
- A summary with cash back, credit and exit loss on separate lines
- Questions for your team where data is missing

## Example: slow and dead stock review with ranked exits

Example with a fictional company. Names, people and figures are invented to show the agent's output. Any resemblance to a real company or person is unintended.

What it was asked: Which parts are stuck on our shelves, and what is the best way to move each one out?

This is an illustrative example of the monthly stock review Dead Stock & Returns is being built to produce. It was written by hand from the agent's design for an invented company with invented parts, suppliers and figures; no real systems or people were involved, and nothing was sent, posted, paid or changed. Run date: 22 October 2026.

### What it found

- $214,600 of Ostmarrow's $1.62M stock at cost sits in slowing, at-risk or dead parts, and $92,800 of that has not sold in 18 months or more.
- Seven brake lines worth $12,145 at cost fill 98% of this year's Supplier A return allowance; three more were kept off for age or a good chance of selling.
- Seasonal, key-customer, other-location and age checks kept 82 lines off the exit list, and four decisions wait for the purchasing manager, general manager and warehouse lead.

## Guardrails

- Your Ai1 team will tell you when Dead Stock & Returns is ready for your account.
- It recommends only. Your team approves each exit before anything changes.
- It does not contact suppliers, customers or reps. Returns and sell-offs are arranged by your team.
- Parts your protected customers rely on are kept in stock, not cleared to zero.
- Recovery figures are estimates for your review, not promises.

## Frequently asked questions

### When does inventory count as dead stock?

There is no single rule. Many businesses call stock slow when it has not moved for several months and dead when it has gone a year or more without a sale, with allowances for seasonal parts. Dead Stock & Returns sorts each part from healthy to dead using your own thresholds and checks the same season in past years first.

### What are the ways to clear slow-moving parts inventory?

The usual options are to stop reordering, return the part to the supplier, relabel it as a matching item, move it to a location where it sells or sell it through another channel. Each has a different cost. Dead Stock & Returns ranks these exits for each stuck item and puts the trade-offs side by side for your team to choose.

### How do you plan a return of excess stock to a supplier?

Start with the supplier's return rules: how much you may send back, how old the stock may be and who pays shipping. Then pick the parts that qualify and fit the allowance. Dead Stock & Returns drafts that list from the supplier history your team shares and holds parts of unknown age for a check.

### What does dead stock management involve?

Finding stock that has stopped selling, working out what it is worth and choosing the least costly way to clear it. Dead Stock & Returns does the finding and ranking each week, and your team picks the exit.

### Will Dead Stock & Returns return or sell stock for us?

No. It ranks the options. Your team decides and handles any contact with suppliers or customers.

### How does it treat seasonal parts?

It compares the same months in past years before flagging a seasonal part, so a quiet season is not mistaken for dead stock.

### Can it tell us how much money we will recover?

It estimates cash back, credit and any loss for each option, labelled as estimates. The real result depends on your suppliers and customers.

### Is Dead Stock & Returns available now?

Not yet. Your Ai1 team will tell you when Dead Stock & Returns is ready for your account. You can talk to us today about clearing slow and dead stock.

## More on this topic

- [Do You Really Need a CFO, or Do You Need Better Data?](https://myzone.ai/pages/blog/ai-financial-health-monitor): Most small businesses fly blind financially until it is too late. AI-powered monitoring delivers CFO-grade financial insight at a fraction of the cost.

## About Ai1

Ai1 is the AI operations platform by MyZone AI, where each client runs on its own private server. Dead Stock & Returns is not sold on its own: every Ai1 agent, including this one, is included on Developer Pro and every Fully Managed option, with no per-agent charge. Developer Core includes the development agents.

Pricing: https://myzone.ai/pages/services/ai1-pricing. Security: https://myzone.ai/pages/security.