Glossary · Workflow
Workflow stages
Every item a store buys is somewhere between the counter and the shelf. These are the names for those places, so anyone can answer what happens to an item next without picking it up.
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The short version
Eight stages run in order, from Intake to Ready to Sell. Every item sits at exactly one of them. Blocked is not a ninth stage. It is a status an item carries while it is stuck, alongside whichever stage it is stuck at.
The eight stages, in order
- Intake
The workflow stage an item enters the moment a store buys or accepts it, before any work has been done to it.
Often confused with
The purchase or trade-in itself. The transaction is money changing hands. Intake is the item entering the workflow.
In the store
A customer trades in four Game Boy games. All four sit at Intake before anyone has looked at them.
- Testing
The workflow stage where a store confirms the item works, including whether it boots, saves and reads.
Often confused with
Final Check. Testing establishes whether the game works. Final Check confirms the finished item is complete before it goes out.
In the store
A cartridge boots but will not hold a save. It leaves Testing flagged for a new battery.
- Cleaning
The workflow stage where the cartridge, disc, case and label are brought up to a sellable standard.
Often confused with
Repair. Cleaning restores appearance and contact. Repair replaces or fixes a part.
In the store
Corroded contacts on a traded-in cartridge are cleaned before the item is priced.
- Repair
The workflow stage for faults that can be fixed, such as a dead save battery or a cracked shell.
Often confused with
Refurbishment as a whole. Repair covers only the fixable faults. Testing, cleaning and pricing are separate stages.
In the store
A Game Boy Advance with a cracked shell gets a replacement housing, then rejoins the sequence.
- Needs Pricing
The workflow stage indicating that an item's selling price has not been set yet.
Often confused with
A price that is wrong. Needs Pricing means no price exists yet, not that an existing price needs review.
In the store
Nine items came in on Saturday and none has a selling price. All nine sit at Needs Pricing.
- Photos
The workflow stage indicating that the photographs a store needs for the shelf or a listing have not been taken yet.
Often confused with
Marketing photography. The stage tracks whether the required photographs exist, not how they are styled or where they are used.
In the store
A complete-in-box copy is clean and priced, but there is nothing to list it with yet.
- Final Check
The last workflow stage before an item goes out, confirming nothing was left half-done.
Often confused with
Testing. Testing asks whether the game works. Final Check asks whether the item is finished.
In the store
The last look catches a missing manual before the item reaches the shelf.
- Ready to Sell
The workflow stage marking an item as finished and available to sell.
Often confused with
Sold, or listed. Ready to Sell describes the state of the item, not a transaction or a sales channel.
In the store
The copy is finished and priced. When a customer buys it, the store POS rings up the sale.
An optional stage
Some stores add a stage the eight above do not include. It is not a ninth step, and a store that does not use it simply never has anything sitting there.
- Grading Optional
An optional workflow stage for recording a condition grade against a copy.
Often confused with
Testing. Testing establishes whether a copy works. Grading records how its condition is judged, and it belongs after a copy has been confirmed genuine.
In the store
A store that grades records a condition grade for a higher-value copy before pricing it. Most copies never pass through the stage at all.
How to grade a copy consistently is covered in how to grade used game condition.
Blocked is a status, not a stage
- Blocked
A workflow status for an item that cannot move forward, carried alongside whichever stage it is stuck at.
Often confused with
A workflow stage, and a bottleneck. Blocked is a status one item carries while stuck, with no position in the sequence. A bottleneck is a whole stage where work has piled up, and most of the items in it are not Blocked.
In the store
A repair is waiting on a part that has not arrived. The item stays at Repair and is marked Blocked.
Blocked describes one item. When work is piling up at a whole stage, that is a different idea with its own word: see queues and bottlenecks.
Why the names matter
Each name describes the state of an item, not the job of a person. Needs Pricing says a price has not been set. It does not say who sets it or when. That is what lets a second person walk in and know what to do next without asking.
See the stages at work in retro game store operations, and how one item carries its own state in tracking used video game inventory.
Frequently asked questions
What are the workflow stages in a retro game store?
Intake, Testing, Cleaning, Repair, Needs Pricing, Photos, Final Check and Ready to Sell. Blocked is a separate status for an item that cannot move forward.
Is Blocked a workflow stage?
No. Blocked is a status an item carries while it is stuck, alongside whichever stage it is stuck at. It has no position in the sequence.
Can an item be at two stages at once?
No. Every item sits at exactly one stage. That is what makes the question "what happens to this next" answerable without picking the item up.
Does a store have to use all of these stages?
The eight stages name work that happens in most used game stores whether or not it is tracked. A store that never repairs anything will simply have nothing sitting at Repair. Grading is optional, and many stores never use it.
Every item at exactly one stage.
RetroBase tracks where each item is between Intake and Ready to Sell, and what is still waiting on it. Your POS keeps the sale.
Choose RetroBase as a preferred source and Google shows these pages to you more often.
