StowFindSell

Adding & Editing Items

Items are the core of StowFindSell. Documenting your physical belongings securely allows you to track their value, remember exactly where you stored them, and prove ownership for potential insurance claims.

How many items can I add? The Free plan includes up to 100 items, Starter includes 500, and the Home and Family Pro plans are unlimited (see Plans & Billing).

Single Item Creation Flows

There are multiple ways to add an item to your digital inventory, depending on what type of object it is and how much detail you need to record.

1. Manual Entry (For Basic Items)

  1. Look for the large, square green button with a white "+" shape inside it, located in the bottom right corner of your screen.
  2. Clicking or tapping this button will pop up a small menu with three options: Add Item, Bulk Add, and Add Container.
  3. Select Add Item to open the main entry form.
  4. Fill out the form with details about your object:
    • Photo: Use the three buttons at the top of the form — Camera (take a picture on the spot), Scan (barcode/ISBN lookup), or Upload (pick a photo from your device).
    • Item Name: A clear title (e.g., "Apple iPad Pro").
    • Location: Where is the item currently stored in your house?
    • Category: Group the item practically. You can choose from the 21 included Base Categories or create your own custom buckets.
    • Tags: Add custom hashtags (e.g., "#needs-repair", "#vintage") to capture highly specific filterable details without cluttering your overarching categories.
    • Financials: Enter the Purchase Price and an Estimated Current Value.
    • Extended Details: For insurance-grade records, you can also capture the Brand, Model, Serial Number, Purchase Date, Purchase Price, Quantity, a scanned Receipt, and a "High Value" flag.

Pro Tip: The form has a memory. Whenever you save an item, it remembers the Location, Category, Tags, and Owner you used, and pre-fills them on your next item — perfect for rapidly cataloging a whole shelf.

Built-in Taxonomy (Base Categories & Tags)

While you are free to infinitely customize your drop-downs in the Household Settings page, StowFindSell ships with 21 robust Base Categories designed to capture 99% of a typical household's inventory:

  • Appliances
  • Automotive
  • Books, Movies & Music
  • Clothing & Accessories
  • Crafts & Hobbies
  • Documents
  • Electronics
  • Furniture
  • Garage
  • Health & Medical
  • Home Decor
  • Kitchenware
  • Linens & Bedding
  • Office Supplies
  • Pet Supplies
  • Seasonal & Holiday
  • Sports & Outdoors
  • Storage & Organization
  • Tools & Equipment
  • Toys & Games
  • Valuables & Collectibles

2. Barcode & ISBN Scanning (The Fastest Approach)

If you are cataloging a book or a product that still has its retail barcode box, use the Native Scanner instead of typing everything out. (Barcode lookup is included with the Starter plan and up.)

  1. Click the large green "+" button in the bottom right corner and select Add Item.
  2. At the top of the form, in the photo row, click the middle Scan button (next to Camera and Upload).
  3. Point your phone camera directly at the barcode (UPC on a product box) or ISBN (on the back of a book).
  4. The system will instantly search external databases and automatically type in the precise retail name of the product, and usually embed a high-quality stock photo for you.

Cataloging a whole bookshelf? Use the Save & Scan Another button to save the current item and jump straight back into the scanner for the next one.

3. AI Vision Analysis (The Intelligent Approach)

If you have a unique item (like modern furniture, art, or apparel without a barcode), let the AI identify, categorize, and value it for you. (AI Vision is included with the Home plan and up.)

  1. Click the large green "+" button and select Add Item.
  2. Attach one or more photos of the item using the Camera or Upload buttons at the top of the form. The form will note that the AI will analyze your photos when you save.
  3. Save the item. In the background, the AI analyzes your photos to identify the make or model, suggest a Category, tags, a description, and an Estimated Value.
  4. Once analysis is complete, the item appears in the Requires Review queue on your Dashboard.

The Requires Review Queue

Any item with pending AI suggestions lands in the Requires Review section at the top of your Dashboard. Open one of these items to see the AI's suggestions marked with a ✨ Suggested badge, then choose:

  • Accept All Suggestions: Applies the AI's suggestions in one click. It only fills in fields you left blank — anything you typed yourself is never overwritten.
  • Dismiss: Rejects the suggestions and keeps the item exactly as you entered it.

Dynamic Ownership & Auto-Fill

StowFindSell includes a "Dynamic Ownership" system to keep track of who owns what in your house.

When creating an item, the Owner field acts smartly:

  • It automatically suggests the names of other family members you have invited to your household.
  • It remembers custom names you've typed in the past (e.g., "Joint Ownership", "The Kids", or "Dad").
  • Most importantly, when you save an item under a specific owner, the form remembers that preference. If you immediately catalog a second object right after, the Owner field remains pre-filled with the same person, speeding up your entry time.

Bulk Add (Photo-Powered Room Uploads)

If you want to rapidly document a storage bin full of tools or a closet of clothes, use the Bulk Add feature. Instead of filling out a form for every single object, you simply photograph everything and let the AI do the data entry.

  1. Look for the large green "+" button in the bottom right corner and select Bulk Add.
  2. Choose a Default Location for the batch (e.g., "Tool Chest - Drawer 3"). If you skip this step, your items are placed in an automatically created "Review" location so nothing gets lost.
  3. Drop in (or select) a batch of photos — one photo per item works great.
  4. Photographed one object from multiple angles? Select those photos and use Group as One Item so they become a single entry instead of duplicates.
  5. Click Upload.

Each photo (or group of photos) becomes a draft item, and the AI immediately analyzes it to suggest a name, category, tags, and estimated value. The drafts land in the Requires Review queue on your Dashboard, where you can accept or dismiss the AI's suggestions for each one.

Importing from a Spreadsheet or Another App (CSV Import)

Already have an inventory somewhere else? You don't have to start over. StowFindSell imports CSV files directly, so a spreadsheet you built years ago (or an export from another inventory app) becomes real items in a couple of clicks.

  1. Go to All Items (profile menu) and click Import CSV (Admins and Editors only).
  2. Choose your .csv file. The first row should be column headers; a Name column is required.
  3. Review the preview: you'll see how many items were found and which columns were recognized.
  4. Click Import. Items appear in your inventory immediately, and any Location names in your file that don't exist yet are created for you automatically.

Column names are matched flexibly, so headers like "Item", "Room", "Where Stored", "Qty", "Price Paid", and "Labels" are all understood alongside the standard names (Name, Description, Category, Location, Quantity, Estimated Value, Purchase Price, Brand, Model, Serial Number, Owner, Tags). Columns we don't recognize are simply ignored. You can also download our starter template, which uses the exact headers the importer expects.

Switching from another app? Most inventory tools can export your data as a CSV file: in Sortly, look for the export option in your account settings; Encircle users with data from its discontinued consumer app can import their exports here too; and Google Sheets or Excel inventories export via File → Download → CSV. Bring the file over, import it, and your history comes with you.

A few notes:

  • Your plan's item limit applies to imports. The importer checks before it starts, so a file that's too big for your plan stops with a clear message instead of importing halfway.
  • Imported items arrive without photos. Open any item afterward to add photos, and AI Vision can fill in details from there (Home plan and up).

Archiving Items (Hiding without Deleting)

If you have items that you no longer own (maybe they broke, or you gave them away) but you still want to keep their records for tax, historical, or insurance purposes, you should Archive them instead of permanently deleting them.

  1. Click on any item to open its detailed view.
  2. Click the Archive button. The item is archived immediately — no toggle or extra save required.
  3. Changed your mind? Open the archived item and click Restore to bring it back.

What happens when an item is archived? Archived items are hidden from your everyday grid views (like the Dashboard and Location pages) to reduce visual clutter. However, their data is still safely saved in your database, retaining their original categories and locations!

If you ever need to find an archived item later, use the Show Archived pill at the top of the Dashboard or any Location page to reveal them alongside your active items. The All Items table always includes archived rows, so you can also find them there.

The Evidence Ladder & Proof Packs

For insurance purposes, not all item entries are created equal. An insurance adjuster needs concrete proof of ownership and value. StowFindSell uses a proprietary grading system called the Evidence Ladder to help you build an irrefutable Proof Pack.

How Items Are Graded (A through D)

Every item in your inventory is automatically assigned an Evidence Grade based on the quality and quantity of its documentation:

  • Grade A (Bulletproof): The gold standard for insurance. The item has a Photo, a specific Serial Number, and a scanned Receipt (or Proof of Purchase). An insurance company cannot dispute this.
  • Grade B (Strong): Very good documentation. The item has a Photo and either a Serial Number or a Receipt.
  • Grade C (Average): Basic documentation. The item has a Photo or a Receipt, but not both.
  • Grade D (Weak): Poor documentation. The item has neither a Photo nor a Receipt. It is merely a text entry and could be easily disputed by an adjuster.

You can view an item's current Evidence Grade at the top of its Detail View.

Generating a Proof Pack

If you experience a disaster (fire, theft, etc.) and need to submit a claim:

  1. Ensure your inventory is as up-to-date as possible, aiming to increase the grades of your most valuable items to 'A' or 'B'.
  2. Click your Profile initials in the top right corner and select Export Proof Pack. (This option is not visible to Viewers. Proof Pack export is included with the Starter plan and up.)
  3. Choose your format: a structured CSV spreadsheet, or the Claim-Ready Proof Pack PDF.
  4. This exported document serves as your "Proof Pack"—a legally sound, categorized, and mathematically totaled ledger containing photographic evidence and financial records that you can upload directly to your insurance provider's claim portal.