Availability lists
How to build a wholesale availability list (with a template)
The availability list — the avails — is the document your whole business runs on. It is what a landscaper or garden center reads on Monday, and it is how they judge whether a six-person nursery is a supplier they can rely on. A clean list wins orders a phone call never would.
Here is what belongs on one, how to organize it so buyers can scan it fast, and a free template with the columns the trade already uses.
The columns that matter
Every line is one lot: one plant, in one container size, in one place. Buyers need six things per line — botanical name, common name, container size (#1, #3, #7, flat, plug, B&B), quantity available, price, and a ready note if it is still finishing. Photos help more than any adjective; a real crop shot on the line closes the gap the fax era never could.
Group lines by category — perennials, shrubs, trees, grasses — then sort by botanical name inside each group. A buyer looking for a specific cultivar should find it in seconds, not scroll a wall of unordered rows.
Say what is available, not what you grow
The list is a selling document, not a production record. Only put a line on it if it is priced, ready (or finishing with an honest date), and actually available — on hand minus what is already spoken for. A list padded with lots that are not really for sale is how you end up on the phone all day explaining what you meant.
Buyers have learned to distrust lists that read "actual availability may differ — please call." Publish a number you will stand behind, and note the date it was true. That single habit is worth more than a prettier layout.
Publish it the same way every week
The avails is a weekly ritual, not a one-off. Pick a day, publish on it, and send it to the buyers who asked for it. A list that lands every Monday trains buyers to order from you first, because your numbers are the freshest on their desk.
Keep the old versions. A run of dated lists is a record of your season, and it is the raw material for next February — who bought what, and when.
Get the free availability-list template
Our columns, the trade's format — download it and build a professional list today. When you want GrowSheet to keep it current from live counts, it's free to start.