--- title: "The math of a small store | Spreat" description: "For small retailers: expanding the assortment without spending on stock. What Spreat costs, how settlement works and what happens when a brand does not sell." url: "https://spreat.com/en/stories/industry/small-store-math" language: "en" --- [Back](https://spreat.com/en/stories?tag=industry) - Retail & insights # The math of a small store Every euro tied up in goods is a euro that is not in the bank. Why small stores still need a bigger assortment - and how the two fit together. 25 November 2025 Translated from German [Read the original version](https://spreat.com/stories/industry/rechnung-kleiner-store) ![A balance between tied-up capital and the choice customers expect](https://spreat.com/media/images/stories/rechnung-kleiner-store/cover-en-800.webp) A small store has two numbers pulling against each other. One is space: with little of it, every meter of space has to earn money. The other is liquidity: every euro tied up in goods is not in the bank. That leads to a caution everyone who runs a store like this knows. You buy what is sure to sell. You try out little. And you regularly explain to customers that you do not carry the one thing they asked for. ## What changes when the buying step falls away With Spreat you do not buy the goods. They belong to the brand until someone takes them to your till. You go in with zero spent on stock and earn a commission you agreed beforehand - how high depends on the sector and the product. That sounds like a small difference and it is a big one: the question before ordering is no longer “do I dare buy this?” but “does this fit my people?”. If it does not sell, it goes back, and you are not left holding it. 10 producers before Viertelladen, Düsseldorf-Unterbilk 33 producers after on the same space €0 spent on stock the goods stayed the brands' property ## What it costs A one-off €500 net for setup. There is no monthly base fee, so the system costs you nothing on an ongoing basis. You pay no commission to Spreat. Your agreed commission is paid out to you in full on every sale; Spreat earns from the brand, not from you. ## The questions that come first To start with, yes - you get the Spreat till. That is deliberate: you are ready in days, without an IT project. If your POS system runs through one of our integrations, the move into your existing till follows after that. Automatically. The customer's payment runs through Spreat, and your commission is settled and paid out. You do not write an invoice to the brand. You send unsold goods back whenever you want - there is no minimum term; only the return shipping is on you. You are not left holding anything, because you never bought anything. For these goods the buying and selling process falls away almost entirely: no incoming invoice, no payment terms, no reconciliation with the supplier. At the end of the month your commission is there. ## Where to start With one board. Not with an assortment strategy, not with a refit - with one board and two or three brands that fit your people. In the Brandpool you can look at who might work before you speak to anyone: over 150 brands with their products. What happens after that you know better than any report: you see what stays put and what gets taken home. Which brands could work for your space is there in the Brandpool. With your store profile you see each brand's commission before you say yes. [View the Brandpool](https://brandpool.spreat.com) Is it worth it for your space? Tell us a little about your store. We will work through the numbers together - honestly, even when it does not fit. [Book a call](https://spreat.com/en/stores/appointment) Written by [Mattis Klöpperon LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/mattis-kloepper/) Co-founder and managing director Share this article ## More stories - [![Weeks instead of months into physical retail, and what a brand's risk really costs](https://spreat.com/media/images/stories/schnellster-weg-in-den-einzelhandel/cover-en-800.webp) - Retail & insights - Product ## The fastest route into physical retail - and what it really costs a brand With Spreat, the brand carries the stock risk. That is true. But how big it is can be put in euros - and set against the routes where the retailer takes on the risk and gets paid for it. Read the story](https://spreat.com/en/stories/industry/fastest-route-into-retail) - [![Four steps instead of buying stock: how much work the brands' goods take in a store](https://spreat.com/media/images/stories/aufwand-fremde-ware-im-store/cover-en-800.webp) - Retail & insights - Product ## How much work the brands' goods take in a store Space, staff time, return shipping: the brands' goods do not come for free. Here is what a store really does for them - and which work falls away in return. Read the story](https://spreat.com/en/stories/industry/work-brand-goods-in-store) - [![Eight questions from Reddit and forums on consignment, commission and stock without buying it](https://spreat.com/media/images/stories/reddit-fragen-kommission-marktplatz-store/cover-en-800.webp) - Retail & insights ## The marketplace in the store: what retailers and brands ask on Reddit and in forums Eight questions about consignment, commission and stock without buying it, as they appear on Reddit, in German seller forums and on gutefrage - with the community's answers and what Spreat made of them. Read the story](https://spreat.com/en/stories/industry/reddit-questions-consignment-in-store-marketplace) ## And how about you? Store or brand - the way in is a different one. Tell us which side you are coming from. [I have a store](https://spreat.com/en/stores) [I have a brand](https://spreat.com/en/brands)