What Inventory Is
Overview
Inventory is the live catalog of vehicles shown on your Marketplace site. It includes vehicles that are available, incoming, or pending sale based on the status provided by your inventory source.
Inventory is different from typical website content. Your team does not create inventory items in Sanity, and you do not manually edit most vehicle details in the CMS. Inventory is synced automatically from your inventory systems.
Because inventory is one of the primary ways shoppers submit leads, keeping your feeds accurate and timely is essential.
Where inventory comes from
Marketplace inventory is sourced from your dealership inventory systems (often a DMS or inventory management system) and then synced into the Marketplace platform.
Typical sources include systems such as vAuto, HomeNet, and other inventory providers that supply a vehicle feed. The exact connection varies by dealership setup.
How inventory is represented in Sanity
Inventory vehicles exist as Vehicle documents in Sanity.
Key points to know:
- Vehicle documents are read-only in Sanity for standard editors.
- Vehicle records are created and updated by automated sync processes.
- Many fields are hidden in Studio until data is available.
There is usually one editorial control available:
- Hide a vehicle from public listings. This is useful when a unit should not appear on the site even if it is still present in the source feed.
Common vehicle fields you will see
A Vehicle record typically includes:
- VIN and stock number
- Year, make, model, trim
- Condition and listing type (new, used, certified, demo)
- Odometer
- Drivetrain, transmission, engine details
- Exterior and interior color
- Photos and image counts
- A linked Location or rooftop
- Structured pricing information
Status and availability
Vehicle status values are normalized so that listings behave consistently, even if different systems use different labels.
Common states include:
- Available
- Incoming
- Sale pending
- Sold
Sold vehicles are excluded from public search and listing experiences.
What your team typically manages
Even though your team does not edit vehicle specs directly, you still influence the inventory experience through:
- Ensuring your inventory source is configured correctly
- Managing which locations are connected to inventory feeds
- Controlling site modules and filters that surface inventory
- Choosing pricing display settings and disclaimers
- Hiding specific vehicles when needed