Multiple Products - Single SKU

I sell a lot of stuff on ebay I am currently evaluating opencart as the basis for my new website however I just need to clarify what I can or cannot do in opencart and how that all my work with stock management between both. I realise that such integration is going to be via an extension and I have seen the OpenBay Pro extension which looks good.

My problem comes in that a single item of stock can have multiple listings. There are very good reasons for doing this. Firstly a single item of of stock can fit multiple manufacturer's equipment and those manufacturer's products and product sizing vary (so a 36" belt for one manufacturer may be a 38" belt on another manufacturers piece of equipment). The actual belt sold is exactly the same as the way the belt is measured is not by the actual length of the of the belt used but the size of the equipment it fits round and different manufacturing processes have yielded different sizes. Oh what it would be that they all stuck to a common naming system but they don't so I have to work with that if I want to sell and have my customers understand what I'm selling.

Is it possible to handle this type of scenario ie have individual products with several different products appearing on the site ie some sort of master stock item and child stock items so that if any of child stock items sell the master stock item is adjusted accordingly that change is then fed back down to all the child products?

If it's not possible has anyone come across this scenario that can offer some advice. Perhaps Linnworks as a middle man as it were doing the stock control? Anybody tried this or any other suggestions?

Seems like from what yo describe you will have no problem with Open Cart.

avvici wrote:Seems like from what yo describe you will have no problem with Open Cart.

Are you saying that I should be able to do what I need from within OpenCart or will I need a third party extension or software to manage the stock? From looking at opencart it isn't obvious to me how I could achieve this within opencart, with or without an existing extension.

Perhaps if I gave an example it might be easier to understand, although you may very well perfectly understand what I'm saying anyway but just in case.

Product Code HKEV001 - THIS IS THE MASTER STOCK ITEM
Product Title - Kevlar Built to Fit various Manufacturers Machines
Product Description: None - As this product will never be listed.

Product Code - HKEV001A - THIS IS PHYSICALLY HKEV001 - CODE TO SATISFY UNIQUENESS CONSTRAINTS
Product Title - 36" Husqvarna Kevlar Transmission Belt
Product Description - 36" Kevlar Belt fit:
Husqvarna Model XXX
Husqvarna Model BBB
Husqvarna Model CCC, etc, etc

Price - £25.00

Product Code - HKEV001B - THIS IS PHYSICALLY HKEV001 - CODE TO SATISFY UNIQUENESS CONSTRAINTS
Product Title - 38" AYP Kevlar Drive Belt
Product Description - 38" Kevlar Belt to fit:
AYP Model XXX
AYP Model BBB
AYP Model CCC, etc, etc

Price £23.00

Product Code - HKEV001C - THIS IS PHYSICALLY HKEV001 - CODE TO SATISFY UNIQUENESS CONSTRAINTS
Product Title - 36" Castel Garden Kevlar Drive Belt to Fit
Product Description - 38" Kevlar Belt to fit:
Castel Garden Model XXX
Castel Garden Model BBB
Castel GardenModel CCC, etc, etc

Price £22.50

So I have 10 of HKEV001. As all products are physically the same product that means that:
HKEV001, HKEV001A, HKEV001B, HKEV001C should all show the customer that 10 are in stock.

I then sell 3 HKEV001B so now all the products:
HKEV001, HKEV001A, HKEV001B, HKEV001C should all now show stock of 7.

I get a delivery in from my supplier for 5 belts so I amend HKEV001 to show 12 now in stock. That should now be reflected in all the products.

Is this possible? If so how I do I go about achieving this?

Thanks

Yep, you will need an extension or custom work. However, Open Cart is the best option for a BASE STRUCTURE.

Thanks avvici. Confirmed what I suspected. Saves me from spending time trying to find a non existent feature