Inventory Inquiry/Advice
The EDI 846 Inventory Inquiry/Advice communicates stock levels between partners: what is on hand, available to sell, or on order, per item and often per warehouse.
What is EDI 846?
The EDI 846 is the ANSI X12 Inventory Inquiry/Advice transaction set. Suppliers, distributors, and 3PL warehouses use it to report item-level inventory positions, typically quantity available to sell, to trading partners on a scheduled basis.
The 846 is the transaction behind "in stock." Drop-ship retail and marketplaces run on it: a merchant lists what the supplier’s 846 feed says is available, often refreshed daily or hourly, and stops selling what the feed says is gone. In logistics, a 3PL sends 846s so the inventory owner’s system reflects what is physically in the warehouse without anyone reconciling spreadsheets. It pairs naturally with the warehouse set: the EDI 940 tells the 3PL what to ship, the EDI 945 confirms what shipped, and the 846 keeps the running balance honest in between.
Key segments
What's inside an EDI 846.
Example
A sample EDI 846 message.
ST*846*0001~BIA*00*SI*INV20260806*20260806~N1*WH*Harborview Warehouse*92*WH07~LIN**VN*PS-4416*UP*012345678905~QTY*33*412*CA~LIN**VN*PS-2210~QTY*33*1180*EA~CTT*2~SE*9*0001~
Illustrative values in X12 format (segment terminator ~, element separator *) showing the common segments of a 846. Each trading partner's spec defines its own required segments and qualifiers.
Frequently asked
EDI 846 questions, answered.
What is an EDI 846?
The EDI 846 is the X12 Inventory Inquiry/Advice transaction set. It reports item-level stock positions, most commonly quantity available for sale, from a supplier or warehouse to a trading partner, so systems on both sides agree on what can actually be sold or shipped.
Who sends an EDI 846 and how often?
Suppliers send it to retail and marketplace partners, and 3PL warehouses send it to the owners of the inventory they store. Frequency is set by the trading agreement: daily is typical, hourly is common in drop-ship programs where overselling is expensive.
Why is the 846 critical for drop-shipping?
In drop-ship retail the merchant sells inventory it never holds. The 846 feed is the only thing standing between the storefront and overselling: listings turn on and off based on the supplier’s reported availability. Stale or missing 846s translate directly into canceled orders.
What quantity types can an 846 report?
The QTY segment qualifier distinguishes counts: available to sell, on hand, on order, committed, damaged, or in transit. Partners agree on which qualifiers matter; quantity available for sale (qualifier 33) is the one most programs key on.
How does the 846 fit with the warehouse transactions?
In a 3PL relationship the 940 Warehouse Shipping Order instructs the warehouse to ship, the 945 Warehouse Shipping Advice confirms what left, and the 846 reports the standing inventory between those events. Together they let an inventory owner run a remote warehouse as if it were their own.
Melrose maintains full segment-level specs for the core freight set (204, 990, 214, 210) and stands up new transaction sets like the 846 on request. See the partner network or book a demo.
Let Melrose establish your 846 flow.
Book a free discovery call and see how Melrose scales your operation.