At a Glance
- A cannabis expired product credit reimburses you when inventory is destroyed instead of sold
- The credit is generated from Metrc adjustments when product is recorded as destroyed or waste
- Consignment and wholesale handle expiration credits differently
- Expired or destroyed product is recovered as a credit; slow product that sells at a markdown is handled separately as an aging-markdown credit
- The platform builds the credit memo and attaches compliance data; ShelfiQ handles delivery and vendor approval
How Cannabis Expired Product Credits Work
A cannabis expired product credit is the amount a vendor owes when product expires before it sells. Cannabis products have regulatory shelf lives tracked in Metrc, and when product ages past its expiration date, someone absorbs the loss. If your vendor agreement includes expiration protection, that someone is the vendor. The platform reads Metrc adjustments and generates the credit memo when product is actually recorded as destroyed or waste in Metrc — not automatically on an expiration date.
Expiration credits are one of the most commonly missed credits in cannabis retail. Dispensaries carry hundreds of SKUs, and tracking expiration dates across all of them manually is not realistic. Our credit recovery system handles the monitoring so nothing slips through.
Metrc Destruction Tracking
When product expires or is otherwise destroyed, it's recorded in Metrc as a waste adjustment. The platform reads those adjustments and identifies the destroyed packages your vendor agreement covers. When a package is recorded as destroyed or waste in Metrc, the credit memo process begins.
The memo includes the Metrc package tag, original cost, destruction date, and days on shelf. This gives vendors full visibility into what was destroyed and why the credit is valid.
Consignment vs. Wholesale Expirations
How expiration credits work depends on whether the product is on consignment or was purchased wholesale.
- Consignment product — The vendor still owns the inventory. When consignment product expires, it is removed from the settlement calculation entirely. The vendor never gets paid for product that did not sell, so no credit memo is needed. The platform handles this within the weekly settlement process.
- Wholesale product — You already paid the vendor. When wholesale product expires and your agreement includes expiration protection, a credit memo is generated against the original purchase cost — recorded as a destruction credit — and applied to the vendor's next AP payment.
This distinction matters because consignment vendors sometimes dispute expiration credits, arguing the product should have been promoted more aggressively. The platform tracks days on shelf and sales velocity for every package, giving you data to back up the credit if a dispute arises. See the approval workflow for how disputes are resolved.
Preventing Expiration Losses
Beyond credit recovery, ShelfSpace helps you avoid expirations in the first place. Pair credit recovery with co-marketing promotions to move aging stock before it expires, and you reduce waste while preserving your vendor relationship.