man spreadsheets are the worst once volume picks up. honestly had a nightmare experience last year when a popular tracker crashed mid-sale at a market here in town. lost hours of data.

• test offline mode before using it live
• keep a backup log just in case i switched to square pos and it hasnt let me down since. definitely worth checking out for under fifty bucks.

Saw this earlier but just now getting a chance to reply. Shopify POS Lite paired with their core e-commerce plan completely changed how I manage my cosmetic line. It costs around 39 bucks a month, which fits right under your budget limit. The inventory sync is remarkably reliable because it operates on a centralized database structure. When an item sells at an in-person pop-up or through the online store, stock levels update instantly across every connected channel without lag. Another fantastic option is Square for Retail. Their free tier covers basics, but the Plus plan sits at 60 dollars a month so it stretches your budget slightly. However, the offline mode on Square hardware is bulletproof. If your venue loses internet connection during a busy holiday market, the app keeps processing transactions locally and syncs everything automatically once connectivity returns. For cosmetics specifically, variant tracking for shades and batch numbers works seamlessly on both platforms. Make sure to test your barcode scanner integration thoroughly before the big event, and you will be completely set up for success.