Alright... No one laugh... I am working on an app in MIT/Google Appinventor. Here's a rundown:
If the item is in the list then Find that items position index in the inventory list. Use that items index, to increment the value in the quantity list by 1.
If the item is not in the list then Add that item to the inventory, and add a "1" to the quantity.
I can't see why it won't work so I was just checking to see if there are any obvious flaws in my logic. If the logic looks solid, then I should be able to figure out the Appinventor problem to make it work.
Here's your function translated (accurately?) into pseudo-code to help with my own understanding (and hopefully others'):
function addItem:
if inventoryList.contains(scannerResult):
inventoryPosition = inventoryList.positionOf(scannerResult)
quantityPosition = quantityList.positionOf(scannerResult)
quantityItem = quantityList.selectListItemAt(quantityPosition)
quantityList.insert(quantityItem at inventoryPosition)
else
inventoryList.add(scannerResult)
quantityList.add(1)
The problem appears to be in the logic when the scanner result is already in the list. I don't know the relevant app-inventor functions, but I think that you want something more like:
if inventoryList.contains(scannerResult):
inventoryPosition = inventoryList.positionOf(scannerResult)
quantity = quantityList.selectListItemAt(inventoryPosition)
quantityList.setListItemAt(quantityPosition to quantity + 1)
That last line is the bit I don't know how to translate into app-inventor language, but hopefully it's enough to point you in the right direction.