Sold Inventory

[Heirloom_Angel]

I'm wondering how other sellers handle this:  Let's say you sell out of an item.  You may get it back in stock, but on the other hand, you may not.  Do you let the listing show or 'unpublish' it?  

It does come up as 'Sold Out' beside the quantity box in the listing, but I have been 'hiding' them as I don't want customers to get frustrated thinking everything is sold.  What do you do?  

Thank you in advance!

Angela

[Adam7]

If you leave it up it keeps the page active for Google search results, so you don't have to worry about 404s.  You can also put links on the product page to other similar products to help drive traffic to in-stock items.

As an alternative or addition to that, you could also direct to a contact form so your customers can let you know they're still interested in the item. 

[Heirloom_Angel]

Thank you very much, Adam! This morning when I was indexing it hit me that I bet the 404s were coming from that, so you answered that for me too!

[Heirloom_Angel]

Adam - I just noticed that when I take something off of the 'hidden' mode, that categories are gone!  Will I need to put all of those back in place in order for them to be found by Google?  

I am opting for using a photo overlay that I created that says 'temporarily out of stock' for things that I may get back in and sold for those I won't.  😃

[Adam7]

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@Heirloom_Angel wrote:

Adam - I just noticed that when I take something off of the 'hidden' mode, that categories are gone!  Will I need to put all of those back in place in order for them to be found by Google?  

I am opting for using a photo overlay that I created that says 'temporarily out of stock' for things that I may get back in and sold for those I won't.  😃

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Unhiding a product shouldn't affect your categories at all.  Do you have an example of a product and category where this happened?  Nice idea to update the image, by the way!

[Heirloom_Angel]

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@Adam wrote:

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@Heirloom_Angel wrote:

Adam - I just noticed that when I take something off of the 'hidden' mode, that categories are gone!  Will I need to put all of those back in place in order for them to be found by Google?  

I am opting for using a photo overlay that I created that says 'temporarily out of stock' for things that I may get back in and sold for those I won't.  😃

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Unhiding a product shouldn't affect your categories at all.  Do you have an example of a product and category where this happened?  Nice idea to update the image, by the way!

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I wouldn't think so, but it is on every single item.  Here is a snip-it of one that is still hidden:

I know it's small, but you can clearly see where the categories should be.  I never removed them from any of the 'hidden' listings.  =(  I also checked my other listings that are not buttons and it's the same with all of them. Thanks for the overlay compliment.  

~Angela

[Adam7]

That's pretty strange, though I can't seem to make it happen on a test site with a similar out-of-stock product.

[Heirloom_Angel]

I actually just got off the phone with Julian.  He couldn't replicate the issue either and the more we looked, the more inconsistent we realized the issue is within my own products.

The good thing is that I won't be hiding products anymore, so I only have to go through this once!  

Thank you for checking into it.

[Adam7]

Glad to help! 

[michidove]

How do you add a photo overlay? Replace the picture with one you've edited?

[Heirloom_Angel]

@michidove Yes.  I have overlay templates on transparent backgroundsand just add them to the photo.  I can tell you how if you would like.

[michidove]

@Heirloom_Angel yes please!  perhaps in an email if not allowed here?

Thank you!!

[Heirloom_Angel]

@michidove - If it's okay with you, I'll start a thread for it.  Maybe someone else can use the info too!

[Adam7]

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@Heirloom_Angel wrote:

@michidove - If it's okay with you, I'll start a thread for it.  Maybe someone else can use the info too!

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Making a tutorial on how to add that to an image would be great! Have you ever added watermarks to images? If you have you could make a similar post for that as well.

Edit: I just saw that you did make one covering both, lol. Nicely done!

[VickiW]

Adam, I see your point with this but most of my products are one of a kind and will never be in stock again. I'd like the option to have a setting by category tor display or not display sold out items. 

[Susanbm]

I like to leave my sold items visable. Normally I only have one item, but it shows customers what I have had and the quality of the vintage items I carry. If they contact me, as they often do, I will try to find another one for them.

I have a hidden page of sold items. one question, do hidden page slow load time of sites?

[Heirloom_Angel]

@Susanbm - Is the hidden page of sold items just for your reference? Do you have it set up as a hidden category in your store?

[Adam7]

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@Susanbm wrote:

I like to leave my sold items visable. Normally I only have one item, but it shows customers what I have had and the quality of the vintage items I carry. If they contact me, as they often do, I will try to find another one for them.

I have a hidden page of sold items. one question, do hidden page slow load time of sites?

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No, it wouldn't affect the loading time of any other pages other than itself if you view it.  If you're concerned about the loading time of a particular page, you can always split the content of that page into more than one page and add links between them.

[Susanbm]

Thank you Adam!

[Susanbm]

The hidden page is now for my reference only. When I opened my store the inventory feature was not available, and it aided visitors with the type and quality vintage items I sell.

Yes it is a hidden category, and I also have one for seasonal changes, to save front page revisions.