Not in stock yet.... problem

If I set an item up with an "Expected On" date, customers can still add the item to their cart. If I change it show 0 in stock, it shows the item as Sold Out. Am I doing something wrong or is this the way it is? I would like to show the item but not make it available to purchase yet.

admin -> configuration -> stock -> Products status in Catalog when out of stock should be set to (set to 1)

clyde, i think you may have misunderstood what he was asking (or maybe i'm misunderstanding it).. but from what it sounds like is he is adding products to be available for purchase in the future. Like lets say i'd like to sell a certain game, but the street date is on Tuesday and I want to add it today so i don't have to do it on tuesday.. and i'd like to have the stock #'s there as well but no one can buy it until tuesday. I believe thats what he (or she) is looking for, without the "sold out" button

To answer the question, though, I don't believe ZC has this feature at this time. The best way to do something like this is to add it but put quantity at zero so it shows up as "SOLD OUT" in the catalog.. at least people will know you will carry it. You can put some text in the description such as "Coming On ______" .. since you'll have to edit the product anyway to add stock :)

Thank you, that is exactly what I am referring to (I'm a he, by the way...)
That's not exactly the answer I was hoping for, but I guess that's how it is....

I was hoping I could just not have the "Add to Cart" button until next Friday on these items, but I guess "Sold Out" is what will show up. I will have to add the COMING FRIDAY somewhere on the listing. That means I have to get up real early Friday or stay up real late thursday to delete that (and we all know how we feel after a big Thanksgiving dinner.....)

OK,
I found a solution thanks to both replies. These are in the Configuration -> Stock section
Display the "Sold Out" instead of "Add to Cart", set to 0 or "Off".
Set "Allow Checkout" to 0 or "False".

The items are still in the cart, they do not say "Sold Out" but they cannot be purchased..

The only problem is you have to set the items in stock to "0", which means I will have to be around at midnight (or thee cart owner has to be around at midnight) to add the correct amounts to the cart.

If you take a look at my TESTSITE

I have set up one product to be available on 11/20/2006 the product is in stock and can be added to the shopping cart. (Rhino) This shows up in the New Products for ... and also the Upcoming Products

Another Product is out of stock (Elephant) but still displays the add to cart button and not the sold out image.

To be able to show the add to cart and not the sold out image go to
admin -> configuration -> stock -> Show Sold Out Image in place of Add to Cart and set to (0)
Allow Checkout set to (true)
Products status in Catalog when out of stock should be set to (1)

I know this is not exactly what you are looking for but is being offered as only one way to show either out of stock products or upcoming products.

If you didn't want the out of stock image You could go into the template(s) and replace the call to that image with your own "text message".

I see that, but that is exactly the opposite of how I'd like it. I do not want it to be able to be added to the cart until the item is in stock. The way I have it now works, but like I said, I need to add the items to "In stock" on the 24th. I wish the cart did this automatically. I'm hoping they either write it that way in a newer version or someone comes up with an add-on that does it.

Thanks for taking the time in any case.

I agree that there should be a clearer indication of the stock status in the product details screen. Unless the customer spots the one-liner about 'This product will be in stock on...' they face dissapointment when they get to the checkout and see the big red 'Out of Stock' warning.

For those prepared to accept back-orders, it might be nice to be able to show the small 'Out of Stock' icon and 'more info...' link in the listing, but display both - 'Out of Stock' icon AND 'add to cart' button in the product detail screen? :lookaroun

At this time, the upcoming products are not blocked to allow for backorders ...

0 quantity prevents sales ...

However, we also realize many do not want the Sold Out on an Upcoming Product ... :blink:

We will be working on this for a future release where there is, yet another setting, where you can have the Product setup as Upcoming by date ... Have >= 0 Stock ... and Not have Sold Out ...

No ... don't know which release ... but it is on the list ... :smile:

For now, you would have to do your own customization to have an alternative to being able to buy Upcoming Products or having them show as Sold Out if you want them to be displayed on the Shop ...