dynamic store with one-of-a-kind items inventory

Hi. I'm setting up shop to sell my artwork via paypal and the way they handle items with an inventory of 1 is that once the painting is sold, the next person trying to buy it gets an error message - yuck! I'm looking to set up a dynamic store where, once a painting is sold, it's automatically removed from the store or a 'sold' message appears and it can't be added to the cart. Can I do this with Zen Cart?

I found out that ASecureCart includes a postback process that can be used to do this but it "does require a bit of programming like ASP or PHP on your website to a) capture the postback data from the cart in realtime b) update your own store database"

I'm not a programmer, so I'm hoping Zen Cart will be my answer.

Thanks so much,
Jenna

Install Zen Cart and then open the admin side

navigate to admin > config > stock > and check the first 7 settings

Check stock level
Subtract stock
Allow Checkout
Mark product out of stock
Stock Re-order level
Products status in Catalog when out of stock should be set to
Show Sold Out Image in place of Add to Cart

By setting these correctly you can either have the product removed, the product shown as Out OF Stock, or the sold out image displayed

Thanks so much, Kobra. Whew! Thought I might have to go way out of budget to have a professional site.

Kobra's instructions are fine, UNLESS download/s are item/s being sold..
then stock does not decrease.

I sell products that I make. These are made up in advance and a inventory is kept. Sometimes an order that comes in depletes the inventory and it is shown in red as a "made to order" item after placed into the cart.

All works great but I do have a few products that are made from limited material therefore can not be a made to order.

How can I make just those show as "out of stock"

Thanks

I did a search and it seems this topic is the closest to what I'm wondering, but I have an extra circumstance.

I too sell one-of-a-kind art pieces in my zencart store, but have the potential for people try to add a product at nearly the exact same time. From my understanding Zencart won't show a product as out of stock until the original purchaser has completed the entire checkout process? If that's the case, I'm wondering if there's a way to configure it to "lock out" anyone else from adding the item to their cart (ie- show it as out of stock) until the person that added it first has completed their order?

I'm currently running the latest version (1.3.9)

Not without some custom coding, no.

I've seen similar sites which go to some length to inform customers that products are unique, and that the piece they've placed in their cart may not be there when they go to check out.

stevesh:

Not without some custom coding, no.

I've seen similar sites which go to some length to inform customers that products are unique, and that the piece they've placed in their cart may not be there when they go to check out.

Argh- I was afraid of that...

I guess the setting are all set globally and an individual product item can not be set as if out of stock can't add and another item set that it can be added if stock is depleted.

Thanks

I have some products that are limited supply like maybe only five.

Most of my products are in stock but if someone orders several and depletes the inventory it shows that the item is "made to order" requiring production time. I have this setup so that they can add to cart and check-out.

Now the problem is the ones that are limited supply. I need to show out of stock and not let any be added to cart after they are gone.

Is there some way to do this?

Is there some way to do this?
Make all settings to track stock, decrement stock, etc
Set notify low stock to about 3-5

For made to order items add stock of say 100,000 - if ever reduced you will be notified at the low stock setting set above and can add more

This way they will be able to be added while your limited items will be tracked as normal

Hi kobra

Thank you for relying back.

I make and sell about 60 different products. I try to keep 5 or so of each one in stock. How would setting my stock level at 100,000 let my customer know that there will be a delay due to an out of stock order.

My concern is more on the customer side than the inventory control side.

If I have a product that can't be reproduced I want it to show sold out when all are sold and if I have a product that is over sold but can be made I want it to show made to order.

Looks like the only way to fix this is to make more inventory. :smile:

I was hoping this could be handled individually by product than the way it is now globally.

Thanks again

I was hoping this could be handled individually by product than the way it is now globally.
That is what I am referencing

All settings and inventory for non made to order are setup to track and show sold out when stock is zero

For your made to order stock is set to 100,000

In the products description you describe your procedure for these and the time to produce and deliver

Boy I must be missing something.

Right now I show "made to order" when the item reaches 0.
If I have product A and an inventory set at 100,000 when would this show as made to order?

I understand what you are saying is show all products other than the special one of a kind as made to order in the description. but that does not really do what I would like.

There is not a way to have product A with 5 items sold down to 0 and show made to order but you can purchase.

Product B that has only 5 items that can't be reproduced show "sold out" when the last item is sold.

There is not a way to have product A with 5 items sold down to 0 and show made to order but you can purchase.

Product B that has only 5 items that can't be reproduced show "sold out" when the last item is sold.
That is correct...would require custom code to effect and a lot easier if all these made to order articles are in only one category