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acread
moderator


Posts: 11986

PostPosted: Sun Sep 07, 2008 7:01 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

BTW I don't know if I posted this here before. Hidden item are visible at Google product search. Probably until they update their data. Which probably won't be before 3 days.

I think it looks better that seeing the "no such product" with bunch of Google Ads. Just put a Sold sign for the hidden product and people will catch on.

As BigTall said your item sold twice probably because the inventory control got a chance to hide the item. (15 min lag time is a bit long, but what are you gonna do. It is better than not having any inventory control I guess).

It is not a glitch it is just the way it is set up to operate.

And here is the main reason for this feature for hide: http://www.ecrater.com/community/viewtopic.php?t=10127&highlight=

It used to be a hidden item could not be seen even if you had a url for it. Now if you provide it to the buyer, keeping it at Hide will prevent the unwanted purchase by customers who put in an order despite the Sold signs.
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creativepride



Posts: 41

PostPosted: Sun Sep 07, 2008 9:03 pm    Post subject: hidden items Reply with quote

Thanks to all, I will keep an eye and hope all goes OK. Luckily my buyer is VERY understanding and I offered free shipping for the problem.
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poopsheet



Posts: 4865

PostPosted: Mon Sep 08, 2008 9:14 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Does anyone know if there's any way to get the URL/product ID of a hidden item while it's hidden? Are the only options to get that before you hide it or to make it live again, go get it and then hide it again?
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acread
moderator


Posts: 11986

PostPosted: Mon Sep 08, 2008 10:39 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

poopsheet wrote:
Does anyone know if there's any way to get the URL/product ID of a hidden item while it's hidden? Are the only options to get that before you hide it or to make it live again, go get it and then hide it again?

Yes, as far as I know that is the only way. Or you can make a note of what it is before it is sold. All product page urls are the same except for the number at the end, so maybe you can make a note of the numbers. (I think there was a topic on how to get a list of those numbers a while back.)
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zickit



Posts: 21857

PostPosted: Mon Sep 08, 2008 1:40 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

poopsheet wrote:
Does anyone know if there's any way to get the URL/product ID of a hidden item while it's hidden? Are the only options to get that before you hide it or to make it live again, go get it and then hide it again?


Actually, you can do a google search and possible get the URL that way
Look in the cache pages.

AND

A store owner can get the item number then turn that into the URL.
It gets a bit hard to explain but here I go

Log in
find the hidden item
click on edit
Your address line will look like
http://www.ecrater.com/admin/editprod.php?pid=TheNumberIsHere&cid=0&sida=b2276ffea252dc2cbdfe72e974d8ccbd

The number following http://www.ecrater.com/admin/editprod.php?pid= is the item number.

If you put http://YourNameHere.ecrater.com/product.php?pid=ItemNumberHere

Then you can see the hidden item if you didn't know the URL.
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poopsheet



Posts: 4865

PostPosted: Tue Sep 09, 2008 10:22 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thanks, AC and BT.

It hadn't occured to me that the ID would be in the edit URL, that's a great tip. Much better than making it live, checking it and then hiding it again (if you have to get the URL after the fact).
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proimage



Posts: 93

PostPosted: Wed Sep 17, 2008 4:00 pm    Post subject: an interesting thing about these items Reply with quote

I have noticed that the "ask seller a question" link is disabled on hidden items that still appear in google searches.

example:
http://www.ecrater.com/product.php?pid=3039345

this is what shows up when you click "ask seller a question"
http://www.ecrater.com/askseller.php?pid=3039345

Is this supposed to happen?


*EDIT
Hmm....it seems to be working now. I will check again in a couple of days to see if the problem happens again.
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zickit



Posts: 21857

PostPosted: Thu Sep 18, 2008 2:32 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Quote:
*EDIT
Hmm....it seems to be working now. I will check again in a couple of days to see if the problem happens again.

Because once you brought it to attention it got fixed.
Thanks!
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proimage



Posts: 93

PostPosted: Thu Sep 18, 2008 7:00 am    Post subject: Wow! Reply with quote

Wow! That was fast work! Thanks! Very Happy
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drszhk



Posts: 24

PostPosted: Tue Aug 11, 2009 2:39 am    Post subject: Re: Hidden products available for preview Reply with quote

ecrater wrote:
Products that have been hidden can now be seen in the stores but the buy now button is not active. This is convenient for the buyers because it will give them access to the products they bought (in case they need to see the listing again after it was made hidden)


I'm afraid, its not working to in my store.
Hidden product not available to view, as stated
thanks
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acread
moderator


Posts: 11986

PostPosted: Tue Aug 11, 2009 4:37 am    Post subject: Re: Hidden products available for preview Reply with quote

drszhk wrote:
ecrater wrote:
Products that have been hidden can now be seen in the stores but the buy now button is not active. This is convenient for the buyers because it will give them access to the products they bought (in case they need to see the listing again after it was made hidden)


I'm afraid, its not working to in my store.
Hidden product not available to view, as stated
thanks

That is not what that means.

When you hide it, it is not visible in the store (hence it is "hidden"). But it is still accessable if you have the url of the page. So it is hot completely out of access. You can see it if you had the url before hiding the page such as this: http://www.ecrater.com/product.php?pid=4517706 You can post it in forums or other websites if you want and people can see it. Or you can email that to your buyer, so you don't have to leave the item out in the open in your store and risk someone else buying it.

You don't however get to display it in your store with buy now button disabled (cause what is the use of that? an item they can't buy).


If your purpose is to close the store just put it "on hold" and the whole store will still be visible but the buy now buttons will be disables. The hidden item visible thing is not an item by item application of "on hold". I think that's the point you missed.
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elipey



Posts: 10

PostPosted: Fri Sep 11, 2009 9:34 pm    Post subject: RE: Products Hidden Reply with quote

I am having problems with people placing orders for those "hidden" items. I am having to delete the item completely to stop it. As I sell a variety of products, not knowing what the next shipment will be, I cannot just simply add stock back, I have to add the item again.

Also, I am getting orders for more than I have in stock which makes my business look very unprofessional. This has happened numerous times. At first I thought I had just entered inventory wrong and have been keeping an eye on it. Is there a fix for this in the works. To my customer, I am apologizing profusely, of course refunding the money & postage and sending along a free gift as I feel so bad.
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zickit



Posts: 21857

PostPosted: Fri Sep 11, 2009 9:38 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

elipey - it sounds like you don't have inventory control turned on.
It's not poosible to buy it the item is hidden as the button is a on hold button
Make sure you enabled the inventory control feature. Go to admin and click on options and make sure that enable is checked.
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acread
moderator


Posts: 11986

PostPosted: Sat Sep 12, 2009 5:49 am    Post subject: Re: RE: Products Hidden Reply with quote

elipey wrote:
I am having problems with people placing orders for those "hidden" items. I am having to delete the item completely to stop it. As I sell a variety of products, not knowing what the next shipment will be, I cannot just simply add stock back, I have to add the item again.

Also, I am getting orders for more than I have in stock which makes my business look very unprofessional. This has happened numerous times. At first I thought I had just entered inventory wrong and have been keeping an eye on it. Is there a fix for this in the works. To my customer, I am apologizing profusely, of course refunding the money & postage and sending along a free gift as I feel so bad.

Do what BigTall suggested.

Unfortunately the inventory control kicks in after 15 minutes (or more correctly after the credict check on buyer is done and charge is made.) And it does not work for money order or check. It works only with instant electronic payments. But at least you won't have to be on top of the site all the time and the items won't stay unhidden for long after purchased. The time you take until you hide the item is usually when the second purchase takes place.


But if you are observing purchase of listings that you've hidden a long time ago (more than a coule of days) that may be an issue.


Are you certain you hid the items properly? (by editining and checking Hide option then clicking on Update or Update&Exit button.)

Are you certain you hid the correct item? (the hidden item will have it's name appear in gray instead of blue) That maybe you didn't click on the copy icon instead of the edit icon next to the item name.
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elipey



Posts: 10

PostPosted: Sat Sep 12, 2009 12:16 pm    Post subject: Inventory Control & Ordering of Items not in stock Reply with quote

Thank you for responding. In reply, yes, I have inventory turned on and the item is grayed out when I go into check it. I also have gone to my website to view it and cannot see it but somehow, I had an order on it. I cannot at this time remember who ordered as business has definately picked up lately but the next time I have an item go out of stock (which is frequently since I get a few of each item), I will watch it to see what happens. At least there is a fix (deleting it) if all else fails.

I am really concerned about my clients ordering product that I don't have. Has anyone else experienced this?
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