Yes I have noticed this too, wish - when something was out of stock - It would be hidden by the Zazzle team so people do not try to purchase, I personally lost a large sale - then to find it was out of stock, and then a couple hours later it was back in stock. (disappointing for a customer to click because they like it, and find out it is out of stock) There maybe a way when any product is out of stock - it can be magically hidden by zazzle - and soon as that product is available again-- Zazzle make it magically appear again!

Agree! I hate to lose sales at all but I would rather risk one sale lost then hundreds of potential sales by people clicking blank pages and never returning. At least if we can get them to a real page, even if the item is sold out they can see our collections below or still visit our store or even if they go to another item and designer they are more likely to come back again than if they get a blank page or an error and think the whole site is broken.

Presumably you are referring to products that people find by coming from a link outside Zazzle? Because this is exactly what Zazzle do within the MarketPlace, they make "invisible" any item that is out of stock.

So if someone is searching in the MarketPlace, they will not see your product if you posted it on an out of stock option. Say, for example, someone is looking for a t-shirt to buy. Your design has been posted on a size Medium t-shirt, but that particular size is out of stock, so your design will not appear in the MarketPlace. Say too that the shopper wants to buy a size Small, and that size is in stock. Yet the shopper will not have the opportunity to buy your design on a Small t-shirt, because your design is invisible.

I think it would be much more helpful if Zazzle would leave out of stock items as "visible", and add an "Email me when back in stock" option for shoppers as many other websites do.

I'm worried too.

I'm also thinking, it might not be the best time to promote... With so many products out of stock and more going out almost Daily!

It also looks bad to customers. If I was shopping on a site that had a huge percentage of products "temporarily" out of stock for months on end, I'd quit coming back to check. I'd either think they're going out of business or they are unprofessional and just don't keep their site up to date. It's not giving Zazzle a good image.

Food for thought -

- Affiliates who use feed tools may end up with broken pages (not just empty pages) if they use RSS Feeds and Zazzle hides everything that's out of stock.
- I've seen where out of stock products don't appear in the MP (Cheese Boards). I think they have to go through un-indexing for that to happen? Unsure if they're actually hidden or just not in the MP. "Not in MP," IMO, is better than "Hidden" due to above.
- If they hide them all, then it would be helpful for Z to also unhide them all when they're back in stock. I couldn't get very excited about having to go find everything hidden in multiple stores, especially when we're not notified of status.

There are multiple things going on here - affiliate sites, promoting (sometimes automated, so a product going out of stock may not be noticed), customers shopping on Zazzle, etc. Some might argue that affiliate sites aren't Zazzle's problem, but Zazzle encourages affiliates, so I think how this affects our sites should be considered too.

My vote is always to improve communication. Just that would help a ton.

I'm pretty sure you know, without my saying so, that I didn't post that to void your opinion in any way - but just in case: I didn't mean to void your opinion.

I happen to be knee deep in code this weekend and am reminded of the domino effect of hidden/unavailable products. Not all affiliate site pages would break; some may break. I have two sites that'd be... I can't even think about that!

I thik so much is out of stock could possibly be due to supply issue. American Apparel filed for bankruptcy and was bought out by Gildan. However the sale did not include the brick and mortar stores. Everything that was American Apparel is either going to be rebranded of phased out. American Apparel did a alot from clothing, to backpacks, and more.

Hopefully if the products comeback as Gildan, than our designs carry over and we will not have to re-apply all of our images.

Most of what I'm seeing has nothing to do with American Apparel. I'm seeing all different kinds of products from many different companies. Placemats, cutting boards, backpacks, etc. Multiple companies losing product supplies at the same time, and for months on end, is unlikely. This could signal that companies are no longer willing to do business with Z and this is concerning. It would be nice to get some reassurance from Z but so far no response.

It would be really helpful to have some sort of icon on our products on the backend when something is out of stock. I personally hide everything of an item that I notice out of stock for more than a week. I hide them and put them into a category that is also hidden. If I check back and they're still out of stock a month later, I delete them.

I don't want a huge percentage of a category (there were some cute drawstring bags for example) to be out of stock. It results in shopper frustration, and any frustration has the potential to turn away customers, not just from our stores, but the site in general.

So it would be good to know if an item is out of stock so that we are informed. A simple little icon like the hidden one right under each product's stats would do the trick. I don't have affiliated sites yet, so I don't know the logistics of that in regards to hiding products as has been discussed, but I imagine all designers regardless would appreciate being informed. Echoing what has been posted in this thread, good communication can prevent a lot of designer frustration.

As so many products are out of stock, I wonder if Zazzle is having $$ problems.

Maybe maternity wear falls in with the shirts that won't be available for the holiday season *shrugs*
EDITING TO ADD:
I don't see them listed on the list (2nd post in thread) of what will be available (unless my eyes just missed them):
Important Apparel Update

As for shower curtains, it was stated awhile back that that company was affected by the hurricane:
Read This

WOW! That company must have really busted their buns to get back up and running. A major relief for both them and their employees I'm sure!!!

Fantastic!