Stock Informer

Frequently Asked Questions

(FAQs)

What is Stock Informer?

Stock Informer is a website dedicated to helping you find items that just seem to be out of stock everywhere. We track these items and notify you when stock is found, saving you the stress and hassle. Unlike other copy-cat stock checker websites, We track both online retailer websites and high street shops for stock.

Very often, especially at Christmas, there are must-have gifts which are impossible to find which can cause your stress levels to rise! If you have ever watched the film 'Jingle All the Way' with Arnold Schwarzenegger searching for the elusive "Turbo-Man" toy, this is the scenario we are helping you to avoid!

How will you notify me when you find stock I want? and which is the best notification method?

Stock Informer can notify you in a number of ways, you can:-

  • Check our website listings periodically to see if stock is available. This method is ok, however if there is a very high demand for an item, stock can sell out very quickly meaning it will be just pot luck whether you view the website at the same time as when stock is available.

  • Choose to receive email alerts. This method is good if you are sat at your computer all day (i.e. at work) and can react quickly to an incoming email. If you pick up your email a day or two after our email was sent, then you are very likely to have missed out on the stock. Registration required. We will not send email alerts if we don't think there is a realistic chance of you purchasing, i.e. a retailer only adds an odd unit of stock on their website which sells out in seconds.

  • Use the Webpage Alerts. The product listings webpage auto refreshes itself every couple of minutes and has two stock alert options :-

    • A - Tick the product/s you wish to be alerted for and a message box will appear when new stock is found (all products are selected by default).

    • B - "Audible Alerts when New Stock Found" - tick this option to also receive a load audible alarm when stock is found from you computer speakers. Desktop PC recommended. Recommended. Immediately informed of new online stock.

    • We also recommend you test the audible alert in your browser first by clicking the 'Test' link. If you can hear sound, great! If not, your browser maybe asking for your permission to play the sound or your browser may not be able to play sound. Unfortunately, Apple block the automatic playing of sound on the iPad and iPhone, sorry but there is nothing we can do about this. Apple Mac users are recommended to use the Google Chrome browser. Ideally, a desktop PC/MAC is best.

    • If you work in a quiet office, option A only maybe the best option, otherwise a combination of the two is ideal. Registration not required, however registered users receive a quicker refresh rate.

  • Choose to receive Push Notifications. A Push Notification on a Android mobile device is a message that instantly flashes up (just like other app messages you probably receive). It's similar on a desktop PC/MAC but flashes up in the bottom right corner of your screen. You can then Tap/Click the message to be taken directly to the retailer website

    Within My Profile you can select the products you wish to receive alerts for but also the option of 'Moderated' or 'Full' alerts:-

    • Moderated Alerts (Default) are stock notifications which have been checked and verified by a member of the Stock Informer team before sending. We will try and send notifications if we feel the retailer has a definite stock with reasonable number of units up for grabs. We will not send notifications if the retailer may have only put an odd unit on sale which gets snapped up immediately as this just leads to further frustration.

    • Full Alerts are stock notifications which are sent automatically by our servers when stock is detected. IMPORTANT- With this option you may well receive LOTS of notifications throughout the day which have NOT been verified by a member of the Stock Informer team. Please do not treat this notification as gospel that there is definitely stock, but an indication that there maybe stock. You may also receive more than one notification of the same stock or multiple notifications if the stock is constantly coming and going. ONLY proceed with the option if you are happy with these conditions.

    Unfortunately, due to restrictions imposed by Apple, Push Notifications are not currently available for the iPhone or iPad. Recommended. Very quickly informed of new online stock.

  • Discord - Receive immediate stock alerts direct to any device. There are  Discord apps  for most popular devices. You will need to allow permissions for the app to send notifications to your device.

    The Stock Informer (UK) invite link:- https://discord.com/invite/x2Jq5kFUdt

    The Stock Informer (US) invite link:- https://discord.com/invite/UUj7TBBBgv

    Once you have the app setup and you have joined the "Stock Informer UK" server, click the "stock-alert-setup" channel and follow the instructions to subscribe to the alerts you require. You may also need to 'mute' notification on other channels if you are receiving alerts you do not require. Highly Recommended. Quick and reliable way to be informed of new online stock.

  • Telegram - Receive immediate stock alerts direct to any device. App download required. If available, invite links are shown on the stock checking webpage and My Profile.

    Highly Recommended. Quick and reliable way to be informed of new online stock.
  • Social Media - where possible we also post stock notification on our Facebook page and Twitter feeds - Twitter UK & Twitter US. So it's worthwhile following to receive any live updates, latest news and insider tips.

Which is best for you very much depends on your circumstances..

I have received an email saying an item is in stock, but when I visit the website it says it's 'out of stock'. Why is this?

When Stock Informer sends an email it will be correct at time of sending. Emails are not always instantly received. For various reasons you may not read an email until hours or days after it was actually sent, meaning stock has subsequently come and gone. All emails sent from Stock Informer contain a date and time stamp, so you know when it was actually sent.

Stock Informer has detected stock but didn't send any emails or push notifications, why not?

Although our systems can automatically send notifications when stock is found, on occasions we may decide to review each stock detection on a case by case basis before sending notifications . The reason for this is that if a retailer only has a few units of stock available,there is little point in sending thousands of notifications as by the time people receive and read them the stock will be sold out and gone (especially emails). This just wastes everyone's time and adds further frustration. People who use the loud audible alerts option and opted in to the "Full" Push Notifications will always be the first to know about stock and very often snap up a few units of stock before anyone else.

How I do stop receiving email alerts??

Login to the Stock Informer website and click the My Profile link. Here you can deselect the tick boxes corresponding to the stock alerts you wish to stop (or start).

All stock notification emails also have a unsubscribe link which when clicked will automatically unsubscribe your email address from all further notifications.

How I do stop receiving push notification alerts?

On the device and web browser you are receiving the alerts on, click the bell icon in the bottom left of the screen and then click the 'Unsubscribe' button. Alternatively, you can stop push notifications from Stock Informer through your browser settings.

Do I have to pay to use Stock Informer?

No, use of the website is completely free (and always will be).

Your not tracking something that I'm looking for and can't find anywhere, why not!?

Maybe because we don't know about it! Please suggest products and we will take a look to see if there is enough demand to set up a tracking webpage.

The 'Refresh Rate' of the desktop webpage stock checker keeps changing, why?

Occasionally we will adjust the refresh rate up or down depending on the amount of traffic the website is receiving. This is to ensure everyone receives a quick and responsive website.

Why is Amazon sometimes constantly in and out of stock every minute or two? When you say Amazon has stock, I visit the Amazon website and there is no stock!?

Amazon very often will 'drip feed' stock just a few units at a time. Our servers will detect stock and update the Stock Informer website, however by the time you have clicked through to the Amazon website the units have been sold (yes, they can and do sell in seconds!) In this instance, keep refreshing the Amazon webpage as very often stock will reappear after just a few attempts. Another tip is to turn on the Amazon 'One Click Ordering', this greatly improves your chances of a successful order as you don't need to go through the whole checkout process (it's also easy to cancel an order straight after if you make any mistakes).

I'm seeing '403 Forbidden - Access is Denied' message when I try to access the Stock Informer website?

Access to the Stock Informer website has been blocked by our web server. This will be due irregular/multiple web page refreshing. Users who try to gain an advantage over others or abuse the system are automatically banned. We do not revoke a ban.

I'm using an Apple Mac but can't hear the audible alarm?

The Google Chrome web browser works best for audible alerts. Apple have started blocking features on their Safari web browser.

I've got a webpage message "Stock Checking STOPPED - We have detected irregular refreshing of this webpage" but I don't understand why?

Our stock checking we page auto refreshes at regular intervals. Some users will try and abuse the system to gain an advantage by constantly refreshing the webpage or using other bot software to do this for them. If we detect any irregular/multiple web page refreshing a message will be displayed advising of this and the possible causes. The viewing of stock information is also then blocked. Multiple abuses will result in a permanent ban.

Probable causes include:-

  • A user constantly hitting the 'refresh' button on their web browser.
  • Using 3rd party software to auto refresh the webpage.
  • Multiple tabs of the Stock Informer webpage open.

If you wish to view all our products visit our All Categories Page.