Product detail#
The page of a single item — photos, description, price, variants, availability, ratings.
Variants#
If the item comes in sizes, colours or pack sizes, you choose before adding to the cart.
Price and availability differ from variant to variant
The price shown is usually the lowest on offer. Choosing a size can change it — and one size may be in stock while another is not. Read the figures after choosing, not the ones the page showed at first.
Without choosing a variant the item cannot go into the cart
If it will not add, the missing choice is usually why. The e-shop does not sell a "product" but a specific variant — that is what has its own price, stock and barcode.
Availability and delivery estimate#
| Wording | What it means |
|---|---|
| in stock | the shop has cover for it and can state a dispatch date |
| at the supplier | not in stock, but the supplier has a stated lead time |
| on request | no estimate can be computed — neither stock nor supplier has a lead time |
| sold out | it cannot be bought right now |
The estimate is computed from the earliest possible dispatch day across the warehouses, not from the first one in the list.
The stock figure is not the whole quantity in the warehouse
Part of it may be reserved for other orders. You are buying from what is left after the reservations — which is why the number sometimes drops without anyone buying.
A warehouse closure shifts the DISPATCH day, not the transit time
If the shop has a warehouse closed, the estimate moves by however much dispatch is delayed — the time the parcel spends with the carrier does not change. So an item marked "in stock" can show an estimate a week away and that is not a fault.
Goods held in two warehouses can be faster from the more distant one
What counts is the resulting dispatch date, not the number of days on paper. A warehouse with a longer stated lead time but no closure is often quicker.
Price#
Check whether the price includes VAT
Sites selling to businesses often show prices without tax. The detail itself carries no label — you find out from the note in the cart: "Prices include VAT." or "Item prices are listed excluding VAT; the summary amounts include VAT." With tax-exclusive prices the cart total comes out higher — the summary always shows what is actually being paid.
The price can also differ according to who you are — a shop may run a different price list for a customer group, for members or for wholesale buyers. A struck-through original price means a discount.
Prices are scheduled in advance
A sale has a start and an end date. That is why the price can change without anyone doing anything on the site — and why what counts is the price at the moment the order is completed, not the one you saw when adding to the cart (The cart).
Quantity pricing#
Some items have a table: from a certain number of units the unit price drops.
It is worth checking whether more is cheaper
The thresholds sit on round numbers, so the difference between 9 and 10 units can exceed the price of the tenth.
Description and parameters#
Besides the description, items usually carry parameters — dimensions, material, weight. The same parameters are what you can filter by in search.
Ratings#
Customers can rate an item and write a review.
Read the reviews, not just the average
An average of 4.2 from five reviews tells you nothing. The text does — especially the one where the author says what did not suit them.
You can write a review too — see Comments and ratings.
Asking about an item#
There is usually a form or a contact here. Better to ask before buying than after.
Quote the item code and the variant in your question
The answer then comes faster and is about what you asked — with ten sizes on offer, "the blue jumper" is not enough.
Where to go next#
- The cart — what happens after adding
- Search and filters — how to find things
- Shipping and payment