Shopping online for one-of-a-kind products

If someone has a one-of-a-kind item in their cart, what should a second =
person see with regard to the [add to cart] button for that product?

(Please note that I=E2=80=99m asking about what should ideally happen =
from the customer=E2=80=99s point of view and not what e-commerce shops =
currently do.)

Scenario 0: wants GoldRing

For example, in an online jewellery shop Customer#1 sees GoldRing and =
adds it to their cart. GoldRing is a unique design; only one will be =
made. The page of rings include an [Add to cart] button by each =
thumbnail and the button is also on the product page.

Scenario 1: item in cart

Customer#1 wanders around the shop and end up on the rings page again. =
Should GoldRing still have an [Add to cart] button? Or should the button =
now be [Remove from cart]?

Scenario 2: Customer#2 sees the ring

Half an hour later, Customer#2 arrives and spots the ring. Customer#1 =
still has it in their cart.

Should the [Add to cart] button be available? Or should the ring be =
marked as sold out? Or maybe [Add to cart] with a message such as, =
=E2=80=9Csomeone else has this in their cart - GoldRing will go to the =
first person who completes checkout" =20

Scenario 2: unique item in two carts

Customer#1 and Customer#2 both have GoldRing in their carts. Should =
Customer#1 be notified (that time is of the essence) with an appropriate =
message on their next page load?

I'm attaching a screenshot of what Easy do when someone tries to =
checkout with a limited-quantity item that someone else bought. There =
was no indication at any time for the second browser that someone else =
was after the same item. The only indication was during checkout when =
checkout was completed in the other session  The now-sold item was =
removed from my cart.

I don=E2=80=99t think that it=E2=80=99s good to surprise and annoy =
customers when they want to buy something they=E2=80=99ve fallen in love =
with. Ignoring the frequency of this event and of the complexity to =
implement, what do you think that Customer#1 and Customer#2 should see =
in the above scenarios?

My existing custom shop takes the item out of availability as soon as =
someone adds it to their cart.  (Abandoned carts are emptied every two =
hours.) I=E2=80=99m now reimplementing my jewellery shop using Ubercart =
(Drupal). Ubercart lets you add items to your cart even if the stock =
level is 0 (!) and so I=E2=80=99m writing a custom module to fix this =
and improve the customer experience.

Thanks,


Paola


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