How to Get Back in Stock Alerts for Any Online Shop

September 25, 20266 min read

Plenty of shops have a "Notify me when available" button. Plenty don't. And the ones that do often email you hours after the restock, once it has sold out again.

This guide shows how to watch any product page yourself and get one alert when it comes back in stock. It works on big retailers, small independent shops and shops in other languages, as long as the page is public.

What you are really waiting for

A restock is almost always one piece of text changing on the page:

"Sold out" disappears
"Out of stock" turns into "In stock"
a greyed-out "Add to cart" button comes back

So the reliable way to catch a restock is to watch for that message going away, not for "anything on the page changed". Product pages change all the time: reviews, recommendations, "12 people are looking at this". If you watch the whole page you will get alerts all day and start ignoring them.

Set up a restock alert with Site Spy

Step 1: Create a free account

Step 2: Add the product page

On the watches page, paste the product URL and press Find What to Watch. Site Spy loads the page in a real browser and shows you a picture of it.

If the product has sizes or colours, pick the exact variant first and copy the URL after you have selected it. Many shops put the variant in the address (Shopify shops, for example, add ?variant= followed by a number). Otherwise you end up watching the default variant, which may be in stock when yours isn't.

Step 3: Point at the stock line

Click the "Sold out" label, the stock status, or the Add to cart button. If Site Spy spots availability wording on the page, it offers an Availability chip above the picture that selects it for you. Press Track This Element.

You can also do this from the browser extension: open the product page, click the Site Spy icon, then Pick an Element on This Page. Get it for Chrome or Firefox.

Step 4: Tell it which message means "not yet"

This step is what makes the alert useful. Open the watch's settings (the gear icon on the watch row) and find Waiting For Text To Clear. Paste the exact message the shop shows while the item is unavailable, for example:

Sold out

Then turn on Alert only when it clears. Nothing is sent while that text is on the page. When it disappears, you get one alert, and nothing else from that page.

A few tips:

Copy the wording exactly as the shop shows it, in the shop's language. "Ausverkauft", "Épuisé" and "售罄" all work.
Add one message per line if the shop uses more than one ("Sold out" and "Coming soon").
For fuzzy matches, the field takes a regular expression, such as /out of stock/i.

Step 5: Choose where the alert goes

You can get alerts by email, in Telegram, as browser push notifications, or through webhooks to Discord, Slack and 90+ other services. All channels are included on every plan, including Free. Set them up on the notifications page.

Step 6: Pick how often to check

Free: every hour. Fine for restocks that stay in stock for a day or more.
Starter (EUR 4 a month): every 10 minutes.
Pro (EUR 8 a month): every minute on up to 10 pages. Use it for hyped drops such as limited toys, sneakers and consoles, which can sell out in minutes.

See pricing for full plan details.

What people watch

Real examples from Site Spy users:

Collectible toys such as Beyblade and trading cards on small shops, where restocks sell out fast
Perfume and cosmetics in a particular size that keeps going out of stock
Electronics and consoles at big retailers during launches
Clothes and shoes in one size
Plants, coffee and small-batch goods from independent shops that restock without warning

When this won't work

Being honest about the limits saves you a missed restock:

Stock is only shown after you log in. Site Spy checks the page as a logged-out visitor. Some members-only shops won't show stock that way. Login steps can be configured through the API on Pro, but there is no dashboard editor for them yet.
The shop uses heavy bot protection. Some big retailers sit behind anti-bot services. When a site blocks the first attempt, Site Spy moves to heavier fetch methods, but a few sites beat all of them. If that happens, the watch shows a "blocked" badge and you get an email telling you. It won't pretend nothing changed.
Stock is only loaded when you click something. Some shops only show availability after you pick a size in a dropdown and no variant URL exists. A single URL can't capture that. Look for a variant link, or a collection page that lists sold-out items.
Very fast drops. A drop that sells out in 30 seconds can come and go between two checks, even at 1-minute intervals. Site Spy tells you it happened. It can't hold the item for you.
Checks are spaced per shop. Site Spy fetches any single site at most about once a minute across your watches, to avoid hammering it and getting blocked. Ten products on the same shop are checked one after another, not all at once.
Alerts are capped per watch at 4 an hour and 24 a day, so a misconfigured watch can't flood your inbox.

For developers: the price and stock mode

If a shop publishes structured product data (most large shops do, for Google Shopping), Site Spy can read the stock status and price from it directly instead of from the page text. That mode is set through the API (processor: restock_diff, with in_stock_processing: in_stock_only in processor_config_restock_diff), and bulk import accepts it for a whole list of product URLs. There is no dashboard switch for it yet, so for most people the steps above are the way to go.

FAQ

Can I get back in stock alerts on a site that has no "notify me" button?

Yes. Site Spy doesn't need the shop to offer anything. It checks the public product page on your schedule and alerts you when the "Sold out" message goes away.

Is it free?

The free plan watches 2 pages, checked every hour, with alerts by email, Telegram, push or webhook. Faster checks start at EUR 4 a month.

How fast will I hear about a restock?

Within one check interval, plus the time it takes to send the alert. That's up to an hour on Free, 10 minutes on Starter, and about a minute on Pro for up to 10 pages.

Will I get alerts when the price or reviews change?

Not if you set it up as above. With Alert only when it clears on, the only alert is the one when your "Sold out" text disappears.

Does it buy the item for me?

No. Site Spy only alerts you. It doesn't add to cart or check out. You still need to be quick.

Does it work on Amazon?

Often, but Amazon is one of the harder sites. It sometimes shows bot checks, and a listing can have several sellers. Watch the "Currently unavailable" line or the buy box. For Amazon prices, also see how to track price drops.

Related guides

How to track price drops on any product page
Get alerted when an appointment slot opens up, which uses the same "wait for this message to go away" setup
Visualping alternatives compared

Create a free account and set up your first restock alert.