Availability is the field buyers trust most and verify least. On a marketplace where offers come from supplier feeds, it is worth knowing exactly what each phrasing can and cannot mean.
The three claims
In stock, quantity N. The supplier's system says N units are on their shelf. This is the strongest claim available and the only one that supports a same-day dispatch. What it does not guarantee is that the feed is current — which is why every offer on this site carries the date its supplier last published it.
In stock, quantity hidden. The supplier has the part but will not publish how many. Common and legitimate: quantity is competitive information, and a supplier with two units does not want that known before they quote. Treat it as "yes, they have it" and ask for the number in the request if you need several.
Ships in N days / on request. The supplier does not have it on their own shelf but expects to obtain it — from their own network, from a repair queue, or from the manufacturer if the part is still in production. This is a forecast, not a fact, and its reliability is exactly the supplier's reliability.
Reading the freshness date
A stock figure from this morning and one from March are both "in stock" and are not the same information. Feeds are re-imported on a schedule, and each offer shows when its data was last published.
As a rule of thumb for the secondary market: under a week is current, one to four weeks is normal and worth confirming for anything urgent, and over a couple of months should be treated as "they probably still have it" rather than a commitment. On this site the age is shown on the offer rather than hidden, precisely so you can weigh it.
Why two suppliers quote different lead times for the same part
Four reasons, in rough order of frequency:
- One has it and the other is sourcing it. The only difference that matters.
- Different shipping origins. A part in Poland reaches a German plant in a day; the same part in Singapore does not, whatever the dispatch time says.
- Different definitions of the clock. Some suppliers count working days from receipt of order, others from receipt of payment, others from dispatch. Ask which.
- Refurbishment queue. A refurbisher quoting "ten days" is quoting the bench, not the shelf. That is often worth waiting for, and it is a different risk profile from "we will try to buy one".
Making an availability promise stick
If the part is stopping a line, four things convert a listed lead time into a commitment:
- Ask for confirmation against the exact quantity, in the request. "Do you have 3 on the shelf today?" is answerable in one line.
- Ask what the clock starts on — order, payment or dispatch.
- Ask for the dispatch cut-off time if you need same-day.
- Get the Incoterm and destination in writing. A part that dispatches today and clears customs next Tuesday did not arrive today.
The trade-off nobody states
The fastest offer is very often not the cheapest, and for a production-critical part that is the correct outcome. A useful way to frame it internally: if the line is down, the comparison is not €400 against €900, it is €500 against an hour of production. If the line is running and this is a shelf spare, the comparison really is €400 against €900, and the slower supplier usually wins.
Deciding which of those two situations you are in — before you start comparing — is most of the skill.
What this marketplace does about it
Three things, all visible on the page rather than in a policy:
- Every offer carries its own freshness date, and stale offers are marked rather than quietly presented as current.
- Each supplier's storefront shows the response rate and median response time actually observed on this platform, not a figure they supply.
- Where a supplier hides quantity, the offer says so instead of inventing a number.
None of that makes a lead time true. It does let you tell the difference between a supplier who is accurate and one who is optimistic, which over a year of buying is worth considerably more than any single good price.