Our system no longer shows you covers that are already sold.
We changed the way the site works, in order to avoid the old "Sold Out" problem.

So what does "Reserved" mean? When someone puts a cover into their shopping cart, that cover becomes "Reserved". We don't take it out of the database right away, because it may become available again. The shopper who has it may delete the item from their purchases, or they may not complete their order. If a Shopping Cart is inactive for one hour, it is automatically deleted, and the covers become available again. About 10% of the time, the order is not completed and the cover is returned to stock. You may view a reserved cover, but the "Add to Cart" image will not appear and you cannot order it.

I really wanted that cover! How do I check to see if it becomes available again? If you want to check on the status of a cover that you saw was reserved, you may do whatever search you did before, i.e. browse the country or category. Or, you may make a note of the stock number and search specifically for the stock number by entering it into the "Keyword" box (do not pick a country at the same time). One of three things may happen:

1. The cover won't show up at all. Sorry, it's sold -- the order has been completed.
2. It shows up but it's still reserved -- there is still hope. Try again later.
3. It shows up as available. Your 10% chance came through! Grab it!

During a busy shopping period, for example after an announced upload, covers will move from available to reserved and then disappear, or reappear depending on what people are doing in their shopping carts. You will get a fresh view each time you do a new search, or "Refresh" an existing page. It's just like being at a busy table at a stamp show!

The cover didn't show as reserved when I did the search, but when I clicked on it, it was suddenly reserved! When you executed the search, the system checked the database and showed you the status of the covers at that moment. But two people may look at the same page at the same time, so its status may change in the time between calling up the thumbnails page and clicking on the cover to view it. In fact, even after you clicked on the cover to view it, somebody else may be doing the same thing and click on the "Add to Cart" button seconds before you. If that happens, you will get the "Sorry, you missed it!" message. (Hope it doesn't happen to you too often!).

I thought I ordered a cover, but it's showing up as reserved now! Maybe you did order it. Have you "reviewed" your Shopping Cart? Anything you add to your shopping cart will show up as "Reserved" in later searches -- reserved by you! Review your Shopping Cart to see what you've got!