What to Say When Someone Asks 'Is This Still Available?'

you post something for sale and within a minute your phone buzzes: “is this still available?”

no name, no question about the item, nothing else. and if you sell on facebook marketplace, offerup, or craigslist for any length of time, you get this same five-word message over and over, all day. so what do you actually say back?

the short version: never reply with just “yes.” a bare “yes” is a dead end — it puts the work back on a stranger who already did the least possible amount of typing, and plenty of them ghost before they answer. your reply should confirm the item and hand them the next step in one message. that’s the whole trick. below are the exact words for every version of this conversation, including the one that’s actually a scam.

why everyone sends this message (and what it really means)

“is this still available?” is the lowest-effort way to raise a hand. on marketplace, facebook even auto-suggests it as a one-tap button, so people fire it at ten listings at once while barely looking. that tells you two things:

• it’s mild interest, not a commitment. they haven’t decided anything. they’re casting a wide net.
• the seller who replies fast and gives them something to do wins. the person still typing “yes.” an hour later already lost them to someone who replied in two minutes with a time and a place.

so don’t read too much into the message, and don’t get annoyed by it. treat it as a soft “maybe” that you get to turn into a “yes” with your reply.

the golden rule: confirm + advance, every time

every good reply does two jobs at once. first it confirms the item is available. second it advances the sale — a question, a time, a location, a small qualifier. that second half is what stops the ghosting, because now they have something to answer.

bad: yes good: yep, still available! are you local to [city]? i'm around tomorrow evening if you want to come take a look.

same amount of effort. completely different outcome. the good version filters tire-kickers, surfaces serious buyers, and moves toward a meetup instead of a 3-day text thread that goes nowhere.

copy-paste replies for every situation

steal these and swap in your details.

1. the default reply (use this most of the time)

yep, still available! are you nearby? i’m free [day/time] if you want to come see it — happy to answer any questions first.

confirms, qualifies location, and proposes a window. one message, three jobs done.

2. when you’ve got more than one person interested

it is! just a heads up, a couple other people have asked, so it’s first come. if you want it, when could you come grab it? cash on pickup.

honest, not pushy, and it creates real urgency because it’s true. “first come” makes a serious buyer move and makes a flake reveal themselves.

3. when they’re vague and you want to qualify them

still here! what’s your timeline looking like — were you hoping to pick up this week? and do you have any questions about it?

a buyer who’s “just looking” tends to fade here. a real one gives you a day. either way you learn something instead of waiting.

4. when it’s a higher-value item (car, furniture, electronics)

yes, still available. it’s listed at $[price], cash on pickup, in [city/neighborhood]. i can send a couple more photos or do a quick video if that helps. when works for you to come see it?

restating the price and terms up front kills the “will you take half?” follow-up and weeds out anyone who didn’t actually read the listing.

5. when you suspect it’s already sold-ish (pending pickup)

hey! someone’s coming to look at it [day], but if that falls through you’re next in line — want me to message you if it’s still available after that?

keeps a backup buyer warm without lying to anyone. you’ll be glad you have them when the first person flakes, which they will.

the version that’s a scam — know it cold

here’s the one that catches good people. you reply “yes, it’s available,” and they come back with something like:

great! but there’s a lot of scammers on here. can you verify you’re a real person? i’ll text a code to your number, just read it back to me.

stop. that is the scam. do not send your phone number, and never, ever read back a code. what’s happening: they’re creating a Google Voice account using your phone number, and that 6-digit “verification code” is the one thing they need from you to hijack it. once they read it back, they’ve got a phone number tied to your identity to run more scams. a real buyer has zero reason to verify you with a code. ever.

other red flags in the same family:

• they want to pay before seeing the item, often by zelle, cashapp, “deposit,” or gift cards
• they can’t meet in person and need to “ship it” with a third-party shipper they pick
• the english is oddly stilted or they immediately push you off marketplace to text or whatsapp
• they offer more than your asking price (nobody overpays a stranger — it’s the classic overpayment scam)

your reply to all of it: i only do cash, in person, on pickup — no codes, no shipping, no apps. let me know if that works. if they vanish, you just dodged a scam. real buyers are completely fine with cash in person.

the real fix: a listing that answers the question first

here’s the thing nobody says out loud — you get buried in “is this still available?” partly because your listing is thin. three words and a price (“2012 civic $6500”) forces every buyer to message you just to learn the basics, and most of those messages are low-effort fishing. a listing that already answers the obvious questions gets you fewer messages, but the ones you get are from people closer to actually buying.

a strong listing states what it is, the condition, the real specs, an honest flaw or two, the price with a reason, and your terms (cash, pickup, city). when all that’s already on the page, “is this still available?” turns into “is this available, i can come tonight” — because there’s nothing left to ask except the meetup.

if you’re selling a car specifically — the single most “is this still available?”-spammed category there is — our Used-Car Listing Writer writes that whole front-loaded listing for you. you punch in the year, mileage, condition, and a couple features, and it hands back a tight marketplace ad, a search-optimized title, and a price line framed so buyers anchor to your number. it’s a few bucks and totally optional — but it’s built to cut exactly this kind of low-effort message down to the real buyers.

the one-line takeaway

when someone asks “is this still available?”, confirm it and give them the next step in the same breath — a time, a place, a question. don’t read back any verification codes, don’t take payment before pickup, and keep it cash-in-person. do that and a five-word message becomes a sale instead of another ghost in your inbox.

tired of the same five words all day? write a listing that answers it up front and let the page do the talking.