An "is this still available" auto reply is a keyword reply: when someone comments or messages a word such as "avail", a message goes out on its own with a link to your live product page. Point it at the page, not at a promise about stock, and rewrite it when the item sells out.

What is the fastest way to answer "is this still available" on Instagram?

A keyword automation answers the question as soon as it arrives, whether it lands under your post or in your inbox.

inDM runs three kinds. In comment-to-DM, someone comments your keyword on a post or reel, inDM replies publicly under the comment and sends the DM. A story reply automation answers a reply to your story. A keyword DM reply answers a person who messages you the word. A live preview shows the whole exchange before anything goes out, there are no AI-written replies so every word is yours, and setup takes a few minutes: start with the comment-to-DM setup guide or how to send automated DMs on Instagram. You need a Business or Creator account, and you connect through Instagram's own login, so inDM never sees your password.

Instagram's rules shape the first message. Meta's documentation (read 23 October 2026) allows one private reply per comment, sent within 7 days of the comment, and delivers it to the person's Inbox if they follow you or to Requests if they do not. A follow-up can only go out if the person answers, within 24 hours of that answer. So the first message has to carry the answer.

Which keywords catch "is this still available"?

Word starts such as avail, stock, sold, size and left catch many phrasings, because keyword matching ignores capital letters and fires when a word in the comment starts with your keyword. A keyword of one or two letters, such as XS, must be the whole word.

Keyword Fires on Stays quiet on
avail "available?", "availability", "avail?" "unavailable"
stock "in stock?", "stocked in black?" "restock"
sold "sold out?", "is it sold" "unsold"
size "size 10?", "sizes" "oversized"
left "any left?", "left in medium?" "bereft"

The rule at work: "avail" catches two spellings of the same question, while "restock" needs a keyword of its own because it starts with "re".

A cheerful comment that starts a word with one of your keywords still gets the message, so write one that is harmless to receive. Scope the automation to one product post, so the link matches what the person is looking at.

What should the automatic reply say?

Keep it to a link to the live page and one line, because an automation cannot see your shelves. A message that says "yes, two left" goes stale the moment someone buys one. A message that says where to look stays true.

Three versions, in your own voice:

  • A listing with sizes or colours: "Thanks for asking. The live sizes and stock are on this page: [link]. This first reply is automatic, and I answer everything else myself."
  • A one-of-a-kind piece: "This piece is one of a kind, so the page shows whether it is still here: [link]. This first reply is automatic."
  • Made to order: "I make these to order and open a few places each week. The page shows whether this week is open: [link]. This first reply is automatic, and I read every answer."

The line about the reply being automatic is not decoration. Meta's messaging policy for Instagram (updated 28 September 2026, read 23 October 2026) says automated chats must disclose that a person is dealing with an automated service when the law requires it, and recommends doing so everywhere else. More wording for other situations is in Instagram DM templates to copy.

How to reply to "is this still available" by hand

Reply under the comment first, then move details to the DM. Instagram's Help Center (read 23 October 2026) says to go to the post, choose Reply below the comment and post your answer. That also helps the next person who wonders the same thing.

For the DM side, Instagram gives professional accounts two free tools in the app:

  • Saved replies. Instagram's Help Center says to hold down a message you have sent, tap More, then Save, and set a keyboard shortcut. Later you type the shortcut and tap the chat icon to fill in the reply. The page says this is for business and creator accounts in the mobile app. Saved replies, explained.
  • Frequently asked questions. You can add up to four questions, each with an optional automated answer, under Messages, then Tools, then Frequently asked questions. One of Instagram's own suggested questions for business accounts is "Can I check in about your availability?" A person who taps a question lands in your Requests folder, and you accept the request before you can reply.

Two short replies cover most cases. Available: "Yes, it is still here. Order here: [link]." Gone: "That one has gone, sorry. The closest match is here: [link]."

Which Instagram auto reply for sellers is built in?

Instagram's built-in auto replies live in two places: the app's frequently asked questions, covered above, and the automations in Meta Business Suite's Inbox. Meta's Business Help Center (read 23 October 2026) lists a greeting, an away message, frequently asked questions, location, hours, custom keywords and a comment automation.

Keyword automations there are available only on desktop. Meta says each one holds up to five keywords or phrases, that capital letters count as different, and that the match must be exact. It also says Inbox sends a keyword automation after 15 minutes unless you have replied yourself. That delay suits a shop that wants to answer personally first, and it is slower than a reply that goes out right after the comment.

What Instagram and Meta give you for free, and where each tool stops, is in does Instagram have auto reply.

What should the automatic reply say once the item has sold out?

Rewrite it the same day, because a link to a sold-out page promises nothing and costs you trust.

Turn the dead end into a list. The email gate, on every plan, asks for an email address before the link goes out. For example: "This one has sold out for now. Share your email and I will send you the page for the next batch: [email ask]." The link they receive afterwards can lead to the restock page or to your closest alternative. Contacts are kept in a list you can export as a CSV.

An email address matters here because Meta's messaging policy (updated 28 September 2026) says its one-time notification tool, which it describes for alerts such as back in stock on Messenger, is not available for Instagram. So an automation cannot send a restock note by DM once the 24-hour window has closed.

Say in the message what you will email about, and stay inside it. A restock note is what they asked for. A newsletter is not.

Where this stops working

  • An automation cannot see your stock. It sends the words you wrote, which is why the examples above point at a page instead of making a promise.
  • It answers people who got in touch first. One private reply per comment, within 7 days of the comment (Meta's documentation, read 23 October 2026), means a person who asked three weeks ago can no longer be reached this way.
  • Some people see it later. A person who does not follow you finds the reply in Requests, not in their Inbox.
  • A keyword catches a word, not a meaning. A comment like "got this in a medium?" holds none of the five words in the table, so no reply goes out. Read the comments after the first day and add the words people type.
  • Features differ by place. Meta's Business Help Center says some organic messaging features for businesses are unavailable in Europe and Japan, so check your own app first.
  • We did not test Meta's own automations in a live account. Meta's overview page describes the comment automation's trigger as hashtags and its setup page as keywords or phrases, so test it on a real post.

Write the answer once, point it at the page that tells the truth, and the most common question on a product post stops waiting for you.

Sources

All read on 23 October 2026:

What's ours and what isn't. The platform rules and Instagram's menu paths are Meta's, read on the date above. Meta changes them without notice, so treat the date as an expiry stamp. The message wording and the keyword table are our suggestions, not Meta's.