"Is this still available?": the Facebook comment reply template
The second-most-common selling comment, and the one most likely to get a wrong answer from automation. This template gives you two reply sets — in stock and sold out — and is honest about the fact that Mentbot does not know which one is true.
Ready to buy, checking the post is not three weeks stale. A slow answer here reads as "sold out" and they move on.
Checked against the product on
When this fires
Paste these into the rule’s keyword list. Any one of them matching is enough — keywords are an OR list, not an AND list.
still availablestill availavailableavail poin stockstock pameron pameron pa baมีของไหมของหมดยัง
How Mentbot reads them
- Matching is a plain substring test, not a whole-word test. A keyword matches anywhere inside the comment — which is why the list below matters.
- Case is ignored, and text is NFKC-folded first, so ＳＡＬＥ matches sale and full-width or styled characters still match.
- Thai, emoji and any other script work the same way: the comment is compared as text, with no language detection.
- Leading and trailing spaces in a keyword are trimmed, and a blank keyword row never matches anything.
The public reply
Add these as separate reply variants on the rule. Mentbot picks one at random each time a comment matches, so the same post does not fill up with one identical sentence.
- Variant 1
Yes, still available ✅ Details sent to your Messenger — reply there to order.
In-stock set. Use these while the item is live.
- Variant 2
Available! 🛍 We've messaged you the price and how to order.
- Variant 3
Yes — in stock today. Check your inbox, we've sent everything.
- Variant 4
Sorry, this one's gone 😔 We've sent you what's back in stock right now — check Messenger.
Sold-out set. Swap these in and remove the in-stock variants when the item goes — do not leave both in the rule, or half your commenters get told the wrong thing at random.
{comment} is replaced with the commenter’s own text. It is the only token Mentbot substitutes — there is no {name} or {page}.
The Messenger DM
The private reply Mentbot sends to the same commenter. On Facebook this is a Messenger private reply to the comment, so it only works while Facebook’s reply window for that comment is open.
Hi! You asked: "{comment}" Here's what's in stock right now and the prices. Tell us which one and we'll reserve it for you today.
Settings to turn on
The four switches on the rule, and what this scenario needs from each.
| Setting | This template | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Reply once | On On. One availability answer per person per post is enough — a second ask means they want a human. | Answers each commenter once per post for this rule — and an attempt Facebook refused still counts as that once. The same person commenting again on the same post gets nothing more from this rule, but a different rule can still answer them, and the same rule answers them again on a different post. |
| Mention the commenter | Off | Puts an @mention of the commenter at the front of the public reply. It applies to the public reply only, never to the Messenger message. |
| Hide the comment | Off Off. "Still available?" under a post is free proof that people want the thing. | Hides the comment once this rule has answered it. The author and their friends still see it; everyone else does not. Separate from your Page’s moderation filters, which run earlier. |
| Like the comment | On | Likes the comment from the Page, straight after the public reply goes out. |
Scope
Where the rule is allowed to fire.
The rule runs on every post but only on comments containing one of its keywords.
Keywords on every post. Availability questions land on old posts most of all, which is the argument against scoping this one to a post list.
When two rules could both answer
Exactly one rule answers a comment. Mentbot ranks every rule that qualifies and runs the most specific one; the rest are recorded as outranked, not run.
- A rule limited to a list of posts wins first — even if it also has keywords.
- Then a rule with a hashtag or keywords.
- Then the catch-all with neither.
- If two rules tie on that rank, the older one wins. There is no priority field to set.
What will not match
Comments a seller expects this rule to catch, and does not. Each one follows from the matching rules above.
| The comment | Why it does not fire |
|---|---|
| "Do you still have this?" | None of the listed keywords appear in it. Matching is substring only — no synonyms, no paraphrase. If your customers write this, it belongs in the list. |
| A comment that is only 🙋 or a sticker | A sticker carries no text, so a rule with keywords never matches it. 🙋 on its own is ordinary text — add it as a keyword if your buyers use it, and it matches like any word. |
| "Still available?" sent as a Messenger message | Reply rules run on comments on your Page's posts, not on inbox threads. |
| A comment on a post covered by a post-scoped rule | A rule limited to a list of posts outranks every keyword rule, even one that also has keywords. If you scoped a rule to that post — a live, a giveaway — it answers instead of this one, and this one is recorded as outranked. |
What Mentbot will not do here
Stated plainly, so you do not build a workflow on top of something that is not there.
- Mentbot does not read your inventory. There is no stock field, no catalogue and no integration that checks whether an item is left. The reply is whatever text you last saved.
- That means a sold-out item keeps being answered "yes, still available" until you edit or pause the rule. If you sell in short drops, treat editing this rule as part of closing the drop.
- It cannot tell which item a commenter means on a post with several items in it.
Cost at your comment volume
Rules are not metered separately — you pay for comments handled per day across all your Pages, and every plan includes every feature. Prices come straight from the pricing page.
| Comments per day | Plan | Monthly |
|---|---|---|
| 100 | Basic | $9 |
| 1,000 | Pro | $19 |
| 3,000 | Premium | $29 |
Unlimited Pages on every plan, and a 14-day free trial.
Questions
Can Mentbot check stock before replying?
No. There is no inventory lookup anywhere in the product. This is a canned reply plus a Messenger message, and it is worth saying so plainly rather than letting the automation imply otherwise.
How do I handle sold out without turning the rule off?
Edit the reply variants. Replace the in-stock set with the sold-out set and point the DM at what you do have. The rule keeps catching the same comments; only the answer changes.
What happens if I leave both in-stock and sold-out variants in the rule?
Mentbot picks one variant at random for each comment. Roughly half your commenters would be told it is available and half that it is gone. Keep one set at a time.
Should I hide "still available?" comments after replying?
Usually not. Visible demand under a post helps the next buyer. Hiding is for spam and contact-poaching, which is a different template.
Other templates
Related guide
The long-form version of this, and the tool comparisons.
Every behaviour on this page is checked against Mentbot’s own source. If the product changes and this page does not, tell us.