Can something be partially sold out?

[DappledThings]

Apologies for the poor photograph with a lamppost in front that was taken as I was held at an advantageous traffic light.

This sign annoys me daily. Being sold out is surely a binary state; something is either sold out or not. They can be 80% sold or sold out. 80% sold out is just wrong.

Or am I being, heaven forfend, too pedantic?

I agree.

It's impossible to be too pedantic, because unless you are reducing everything down to bare bones a pendant will assert you can still be yet more pedantic. But I don't really want to get into a pedantic discussion about pedantry in any case.

They are obviously just being cheapskate and didn't want to foot the extra cost of making a sign which reads "80% of the way to being 100% Sold Out".

As a pedant, I'd be tempted to stop and purchase an example of whatever it is being sold, and then immediately challenge them about the fact the sign is still reading "80%". Even in the event the quantity for sale is so large than one sale wouldn't move the 80% number, I'd suggest they could at least add a decimal point and get the calculator out.

I see the thing being sold appears to be homes. In that case, I'd count the number of properties on the estate, and calculate whether it is indeed possible to even sell precisely 80% of them, and depending upon my conclusion, perhaps involve Trading Standards

I think they could be 80% sold out if there were, say, 10 styles of house on the estate, and 8 of them were sold out, so that only 20% of the original options were still available. I'm sure that must be what they mean.

Excellent thinking!

If it comes in several colours then you could be sold out of one colour but not the others.

or other variations.

No. You are right.

I don't think it's quite a binary because you can't place a number on it. It's like fewer or less. Almost sold out or almost gone will make more sense, not 80% gone.

Interesting! I agree that usually we'd see "80% sold". However, "sold" means an item has been purchased, "sold out" means all available stock is completely gone. So maybe "80% sold out" is also correct. I think "80% sold" sounds more natural, and maybe "80% sold out is also correct, it just sounds less natural. It sounds better if you say something like "Phase 2 sold out".

This requires a discussion re what, precisely, "almost" entails.

At 80% I'd say "almost" is pushing it, but it's beyond the realms of "partially". IMO "mostly" is about as much as you could get away with at 80%

On all those types of boards I’ve seen, it says ‘80% sold’, or whatever the figure is. Or perhaps it may say ‘only 20% remaining’.

I tend to think of ‘sold out’ in the context of more everyday items, like clothes, food, appliances etc.

Although that could be it, my guess is that they just want "sold out" in their text (even though they haven't sold out) because it triggers anxiety about missing out, which can make people act hastily.

It reminds me of "Contains 100% beef" which I have heard somewhere (MacDonalds ads?). It creates a nice feeling that the burger or whatever is 100% beef even though, if we actually stop to think, it is completely clear that all they are saying is The part of this that is beef, is beef.

I'd put in in the same category as people saying something is "quite unique" or "very unique".

Speaking as an accountant as well as a pedant, that sign really irritates me!

I guess it could be there were three different types of property (or dress or jellybean flavour) and two of them had sold out. So they still have jellybeans just not the full range?!

God knows why I'm trying to justify it. It's nonsense!