Magento 1.9 does available stock/qty change when product is added to cart?

Question

I have a store where I selle unique products, so every product has a quantity of 1. When the order is placed, the quantity is decreased to 0 and the product changes to out of stock and it's no longer available. This is correct.

My issue is that if the product is already in the cart of a user (the order is not placed yet, the user has only added the product into cart) it cannot be added to the cart by another user. So:

• user A adds product to the cart and does NOT proceed to place order
• user B tries to add the same product to the cart but magento doesn't let him because there is no quantity available

So my question is:

• is the quantity decreased when the order is placed or when the product is added to cart?
• is there a way to have the quantity available always, until one of the users finally places the order?

Thanks

Answer 1

My understanding stock is not removed until the order is placed, and the option in magento is "Decrease Stock When Order is Placed" so the wording implys the same.

I also tested this on my own store, and it did not change the product to out of stock when it was added to a cart, even when I was at the checkout, it was still showing as in stock to other users. not untill the order was placed was it changed to out of stock.