Should I use HTTP Status code 410 for removed stock on a web site?

Question

I'm building a site for a motorcycle dealer, and their used stock changes daily. Currently, when stock is removed, Google Webmaster tools sees Error 404, which I should imagine would damage the reputation of the site with Google.

After doing some research, I found that HTTP status 410 means 'gone permanently'. Should I be using this status code for requests to bikes which are no longer in stock? The page gives a message to say that the bike has been sold, and shows a list of other used stock, just wondering what the correct way of handling these would be.

Thanks in advance

Answer 1

The status code should refer to the representation of the resource, not the availability of the resource itself. So a page listing an item that is no longer available should still return a 200 status, not 404 or 410.

Then you can list a message on the page saying 'this item is no longer available'. This is similar to how Amazon and eBay handle this problem.