The signal system
How signals work
No score, no percentage, no learned model. Every label is computed from stored facts you can see on the card: when it was seen, how the reporter knows, whether proof is attached, and what other people found.
Stock states
- In stock The reporter saw several available units or completed a pickup order.
- Low stock The reporter saw only a few units left.
- Sold out The reporter checked and found none of the product.
Each state has a name, a shape and a color, so it reads without color vision, on a phone in a bright store.
Active windows
Windows count from the moment the reporter saw the shelf, not from when the report was filed. A sighting seen at noon and filed at six shows “seen at noon.”
- In stock: 72 hours.
- Low stock: 48 hours.
- Sold out: 24 hours.
Reports older than 24 hours cannot be filed. Expired reports stop counting everywhere and never appear as current stock; they stay on their own page for history, clearly marked.
Signal labels
- Strong signal Recent in-person observation with proof and at least one independent confirmation.
- Fresh signal Recent observation without independent confirmation yet.
- Weakening signal Older report approaching expiration.
- Conflicted signal Recent community checks disagree with this report.
- Retailer-only signal Retailer page or pickup system indicated possible availability. Not a personally confirmed shelf.
- Expired Outside the active window. Shown for history only.
Exact rules: strong requires an in-person observation within 24 hours, proof (a completed pickup, an employee lookup or a retailer proof link) and at least one independent “still there” check with no corrections. Conflicted appears as soon as corrections equal or outnumber confirmations. Weakening begins when less than a third of the window remains. A report becomes “sold out per community checks” after 3 independent “gone” checks outnumber confirmations.
Community checks
- Still there You saw it at this store after the report was filed.
- Running low Only a few left when you checked.
- Gone You checked this store and found none.
- Store info is wrong The store name, address or ZIP does not match a real store.
- Wrong product The item reported is not the product named.
- Duplicate report This sighting already exists on WitchWatch.
- Report is misleading Fabricated, spam or otherwise not a real observation.
One check per browser per report; a later check replaces the earlier one. At most two browsers per connection count on the same report, checks are rate limited, a reporter cannot confirm their own report, and 3 independent flags hide a report pending review. No single person can erase a legitimate report.
What a signal is not
It is not retailer inventory, not a guarantee, not a hold, and not a prediction. WitchWatch does not monitor shelves, does not receive retailer feeds, and has no access to distributor or warehouse systems. It is people telling other people what they saw, with the time attached.