A tiny rant about online vintage

I wanted to write a post today about deeply cool vintage finds, but instead I became very frustrated. It's bad enough that we vintage buyers take a huge risk when we purchase online, but my major complaint/pet peeve/madness about second-hand interweb sellers is how they leave merchandise up on their sites THAT IS ALREADY GONE. It's torture. Imagine if you walked into a shop, saw something in your size that you absolutely loved and then, when you were about to put down your cold, hard cash, were told, "No, not for you!" Almost all of my favorite and completely cherished online boutiques are guilty of this practice (take ModCloth, its entire vintage inventory* is currently sold out!) and I don't really understand why it's done. Is it to show me what great stuff you once had? I know ! I want to buy from you! If anyone out there has an explanation for this peculiar clothes-you-can't-buy custom, you can have my firstborn kid. OK. Not really, but my eternal gratitude for sure.

*Case in point: This adorable embroidered shirt which I would've totally, TOTALLY bought.