Funny you mention it, it is actually a little more complex in practice. The 'soft spot' for number of items left in stock is somewhere between 2 and 5 (135 left in stock makes one postpone the buying decision obviously ;-)).
The problem with 1 left in stock is that people are responding well to scarcity in general but often don't like to be pushed toward a decision right now.... this is counter effective.
The other problem with "1 left in stock" is that I might want to buy two, and if you claim to have only one, I'll go to another site rather than order from you and wait an unknown amount of time for you to restock
The problem with 1 left in stock is that people are responding well to scarcity in general but often don't like to be pushed toward a decision right now.... this is counter effective.