I thought this worked in previous betas.
Perhaps I had added one of of the sub modules like uc_inventory ?

I'll keep poking . .

Someone can develop it. We didn't leave it out because we don't want it, it just hasn't been written yet. There was a contributed solution for a long time, but when that stopped being maintained we brought the core components into core so anyone can write their own solution. Eventually, we may get something into core, or we may just have an officially sanctioned contrib module. TR was working on one for a while, but I haven't heard from him lately.

I noticed this contribution posted recently that might be useful. I'm not sure how feature complete it is, though.

Not much to do beyond try it out on a development site. You can always try PMing the author.

theloonypin, here is a mini-review of Ubercart stock trackers, which might help you with your decision. Note that the following is just my opinion. I would recommend trying them out on a test site, as your needs might be different.

uc_stockstub http://www.ubercart.org/contrib/4792

Pros:
+ Replaces the "add to cart" button with an "out of stock" badge, when the primary SKU is out of stock. This is very handy, as customers will instantly know that product cannot be purchased.
+ If a product has attributes, an out of stock message will appear when a customer selects a sold-out attribute. [The message also blocks purchase of the item]

Cons:
- The out of stock badge is only controlled by the main SKU. If the main SKU is at zero, the badge will appear, even if attributes are in stock. If the main SKU is above zero, the add to cart button will appear, even if no attributes are in stock (although if the customer tries to select a sold-out attribute, the out of stock message will appear). As a result, it best to disable stock tracking of the main SKU when selling a product with multiple attributes.
- When no attributes are in stock, the customer will receive the out of stock message each time they try to add an attribute to the cart. Although this stops them from ordering out of stock goods, it creates a slight usability issue, as the customer may end up trying to add every attribute to the cart before realizing that none of them are in stock.

uc_multi_stock http://www.ubercart.org/contrib/5097
Pros:
+ Displays out of stock message, when consumer tries to purchase a main SKU or an attribute that is out of stock.
+ Unlike uc_stockstub customers can still purchase attributes when the main SKU is at zero.
+ Not dependent on other contributed modules

Cons:
- Unlike uc_stockstub, there is no out of stock badge. Customers have to add the product cart before being told that it is out of stock. This creates a usability issue.
- Like uc_stockstub, there is no message to alert the user when all attributes have sold out. As a result, the customer may end up trying to add every attribute to the cart before realizing that none of them are in stock.

qrios' stock display script http://www.ubercart.org/forum/support/4037/stock_level_product_page
Pros:
+ Allows customers to instantly see which attributes are in stock (The quantity of ‘in stock’ items are displayed as a table). This is user friendly, as the customer doesn’t have to make any interactions to find this information out.

Cons:
- Doesn’t prevent purchase of out of stock products. Although, you can use it in conjunction with one of the above modules.
- Using it in conjunction with one of the above modules is slightly confusing for customers, as the above modules mark a product as out of stock when it is added to a shopping cart. qrios’ script, however, considers products to be out of stock when the order has been completed. Hence, this could create a situation where qrios’s script displays a product as in stock, but one of the above modules display it as out of stock.
- If no attributes are in stock, no table is rendered, which is confusing to the end user

Conclusion
Overall uc_stockstub and uc_multi_stock are more-or-less equal. From a customers’ point of view, uc_stockstub is very slightly better due to its “out of stock” badge. Although in my opinion, this is only a slight improvement, as the badge is controlled by the main SKU only, which creates a usability issue for products with multiple attributes. You can combine either module with qrios' stock display script to partly overcome their shortcomings. On the whole though, both modules would suit the needs of most stores, so you can't go wrong with either.

Notes:
Be sure to disable uc_stockstub and Inventory API (from the modules menu) before installing uc_multi_stock. I failed to do this and my site become inaccessible due to a fatal error message. In the end, I had to restore the site from a backup.

rich! I never made the connection! I checked out the shadowbox demo a while ago and was super impressed. Have you used it on any Ubercart sites?

Also, +1 to everything you said about the write-up. I bookmarked it for review as well. Anyone can create documentation pages, so if you want to create a "comparison pages" container that would be great. There's already a Contributed Modules page that would be a good parent.

Thank you very much, littly_kitty. This is just the information I've been looking for. I appreciate the time you took to write it up.

I've been trying like anything to avoid asking yet another stupid question, but I'm stuck. I can't find anywhere that explains how to install a module. I think uc_multi_stock is probably the way to go (though uc_stockstub could probably work equally as well), but I can't find any information on module installation. Am I just not looking in the right places?

Again, thank you very much to everyone here - your helpfulness is GREATLY appreciated.

thanks,
amy

I made a Module Comparisons section of the User's Guide. littly_kitty, if you can take a few minutes to format/post your comparison guide in there that would be awesome. Including version numbers of the modules in question will be helpful in keeping the data up to date.

Thanks!

Yep, that'll do it.

Yes, Thanks Littly_kitty for taking the time out to do this.

I was using the SImple Stock Levels, but due to the fact I will be having gift vouchers, that was out of the question.

I have chosen to go with uc_stocksub , and I hope that all dev guys who have put so much into this, perhaps work together on a single project, and that the UC guys recommend this.

It gets pretty confusing when there are so many systems all trying to do the one thing.

In any case, everyones hard efforts are always appreciated.

keep up the great work peoples...!