Selling
Questions and your shop agent
Your inbox
Everything buyers send you lands in your Inbox, sorted so the things that need you come first:
| Section | What's in it |
|---|---|
| New messages | Conversations with something unread, plus any the agent handed to you (marked “A question for you”). |
| Needs you | Offers waiting for your answer. |
| To ship | Things that sold and need sending. |
| Waiting on buyers | Offers and counters where it's the buyer's turn. |
| Messages | Conversations you've read. |
| Earlier | Finished offers and sales. |
When it's all clear you'll see "Nothing needs you right now". Each conversation is about one listing (or your shop in general) with one buyer. Messages can be up to 2,000 characters.
How the agent answers
If Answer buyers' questions is on for your shop, the agent replies as soon as a buyer writes. Its replies are labelled "Your agent" in your inbox, so you always know who said what. It answers only from:
- The listing: its words, details, price, whether it takes offers, and shipping.
- What research found about the product, as general information.
- Your own earlier answers to other buyers about the same listing.
- How buying works here: PayPal holds the money until it arrives, you ship within 3 days, and buyers get 3 days to check.
So if Jess asks "Does the dutch oven come with its lid?" and your listing says so, she gets an answer straight away, even at 2am. If someone just says thanks, it doesn't reply.
What it never does
- It never haggles in messages, and never hints at your lowest price. If a buyer asks for a deal, it points them to Make an offer.
- It never makes things up. If the answer isn't in the listing or your past answers, it hands it to you.
- It never agrees to anything on your behalf, like a hold, a trade or a meetup.
When it needs you
Some things only you can answer: holding something for a buyer, bundling items, trades, meeting up, more photos, unusual shipping, or returns. For those, or anything it can't answer from the facts, the agent tells the buyer you'll reply in the same conversation. Then it flags it for you as A question for you, and it stays at the top of your Inbox under New messages until you reply, even after you've opened it.
When you're there, it steps back
If you've written in a conversation in the last 15 minutes, the agent stays quiet there, so you and the buyer can talk without it chiming in. Fifteen minutes after your last message there, it picks up again.
Your answers teach it
When you answer a question about a listing, the agent remembers it for that listing. Next time another buyer asks the same thing, it can answer with what you said, so the same question doesn't keep landing on you.
If buyers keep asking about something, it's also worth adding it to the listing itself with Edit listing.
Turning it off
In your shop's settings, under What your agent may do, switch off Answer buyers' questions. From then on, every message waits for you. This is per shop, so you can keep it on in one and off in another. See Open a shop.