Agents

Automatic messages

The Auto-Messages agent sends a message when a specific event happens on a conversation. You configure it from the Agents → Auto-Messages menu, or from the Auto-Messages settings button in the Messages tab.

Four tabs: Seller, Buyer, Follow-up, AI.

On the seller side

TriggerWhen it goes out
Order paidA buyer has just paid
Parcel shippedThe parcel has been picked up by the carrier
Parcel at the pickup pointThe parcel is waiting to be collected
Parcel collectedThe buyer has collected their parcel
Transaction completedThe transaction is finalized

Available variables: {buyer_name}, {item_title}.

All of them are off by default, with an example text shown in grey to inspire you. A trigger that is on with an empty message sends nothing — you have to write the text.

The two that pay off most: Order paid (immediately reassures the buyer) and Transaction completed (the best moment to ask for a rating).

On the buyer side

The same principles when you are the one buying: Purchase made, Seller has shipped, At the pickup point, Delivered, to confirm. Variables: {seller_name}, {item_title}.

Follow-ups

TriggerWhat it doesDefault delay
Offer follow-upFollows up a buyer who has not answered your offer24 h
Favorites follow-upFollows up someone who has not answered the favorites message48 h

The offer follow-up only goes out if the buyer has written nothing since your offer. If they replied, even to say no, no follow-up is sent.

Follow-ups cover the twenty most recent conversations on each pass: they are there to catch up with what is current, not to comb through history.

How the agent avoids duplicates

This is the point that matters most in an automatic sending system.

It only handles what arrives after it starts. The moment you switch it on, the agent sets a time marker and ignores everything before it. You will not accidentally wake up three months of conversations at once.

Every send is recorded before it goes out. If Chrome closes at the wrong moment, the message does not go out again on restart.

Switching off then back on resets the marker. The agent restarts from the switch-on date, without catching up on the gap.

Manual catch-up

A collapsible Manual catch-up section lets you handle the conversations updated over the last N hours (24 by default), as if the agent had been active.

Use it occasionally. The confirmation explicitly warns that several messages may go out. Start with a small window — a few hours — to see the volume.

Following its activity

The Auto-Messages window shows three counters — sent, skipped, errors — and a log. "Skipped" is not a problem: it is most often a message already sent for that trigger, or a message that is too old.

Using it well

Start with two triggers, not five. You will see the real tone and frequency before extending.

Write the way you speak. An automatic message gives itself away above all by its stiffness. Use {buyer_name} and {item_title}; they are what make the difference.

Do not write essays. Two sentences are enough, and they read well on a phone.

Reread what goes out. Open a few conversations after a day or two: it is the only way to see whether the tone works.

Going further

These triggers send a fixed text. To answer a real question from a buyer, you need the AI assistant — see The AI assistant.

Automatic messages | Vintedge