Communication with buyers through the messaging system

We firmly believe communication with your buyers is key to providing a great customer experience. However, with more sellers joining each day from around the world, we understand that it may not always be easy to know how to approach certain topics or what is a good level of communication between you and your customer, especially if you and the customer do not fluently speak the same language. Below are some helpful tips to help you become a master at buyer’s communication!

What kind of message will I receive via Artfinder?

As part of your seller journey, you may receive the following messages through our direct messaging system:

• Initial contact from a potential customer asking for more information on your artwork, shipping or any related query
• Updates from the customer regarding their delivery or any issue encountered as part of the order
• Offers which will come through our Make an Offer feature (If you have opted for this option)
• Commission requests for bespoke artwork creation (If you have opted for this option)

Can I contact potential customers who added my artwork to their basket?

We understand it can be frustrating to see your artworks added to a customer’s basket but not purchased. You will not be able to contact your potential customers who added your artwork to their basket, however we send all customers with art in their baskets 4 reminder emails (assuming they are opted into our emails) so all is not lost and these may still generate a sale for you! You can find more information here. 

Can I message customers directly?

It is important to note that artists on Artfinder can be contacted via message by customers even if no order has been placed. However, you will not be able to contact a customer via the Artfinder messaging system if no order has been placed, unless they message you first. 

How will I know that there is a new message on my messaging system?

Your messages can be accessed via your Seller Portal, by clicking on the tab titled Messages. In this section, you will see 3 tabs: Inbox, Sent and Archive. You will also be notified via email when a new message is received. We do however recommend you check your portal regularly for potential new messages, as emails can sometimes end up in junk/spam folders and you may miss out on a message as a result.

What do I do when a customer asks me if they can buy an artwork from me through my website, Instagram or other platform?

Please do not encourage customers introduced to you via Artfinder to contact you or place orders on your website or other platforms, as this is against our T&Cs and will be likely flagged by the system for further checks by our team. It is important to note that a breach of our T&Cs could lead to a formal warning or a potential suspension of your shop.

Which information should I communicate to buyers when I receive a new order?

We recommend you communicate the following details to any customer who has ordered from you:

• A thank you for their order (it goes without saying, but is crucial in providing a great customer experience!)
• An estimate of when the order may be dispatched, and how it will be packaged.
• The tracking details, courier and estimated delivery date for the parcel

How often should I message my customers?

We recommend you send at least four messages as part of the order journey:

• A thank you message once the order is placed;
• A message to advise the customer of dispatch date and associated tracking details;
• A message to check or confirm delivery;
• A message to ask if everything is in order with their artwork and request they leave a review if they wish to.

We also recommend you message them with any update you receive from the courier, especially if it relates to dispatch delays, delivery delays, or charges to be paid upon delivery.

My message is not showing, why is that?

There is currently a limitation of how many messages can be sent within a given hour (6 messages maximum). 

If you go past this quota, your messages will not show as they will be marked as spam. This will also be the case if your messages contain external website links, phone numbers, shipping addresses that differ from the one on the order page, email addresses or general numbers. Please rest assured we would always allow any details necessary to an order being delivered. However, our system may block any phone number or email address on messages, if they do not relate to an existing order placed, to avoid sales being taken outside of our platform. 

We do review these daily however so the delay in the message coming through should generally not exceed 24hours. 

I cannot find a message exchange I had with one of my customers

This is likely caused by the message exchange having been previously archived by you. Kindly note that once archived, messages cannot be unarchived but you will still have the option to access and respond to the message as usual (the only difference is that the message will not show in the main Inbox section but will show in the Archive section instead). 

If you wish to archive a message exchange, go to the message and click on the red “Archive” button on the top right hand side of the page.

My customer has not read my message, what do I do?

It may be difficult to know how long to wait before chasing a customer once you have messaged them. Especially when it comes to issues with delivery, or shipping an order, time can be of the essence and we understand you do not want to lose a sale as a result. 

Kindly note however that people may not always be able to respond straight away, and that this is rarely a case of ignoring you, or not being interested in the artwork anymore. A lot of customers only check the site when they want to order or to track their delivery, and email notifications may end up in their spam folder, so they may simply not have seen your message. Other reasons such as work commitments, internet access issues, holidays, or health problems, may mean they are not able to respond straight away (even when they have seen your message), so it is always advised to give your customer 48 hours before messaging them again. 

If they have not seen or responded to your second message, please let us know and we will reach out to them via email or text message.

I don’t know how to word my message correctly, can you help?

Of course! Our Artfinder Team is here to provide all the support you need, so if you have any doubts as to how to word a specific message to a customer, or worry that the tone may not express what you want to say, please feel free to contact us at sellers@artfindercom and we will happily offer some guidance on how best to proceed.

Can I copy/paste your advice to me directly to the customer?

We would advise not to, as sometimes our messages to you will contain specific information that should not be shared with the customer. If you are unsure of what can be communicated to your customer, please let us know and we will help you select the relevant information to share with them.

Do you have any suggestions on how we could improve our messaging system? Share them with our community by joining our forum discussion on the topic here: https://www.artfinder.com/community/artists/forum/topic/19763/?page=1

We always welcome feedback so please drop us a line at feedback@artfinder.com and let us know your thoughts on our messaging system!

Can I send image attachments to the customer?

We appreciate that sometimes artists will need to send image attachments to customers particularly in cases of an artwork commission, so please be assured that you are able to do so.

Simply select the 'Choose files' option underneath the message body to attach the intended image. Kindly note, our systems allow you to send attachments in the following formats: jpg and png for images, pdf for files. Please note, that you are currently unable to share MP4 file/video files.

Images can be shared regardless of the size of the attachment (the higher the resolution of the image, the bigger the size of the file).