Users on your marketplace can communicate with each other through the built in messaging system. Messaging allows users to communicate directly with each other in a transaction. Depending on the type of marketplace, user messaging can facilitate arranging booking details, sharing a tracking link for a product purchase, or sending inquiries about a listing before purchase. Only text content can be sent via messaging.
How users send and view messages on the marketplace
To be able to send a message, a user needs to have an account and be logged-in the marketplace. There are two ways users can send each other messages:
Within an existing transaction: this typically happens after a booking or purchase has started, for example to confirm details, share updates, or ask follow up questions related to that transaction.
Through a listing page: this can be done by clicking the Contact link at the bottom of the page. Clicking this link opens a message box where the user can send an inquiry to the listing author. This option allows customers to ask questions about a product, service, or rental before making a purchase or completing a payment.
Listings that use the Free messaging transaction process display a Send inquiry button as the main call to action on the listing page. Because sending a message is the primary action in this case, there is no separate Contact link at the bottom of the listing page. Learn how free messaging transactions work.
Marketplace users can access and view messages they sent and received by going to the Inbox page while logged-in on the marketplace.
Marketplace operators can view messages sent by users in Console → Manage transactions, by clicking on a transaction and scrolling to the Activity section. If a message was sent via a listing using the “Free messaging” transaction process, the content of the initial inquiry message can be viewed in the “Protected data” field.
How to restrict messaging between users
There are several ways to restrict users from sending messages on your marketplace. Each option affects messaging and the user in a different way.
Restrict transaction rights: enabling this setting prevents users from starting new transactions and sending messages through listings. Users can still send messages within transactions that already exist.
Remove the contact link: you can remove the Contact link on the listing page by using the Marketplace texts feature. Doing so means users will only be able to send messages after they have initiated a (paid) transaction.
To do this, update the following Marketplace text key and replace the value with a blank space.
"UserCard.contactUser": "Contact"
Change it to:
"UserCard.contactUser": " ",
Ban a user: banning a user prevents them from interacting with the marketplace entirely, including sending messages. Messages previously sent by banned users will not be shown to other users. For security measures, a banned user’s messages will be replaced with a default message "This message is hidden for safety reasons." This is an editable marketplace text.
Messages and notifications
Whenever a user receives a new message on the marketplace, they receive an email notification. Learn more about email notifications.
This email includes the message content and a link back to the relevant conversation in the marketplace. Users can click this link to view the message and send a reply directly from the marketplace.
Currently, the marketplace interface does not show in app notifications when a new message is received. This means users are not notified inside the marketplace when someone sends them a message. There are also no read confirmations. Users cannot see whether a message has been read by the recipient. This functionality can be implemented with custom coding.
Red notification dot in the inbox
On the marketplace interface, a red dot notification can appear at the top of the Inbox link.
This red notification appears only when a transaction changes state, and an action is required from the user. Examples of actions that can trigger the red notification dot include:
A customer submitting a booking request.
A provider marking an item as delivered.
A provider submitting an offer on a listing
Sending or receiving a message alone does not change the state of a transaction. Because of this, messages alone do not create the red notification dot.