How messaging works
A guide to the Herpify messaging system — sending messages, managing conversations, and keeping communication organised.
How conversations start
A conversation begins when a buyer clicks "Contact Seller" on a listing and sends an inquiry. This creates a private, threaded conversation between the buyer and seller that both parties can access from Account → Messages. Conversations are tied to the listing they originated from, so you always have context for what was being discussed.
Sending and receiving messages
Messages are sent and received in real time. When you receive a new message, you'll see a notification badge in the top navigation bar and receive an email notification (unless you've turned email notifications off in settings). Click the badge or go to Account → Messages to view and reply. You can send text, and attach photos directly in the message thread.
Message notifications
By default, you receive an email for every new message. If this volume is too high, go to Account → Settings → Notifications and switch to a digest option (hourly or daily summary). Turning off message notifications entirely is not recommended if you're an active seller — delayed responses cost you sales.
Message history and search
All your conversations are stored indefinitely in Account → Messages. Use the search bar to find messages by the other person's name, username, or keywords from the conversation. You can filter by All, Unread, and Archived. If you have many conversations, use the search and filter options rather than scrolling.
Images in messages
You can attach photos directly in any message. This is the right way to share additional photos of an animal with an interested buyer — no need to use external file sharing services. Images are stored securely and remain accessible in the conversation history.
Message security and encryption
All messages sent through Herpify are encrypted at rest using industry-standard encryption (AES-256-GCM). This means your message content is scrambled when stored in our database and cannot be read by anyone without the encryption key. You'll see a small green lock icon and "Messages are encrypted at rest" notice at the top of each conversation.
Important note
For more details about what encryption protects and what it doesn't, see our dedicated article on message encryption.
What messages are and aren't
The Herpify messaging system is for communication between buyers and sellers. It is not a payment system — money never passes through messages. It is not a contract system — but message threads are timestamped records that can document what was agreed. Keep key terms (price, condition, shipping) in writing in the message thread.
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