eBay Buyer Message Assistant

What it does

Unread eBay buyer messages get a reply drafted from your store policies every 15 minutes; you approve them, and they're sent in the same eBay conversation.

• Every 15 minutes, reads your unread eBay conversations and remembers which messages already got a draft (30 days).
• AI drafts a short reply for each new message from your store policies and the listing title, following eBay's rules (no off-eBay contact or links).
• Returns, damage, complaints and offers are flagged for you in the draft.
• A run's drafts wait for one approval where you can edit any reply; code checks each one (2,000 characters at most, no placeholders) and sends it in the buyer's eBay conversation.
• The summary is counted in code from what each step really did (sent, held, skipped, failed), so it never reports a held message as sent.

What it needs

• A paid plan (agents run live on paid plans).
• An AI provider key (Settings → AI Providers).
• eBay, connected in Settings → Integrations (seller account).
• Your shipping, returns and common answers.

What it doesn't do

• Nothing is sent without your approval.
• It can't see order records, tracking or payments: it answers from your policies or says you'll check.
• Up to 10 new messages per run; rejected drafts aren't drafted again.
• It never refunds, accepts offers or changes listings.

Availability and plans

Included free on the Enterprise plan; on other paid plans it's a one-time purchase per workspace (the price is on the Agents page). The Agents page in the app always shows its current status.

Before you start

• A paid plan: agents run live, and the Free plan only runs Dry Runs.
• An AI provider key (OpenAI, Anthropic, Google and more) in Settings → AI Providers. AI usage is billed by your provider.
• These apps, connected in Settings → Integrations: eBay.
• Nothing to send: the agent runs on a schedule.
• About 10 minutes.

• Bring your own AI key
• eBay (live)

Set it up step by step

Get the agent first (buy it, or it's already yours when your plan includes it), then in Agents → My agents press “Set up this agent”. That creates the agent's workflow in your workspace (it counts towards your plan's workflow limit) and opens the canvas with a setup checklist above it. Each item links to the exact place to go and ticks itself off when it's done.

1. Connect your AI provider

The AI steps run on your own key (OpenAI, Anthropic, Google and more). Add one in Settings → AI Providers.

• Connect your AI provider

2. Connect eBay

Connect your eBay seller account (Settings → Integrations → eBay) and allow reading and sending messages.

• Connecting eBay

3. Pick your eBay account

Open “Read unread buyer messages” and “Reply in eBay” and pick your account.

4. Describe your policies

Open “Draft the reply” and replace the placeholder.

5. Test it with Dry Run

Press Dry Run: the agent runs on sample data with no messages sent and nothing written to your apps.

• Dry Run vs Run

6. Switch the trigger on

Open the trigger, set your time zone and switch the schedule on. It checks every 15 minutes.

How it works

The agent is a normal workflow with 21 steps (1 AI step, with a person approving in Reviews). You can open, edit and monitor it like any other workflow.

• Every 15 minutes — Runs on a schedule (cron */15 * * * *, UTC — change it in the trigger's settings). Checks your eBay messages every 15 minutes. Set your time zone on the trigger.
• Read unread buyer messages — eBay: List buyer messages. Reads your unread eBay conversations with buyers, each with its latest message.
• Each unread conversation — Repeats the steps below for each item (up to 10 per run). Drafts a reply for each new message (up to 10 per run).
• [For each item — “Each unread conversation”] Already drafted? — Recalls what it remembered earlier (memory “ebay-buyer-message-assistant”). Remembers which buyer messages already got a draft (kept 30 days), so each message is drafted once.
• [For each item — “Each unread conversation”] New message? — Decision: picks the branch to follow. Already drafted in an earlier run: skipped.
• [For each item — “Each unread conversation”] Already drafted — Kept in the run history. Branch: Already drafted. Drafted in an earlier run; answer it in eBay if that draft was rejected.
• [For each item — “Each unread conversation”] Remember it — Remembers it for later runs (memory “ebay-buyer-message-assistant”, kept 30 days). Branch: New. Marks this message as drafted for 30 days.
• [For each item — “Each unread conversation”] Draft the reply — AI step (runs on your AI provider key). AI drafts a short, helpful reply from your store policies and the listing the buyer is asking about.
• Count the new drafts — Step. In code: how many messages got a draft in this run (already-drafted ones are left out).
• Anything new? — Decision: picks the branch to follow. No new buyer messages: the run ends quietly.
• Nothing new — Kept in the run history. Branch: Nothing new. No new buyer messages this time.
• Approve the replies — A person approves or rejects it in Reviews (the run waits). Branch: Review. This run's drafts wait in Reviews together: edit any reply, and approve to send them in eBay. Reject to send nothing.
• Each approved reply — Repeats the steps below for each item (up to 10 per run). Branch: Approved. Checks and sends every approved reply.
• [For each item — “Each approved reply”] Has a draft? — Decision: picks the branch to follow. Messages drafted in an earlier run have no draft here and are skipped.
• [For each item — “Each approved reply”] Already handled — Kept in the run history. Branch: Already handled. Drafted in an earlier run.
• [For each item — “Each approved reply”] Check before sending — Step. Branch: Has a reply. In code: the conversation is there and the reply is filled in, at most 2,000 characters (eBay's limit) and has no leftover placeholders.
• [For each item — “Each approved reply”] Send it? — Decision: picks the branch to follow. Passes: sent in eBay. Otherwise held.
• [For each item — “Each approved reply”] Held — Kept in the run history. Branch: Held. The reply was cleared, too long or still had a placeholder.
• [For each item — “Each approved reply”] Reply in eBay — eBay: Send a buyer message. Branch: Passes. Sends the approved reply in the same eBay conversation, under eBay's messaging rules.
• Count what happened — Step. In code, not AI: replies sent, held and already handled.
• Done — Kept in the run history. The run history keeps every draft, check and reply.

Test it with Dry Run

Press Dry Run in the canvas. The agent runs on the sample data stored on its trigger (the “Sample data for Dry Run” box), so you can check every step's output before anything is live.

• Nothing is sent or written: app actions, emails and Slack posts are simulated, and AI steps don't call your AI provider.
• Approval steps use the Dry Run decision you pick in the step's settings (approved, rejected or timeout), so you can try each branch.
• For-each loops repeat only the first 3 items.
• Memory steps don't read or write stored memory: a recall finds nothing, and a save only shows what it would store.

Go live

• Open the trigger, set your time zone and switch the schedule on. It checks every 15 minutes.
• Scheduled runs start only once the schedule is activated, and can't repeat faster than your plan's minimum interval.
• The setup checklist adds a “paid plan” item before activation: live runs need a paid plan (the Free plan only runs Dry Runs).
• When every checklist item is done and the trigger is on, the checklist says “Live — this agent is running”. Follow its runs in the workflow's History tab and in Analytics → Agents.

• Scheduled triggers
• Switching a trigger on (Activation)

Questions

Does it see the buyer's order?

It sees the conversation title (usually the listing) and the buyer's latest message, not the order record, so order questions are answered from your policies or flagged for you.

Can it send replies without me?

No. Every reply waits for your approval, because buyer messages often involve returns, offers or problems.

What happens to a draft I reject?

Nothing is sent, and that message isn't drafted again: answer it in eBay yourself.

Troubleshooting

• “No AI provider connected” or a rejected key: connect or fix the key in Settings → AI Providers, then press Test there.
• A checklist item stays unticked: the setting is still empty or still contains its placeholder text. Open the step from the checklist and fill it in.
• An app step fails with “Needs reconnect”: the account's access was revoked or expired. Reconnect it in Settings → Integrations.
• It didn't run at the expected time: the schedule must be activated, and its time is in the trigger's timezone.
• A run shows as paused: it's waiting for someone in Reviews to approve or reject it.
• A step failed: open the run in History and check that step in the Trace tab for the error and what it received.

• Debugging failed runs
• Error messages
• Get help