Recruit your first sellers

Buyers come where there is something to buy, and most marketplaces got their first sellers by asking them one by one. Recruit sellers is your list for that: the shops, dealers and people you’d like to see selling on your site, the message you send them, and where each one got to, from first contact to their first listing.

Nothing is sent from your site. The WhatsApp, email and call buttons open your own apps with the message filled in, so every invitation comes from you, one person at a time.

Where to find it

In the admin panel, go to Recruit sellers in the sidebar (below Referrals). Only administrators see it. It’s on for every site; to switch it off, untick Recruit sellers is on at the bottom of the page. You can also reach it from Share your site (Inviting sellers one by one? Recruit sellers).

Add people to your list

Only you see this list, and nothing on it is ever published. There are two ways to fill it:

Way	How it works
Add one	Type a Name or business, and if you have them a Person to ask for, a phone (with country code, for WhatsApp), an email and a website.
Paste a list	One per line: the name, then a phone, email, website or address in any order. Up to 200 lines at a time; you can paste columns from a spreadsheet too.

Someone already on your list (the same name with the same phone, email or address) is left out, so pasting again doesn’t make duplicates. A list can hold up to 5,000 people.

Follow each person through the pipeline

The chips at the top filter the list: Everyone, Follow up today, then one for each stage with how many people are in it.

Stage	What it means
To contact	On your list, not contacted yet.
Contacted	You messaged or called them.
Replied	They answered.
Joined	They signed up through their personal link.
First listing	Their first listing went live.
Not interested	They said no. The message buttons go away, so you don’t contact them again.

Change a person’s stage with the menu on their row. Joined and First listing are set for you (see Personal links).

Using the WhatsApp, Email, Call or Copy message button moves someone from To contact to Contacted. Three days after you contact someone, or move them to Contacted or Replied, they show up in Follow up today.

Send your message

Each row has buttons for that person: WhatsApp (when there’s a phone number), Email, Call, Copy message, Copy their link and See their page. The message is filled in for them, ready for you to read and send from your own app.

Open Your message to change the text and the Email subject, then click Save message. These placeholders are replaced for each person:

Placeholder	Becomes
{name}	The person to ask for, or the business name.
{site}	Your site’s name.
{link}	Their personal link.
{views}	How many times your listings were viewed in the last 30 days.
{listings}	How many listings are live on your site.

Message one person at a time, say who you are, and stop when they say no. On WhatsApp, only message people who gave you their number or show it for their business. Some countries need a person’s consent before you email them, even a business; when your site’s language is German, Spanish or UK English, the page reminds you of the rule there.

Write it with AI

On the Starter, Professional and Marketplace plans, each row also has Write it with AI. It drafts a personal message for that person in your site’s language, using only what your list says about them (their name, kind of business and your notes), with their link and your site’s numbers filled in. Choose a Friendly, Formal or Short tone under Your message.

The draft appears in a box under the row: change anything you like, and the WhatsApp, email and copy buttons send your edited text. A site gets 200 drafts a month, and up to 40 a day; past that, write the message yourself.

Personal links and the welcome page

Every person on your list has their own link. When they open it, they see a welcome page with their name, how many times your listings were viewed in the last 30 days and how many are live, and a short How it works. The button takes them to their first listing: Post from a photo where listings from a photo are on (AI fills in the listing, and they check it and post it themselves), otherwise Post your first listing. If your site asks people to sign up before posting, the button takes them to the sign-up page first; if it doesn’t, there’s also Create an account first. While nobody new can post (only administrators post, or your plan’s listing limit is reached), the page says new listings are paused.

• When they open the link, it’s noted on their timeline.
• When they sign up within 60 days of opening it, they move to Joined, with a link to their account.
• When their first listing goes live, they move to First listing.

See their page shows you the welcome page as they’ll see it, without recording anything. If you switch Recruit sellers off, personal links go to your home page.

Each person’s history

Open Edit and history on a row to change their details, add Notes (the AI draft uses them), see their timeline (contacted by WhatsApp, moved to a stage, opened their link, signed up, first listing) or Remove them.

To keep a copy of the whole list, click Download as CSV at the top of the page. The file has every person’s details, stage, times contacted, follow-up date, personal link and notes.

Your Monday email

While someone on your list needs a follow-up, or someone joined or posted their first listing in the last week, you get an email on Mondays with who to follow up and who joined, and a button to open your list. It goes to your site’s notification address. To stop it, untick Email me on Mondays at the bottom of the page.

What buyers are looking for

Once your visitors search, the page shows what they searched for in the last 30 days:

• Found nothing: searches with no results. These tell you which sellers you’re missing.
• Searched most: the words searched most often.

Searches with no results are only counted while Recruit sellers is on. For demand by category, see the What buyers are waiting for card in saved searches.

Related guides

• Promote your marketplace — more ways to get your first sellers and buyers.
• Share your site — your link, a message for your groups and a poster.
• Reward members who invite friends — let your members bring in more.
• Launch checklist — what to set up before you invite people.