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Ethan Jakubow

Replying to buyer emails: personal address or website system?

Got an inquiry through my site yesterday and hesitated before hitting reply. Do I respond directly from my regular email, or go back through the website's built in messaging?

My concern is simple. If I reply from my personal address, I don't know if it looks professional enough or if the buyer even recognizes who's writing back. But if I use the website system, I lose the feel of a direct conversation. There's also the practical side: with a regular email I have no idea if the person actually opened it, while some website platforms at least give you a read receipt or tracking.

For those of you selling through your own sites, how do you handle this? Do you reply through the platform, use a dedicated business email, or just respond from whatever inbox caught the message? Curious what's actually working for people.

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Bill Richards7h ago

I've been on the receiving end of both. Last time I bought through someone's website, they replied from their regular gmail and honestly it felt more real. The automated website replies sometimes feel like you're talking to a form, not a person.

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Carolina Creator Works - Photography9h ago

I respond from my business email, not my personal email. Anyone who contacts through my website, it lands in my business email inbox. This works for me. Its easy to have a free professional email account that aligns with your business.

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Gin Rogers11h ago

Hi Ethan, Gin here. Marketer and copywriter for ASF.

I wouldn't overthink this too much. You're an artist. No one expects you to be overly formal. I would say starting out with a professional free email address is a great start. EthanJArt@___ is a great way to start.

You have a website that already adds to your professionalism.

If you're doing a lot of email marketing and replies, it's not extremely expensive to have a custom email, and it could help with your marketing. If you're just replying to some inquiries, I wouldn't overthink it too much.

What tasks and overall goal do you have?

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Mona Agia11h ago

That is a very good question. How do you find conversations? I have a Go Daddy domain name, can you help me navigate that. Mona Agia

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ConkleArt13h ago

I use built in “Conversations” system (that comes with a Go Daddy domain name). That way it looks professional and I don’t have to divulge my personal email address.

If they go to my website they will only see the email address associated with my domain name.

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