If someone asks for product advice in a public X post, answer in the thread when you can help. Do not treat the question—or an open DM inbox—as an invitation to send a private sales pitch. Move to a DM when the person invites private contact and messaging is available. If you cannot help without requesting sensitive details, leave those details out of the public conversation.
Choose the channel the buyer invited
First separate the buyer’s question from your preferred sales channel. A public question gives you a place to offer a public answer; it does not by itself ask you to start a private conversation. Use the decision below after checking that your product actually fits the request. If that is still uncertain, the request qualification guide covers that separate decision.
| What the buyer has done | Best next action | Boundary |
|---|---|---|
| Asked an open product question in a public post | Give a relevant answer in the thread. | Keep it useful without asking for private details or redirecting them to a DM. |
| Invited you to message privately | If messaging is available, DM about the matter they invited you to discuss. | Treat the invitation as specific, not permission for an unrelated pitch. |
| Asked publicly, but an answer would require sensitive details—or your offer does not fit | Give a useful general answer if possible; otherwise refrain from contact. | Do not solicit the details in public or use privacy as a pretext for an unsolicited DM. |
What a public answer looks like
Consider a fictional lamp seller. A buyer posts, “Can anyone recommend a desk lamp under $60 for a small desk?” The seller has a $45 compact lamp that meets those requirements. The resulting action is a reply in that thread: “For a small desk, check the base width as well as the price. I sell a compact lamp for $45 with a 5-inch base, if that size works for your space.” The price and dimensions here are fictional example inputs, not claims about a real product. A reader of the thread can assess the recommendation without entering a private conversation.
Now suppose the same buyer says, “I’d like to check delivery to my address—can I message you?” That is a different request. If messaging is available, the seller can accept the invitation and discuss delivery privately. If it is not available, the seller can say publicly that the buyer should not post their address, then offer a general delivery-area answer if one is possible. The seller should not ask the buyer to publish an address or promise a delivery date without the information needed to check it.
The privacy issue does not reverse the invitation rule. If the buyer merely asks, “Do you ship to my area?”, answer with the delivery regions you know, or ask for a broad region if that is enough. Do not turn the unanswered question into a surprise DM. If precise address details become necessary, let the buyer choose whether to continue through an appropriate private channel.
Use a ReachFast draft for the public path
ReachFast shows public X requests with suggested replies. Selecting a post opens it on X with reply text prepared; nothing posts on the seller’s behalf. That makes it a starting point for the public-thread decision, not a way to send a DM. Read the live post and conversation, decide whether a public response is still appropriate, and edit or leave the draft unsent before choosing whether to send it from your account.
If the buyer has invited private contact instead, do not paste the public draft into a DM as though the invitation were a request for a product pitch. Respond only to what they asked to discuss privately. For the separate job of shaping a helpful public recommendation and disclosing that you sell the product, use the public reply guide.
