How to Use Messages to Chat with Buyers and Collectors

Overview

Messages is the inbox where you chat with collectors, buyers, and other Cohart users about art, so buyers and sellers can discuss inquiries, negotiate offers, and answer custom-website messages without leaving the platform and its purchase protections. Use it to reply to a buyer who messaged you, find an old conversation, or see the offer details inside a conversation.

• Who it’s for — sellers answering artwork questions and offers, and buyers following up on pieces they asked about.
• What it shows — conversation rows carry INQUIRY or OFFER tags with the artwork, inquiry details, offer amounts against original prices, buyer details, and invoice actions.
• What you can do — reply in a thread, or start a new chat (a DM) with any collector or artist from the Message button on their profile or artwork; the artwork a thread is about stays attached to it, and unread replies raise the red number badge on the sidebar Messages entry.
• What you end up with — you will have signed in, opened Messages, found a conversation, read its artwork and offer context, and sent a reply.

Before you start

• A Cohart account. After sign-in you land on Inventory, then you open Messages in the sidebar; the red number badge counts unread messages.
• Sending and starting messages requires the Growth plan or higher. On lower plans the message box is locked with an upgrade prompt, and offer/inquiry buyer details and Create invoice are gated behind the same upgrade.
• An existing conversation to open. Start a plain chat from the Message button on a profile or artwork; other chats appear when someone sends an inquiry, makes an offer, or writes through your custom website.
• Keep deals on Cohart. Threads warn that purchases made outside the platform are not covered by the Buyer and Seller Guarantee.

Steps

1. Sign in to Cohart

Sign in with your email address and password, or use Google or Apple.

2. Open Messages from the sidebar

After signing in, you land on Inventory. In the left sidebar, click Messages. A red number badge on Messages shows how many unread messages you have.

3. Browse your conversation list

Read the Messages list in the middle column. Each row shows:

• The person’s name, a preview of the latest message, and how long ago it arrived (for example 15d or 1mo).
• INQUIRY rows — artwork questions.
• OFFER rows — price offers.
• A preview starting with You: — means you sent the last message.

If you have not opened a chat yet, the right panel says Select a conversation to start chatting.

4. Open a conversation to read the thread

Click a conversation in the list. Read the messages on the right — each shows its time (for example 16:00), and your sent messages show a checkmark: gray while the other person has not read it, blue once they have.

Off-platform purchases are not covered. Keep messaging and complete transactions on Cohart to stay protected under the Buyer and Seller Guarantee.

Click the person’s name at the top of the thread to open their profile.

5. Review artwork, offer, and buyer details

Open a conversation tagged OFFER or INQUIRY.

• Under the contact name, check the Artwork: line to see which piece the chat is about.
• Read the Inquiry for: section and click View artwork to open the artwork page.
• For offers, read the New offer received! card: it shows the Offer amount: next to the artwork’s Original price:.
• Click View buyer details to learn more about the buyer, or Create invoice to bill them.

6. Type a reply and send it

Click inside the Type message here… box at the bottom of the thread. Type your message, then click the blue round send button to the right of the box. Your message appears in the thread with its sending time.

Not every thread accepts a reply. Artwork inquiry and offer and Message from custom website visitor threads are read-only, and a first-time direct message needs the recipient to accept your message request before you can chat.

7. Start a new chat with a collector or another user

To message someone you have no conversation with yet — a collector, an artist, or any other user — open their profile, or one of their artworks, and click the Message button to start a plain chat. Type your message and send it; the chat then appears in your Messages list like any other conversation. A first-time direct message waits until the recipient accepts your message request.

Tips

• You can start chats too. Use the Message button on a profile or artwork to start a plain chat; other conversations appear when someone sends an inquiry, makes an offer, or messages you through your custom website (these rows are labeled Message from custom website visitor).
• Keep deals on Cohart. The banner in every thread reminds you that off-platform purchases are not covered by the Buyer and Seller Guarantee.
• The send button has no text label. It is the blue circle with a paper-plane icon next to Type message here….

Troubleshooting

• Messages page looks empty at first → the list takes a few seconds to load after you click Messages → wait for rows to appear; if the right panel says Select a conversation to start chatting, click any row to load its thread.
• You land on Inventory after signing in → this is the normal landing page → open Messages in the sidebar whenever you need it.