Connecting Your Email

Do You Need to Do This?

No — but it's convenient. Buyer24 has a built-in email system that works without any setup. Every RFQ gets a unique address (REQ-...@rfq.buyer24.ai), and supplier replies are captured automatically.

All options result in supplier replies appearing in Buyer24 — the difference is whether you also see replies in your own inbox and which address suppliers see. The modes can be mixed within one company: some users on built-in email, others on connected accounts.

Built-In Email (Default)

Every RFQ is assigned a unique email address when created:

REQ-20240315-abc123@rfq.buyer24.ai

How It Works

1. You send a message to a supplier from Buyer24 — the email is sent from Buyer24's mail servers
2. The From field shows your name (e.g., "Alex Smith via Buyer24") and the Reply-To is the RFQ's unique address
3. The supplier hits reply — their email goes to the RFQ address
4. Buyer24 receives it, matches it to your RFQ, and shows it in the correct supplier thread
5. If the reply contains pricing, AI quote extraction runs automatically

Sender Identity

Messages sent via built-in email appear to suppliers as coming from your name, but the actual sending domain is rfq.buyer24.ai. Some supplier spam filters may require you to ask the supplier to whitelist this domain.

Limitations

• Suppliers need to reply to the original email (not send a new email from scratch) for automatic matching to work
• If a supplier emails you directly at a different address, that reply won't be captured automatically

Connecting Gmail

Connecting your Gmail account means:

• Messages you send from Buyer24 go out from your own Gmail address (not the rfq.buyer24.ai address)
• Supplier replies land in your Gmail inbox and appear in Buyer24
• Matching is automatic — Buyer24 monitors your inbox for relevant replies

How to Connect

1. Go to Profile → Email Integration
2. Click Connect Gmail
3. You'll be redirected to Google's sign-in screen — sign in and grant the requested permissions
4. You're redirected back — your Gmail is now connected

Buyer24 requests the minimum permissions needed:

• Read email — to detect and import supplier replies that match your RFQs
• Send email — to send messages to suppliers from your address

Privacy note: Buyer24 only reads emails that are replies to messages it sent, or that match your active RFQs. Your personal emails, unrelated work emails, and anything not connected to your RFQs are never accessed or stored.

Connecting Outlook / Office 365

The process is the same:

1. Go to Profile → Email Integration
2. Click Connect Outlook
3. Sign in with your Microsoft account and approve the permissions
4. Done — Outlook is connected

Messages are now sent from your Outlook address, and incoming replies matching your RFQs are monitored and imported.

Connecting a Mail Server (IMAP / SMTP)

If your company runs its own mail server, or you prefer an app password over OAuth, connect it directly. Yahoo and iCloud are supported as presets; anything else uses Custom mail server with your own host names.

Two modes

The first choice in the connection dialog is the connection mode:

In both modes suppliers see your real corporate address as the sender.

How to Connect

1. Go to Profile → Email Integration → Connect Email → Connect Mail Server
2. Pick the connection mode — Send & receive or Send only
3. Pick a preset (Gmail, Yahoo, iCloud) or Custom mail server
4. Enter your email address and password. Gmail, Yahoo and iCloud require an app-specific password — the dialog links to where you generate one
5. For a custom server, enter the SMTP host and port (and the IMAP host and port unless you chose send-only). Port 465 uses SSL; port 587 uses STARTTLS
6. Click Test Connection, then Connect

Your password is stored encrypted and is only used to talk to your mail server.

Send-only mode: what to know

• Nothing in your mailbox is read. Buyer24 never connects to your inbox. Your connection shows a Send-only (SMTP) badge on the Profile page as a reminder.
• Replies still arrive in Buyer24. Every outgoing RFQ and follow-up sets Reply-To to the RFQ's unique @rfq.buyer24.ai address, so when a supplier hits Reply the message lands in Buyer24 and is matched to the right thread — exactly like built-in email.
• The one gap: if a supplier's mail client ignores Reply-To and sends to your corporate address directly, that reply lands in your inbox only. Buyer24 cannot see it. Forward it into the RFQ by hand (see Forwarding a Supplier Email).
• POP3 is not supported. Send-only mode is the option for POP3-only servers.
• Diagnostics: the connection's Diagnose button reports the IMAP step as skipped — that is expected.

How Email Matching Works

Buyer24 matches incoming emails to your RFQs using several signals:

1. Reply-to match — The email is a reply to a message Buyer24 sent
2. Reference ID — The RFQ ID (REQ-...) appears in the email subject or body
3. Supplier domain — The email came from a domain you've previously contacted on an active RFQ
4. Subject line — The subject closely matches an active RFQ

If any of these match with high confidence, the email is imported. If Buyer24 can't confidently match an email, it's not imported — you can always forward a supplier email into the RFQ manually if needed (see Forwarding a Supplier Email).

Timing

• Sending: Messages are typically delivered within seconds. A delivery status (Sent, Failed, Bounced) appears on each message.
• Receiving: Replies are checked and processed every minute — for built-in email and for connected Gmail, Outlook, and send & receive mail-server accounts. Send-only accounts rely on the built-in inbox, which is checked on the same schedule. Expect a new quote to appear in your RFQ within 1–3 minutes of the supplier sending their reply.

Disconnecting

1. Go to Profile → Email Integration → Disconnect
2. Buyer24 reverts to the built-in email system automatically

You can also revoke access at any time from your Google account settings or your Microsoft account's security settings.

Deliverability Tips

If suppliers aren't receiving your emails:

1. Ask them to check spam — Messages from rfq.buyer24.ai may be filtered by some spam systems
2. Whitelist the domain — Ask the supplier's IT team to whitelist rfq.buyer24.ai or your Gmail/Outlook domain
3. Verify the email address — Double-check the supplier's contact email in the thread or supplier directory
4. Check delivery status — Each sent message shows a status (Sent/Failed/Bounced); if Failed or Bounced, the address may be incorrect

Troubleshooting

Supplier replied but it's not showing in Buyer24:

• Ask the supplier to reply to the original email thread (not start a new message)
• Check that the reply arrived at the correct address
• If using Gmail/Outlook integration, check that the connection is still active
• If you use a send-only (SMTP) mail server, check the reply's To address: if the supplier sent it to your corporate address instead of the @rfq.buyer24.ai Reply-To, Buyer24 cannot see it — forward it into the RFQ

Messages showing "Bounced" or "Failed":

• Verify the email address is correct in the supplier thread
• Try sending a test message to that address from your own email client
• Check if the supplier has a spam filter blocking automated emails

Gmail/Outlook/mail-server connection stopped working:

• Go to Profile → Email Integration and check the connection status
• If it shows an error, disconnect and reconnect your account
• Ensure you haven't revoked Buyer24's permissions from your Google/Microsoft account settings