Mana Pool enables sellers to communicate information to buyers by A) filing fulfillment issues when orders can not be correctly fulfilled, B) responding to buyer reports about order issues, and C) reporting returns to sender.

Mana Pool does not provide a feature for unstructured messaging between buyers/sellers, because it:

• creates extra work for sellers, and high volume sellers largely prefer to offload buyer communications to Mana Pool
• causes lag time in resolving issues, vs. structured reporting
• decreases visibility Mana Pool has on bad-acting buyers
• enables a vector to scam sellers - novice sellers can be taken in by unusual requests to redirect packages
• incites buyers having a bad day to mistreat sellers or to extort unusual restitution with the threat of a bad rating
• encourages sellers to send superfluous messages to buyers that are typically unwelcome (excuses for orders delays, requests to make substitutions, extra “thanks for your order” messages)
• redirects buyers away from reporting structured issues that can be automatically or semi-automatically handled

Some sellers have requested a way to directly chat/message with buyers, but we think this is largely an anti-pattern, and rather than implement this feature, we think it’s best to continue to improve the structured communications workflows Mana Pool offers.