OfferUp is a social media platform that allows users to create and share offers with others. When someone clicks on an offer, it takes them to the offer’s page. OfferUp also keeps track of how many people have clicked on an offer, and shares that information with users who have opted in. Unfortunately, OfferUp messages can’t be deleted.
OfferUp users can delete messages they send through the app. However, there is no option for deleting other types of notifications such as alerts about activity on an item you’ve listed or sale notifications from other users. You’ll have to take extra steps if you want to undo these types of updates.
You’ll see a list of conversations that you’ve had through OfferUp. To delete a specific message, tap on it and tap Delete (Figure C). You can also select multiple messages and delete them all at once. Tap Cancel to leave the conversation without deleting anything. Tap Hide Conversation to close out of everything related to that conversation without deleting anything (this is handy for quickly cleaning up your conversations). If you’re still having trouble deciding whether or not you want to completely delete something, click More Actions > Message Details > Delete History. This will take you to the specific item in question where you can either mark it as sold or hide it from view right from (Figure D).
If you do delete something and then decide that you actually want it back, there’s still hope. The message isn’t necessarily deleted immediately. Messages are sent to a queue for further processing before they’re actually removed from the server. This means if you tap Cancel before the messages have been queued up for deletion, you could get your information back (but not someone else’s). However, once OfferUp has processed these messages, they’re gone for good. As of this writing, OfferUp says these messages are usually available in the app within 24 hours but can take longer depending on network conditions and server load. If you find yourself needing an immediate answer about a deleted message or other information stored in your account, you can contact OfferUp support directly.
If you don’t want to delete message but just be able to see when someone has read it, there is a setting for that too. Tap More Actions > Options from the initial conversation screen (Figure E). Select whether or not you would like to allow other users to know if they’ve read a message by selecting Read Receipts and tapping Your Choice on Auto-Read Messages (Figure F).
It’s important to note that this only applies to messages carrying information about an item listed for sale. You won’t get any notification if someone likes your post or wants something you’re selling, because those activities all happen behind the scenes. The only message you’ll get is if the person posts a comment or question about your item (Figure G). This will send you a notification letting you know that it’s been read.
If you want to make sure that the information on OfferUp doesn’t ever disappear, take advantage of the system restore feature. You can back up all of your data and settings so they’re safe in case your phone gets lost, stolen, or broken; or in case something bad happens to your account. From the More Actions menu (Figure H), select Options > Account > Data Backups (Figure I). This
will allow you take a copy of everything on your account and save it for later. Keep in mind that this is an extra backup, not the place to go when something’s already missing from your account. The backups only contain info stored locally on your phone, so if someone else has access to your iCloud backups or messages are deleted before they can be backed up via Data Backups, then you won’t have access to them. Instead of relying solely on data backups for information recovery, make sure you regularly back up any important documents associated with your OfferUp account (and really anything important) directly through iCloud or another service.
