DM templates · Instagram
Thank-you DMs for people who just bought from you
A thank-you DM after a purchase should be short, specific and ask for nothing: thank them, say what happens next and leave the door open. Below are 13, for orders taken in DMs, deliveries, repeat buyers and customers who tag you in their Story. Timing matters as much as wording, because a tool can only message someone within 24 hours of their last message.
Updated 6 October 2026 · 13 templates
13 messages to copy
Tap a card to copy the message. Swap anything in braces, like {name}, for your own words before you send it.
Order placed in the DMs
Thank you so much for ordering, {name}! Your {product} is set aside for you and will be packed by {time}. I'll send the tracking number here as soon as it's with the courier.
Typed in the Instagram app, the tracking message can follow days later. Sent through an automation tool, it has to go within 24 hours of the customer's last message.
A first-time customer
{name}, thank you for giving a small shop a try. A first order from someone new genuinely makes our week. If any questions come up before it arrives, ask me here.
Someone ordering for the first time is taking a chance on you. Thank them for that, and save any offers for a later message.
A repeat customer
You're back, {name}! Thank you for ordering again, it means a lot that you liked the first one. I've tucked a little extra into the parcel as a thank-you.
Only promise the extra if you really add one. A sample or a handwritten note costs little and is noticed the moment they open the box.
When they say it arrived
Yay, so glad it reached you safely! Thanks again for ordering. If you'd like a few tips for getting the most out of it, just say so and I'll send them over.
Their “it's here!” message restarts the 24-hour window, so an automatic reply or a care guide can follow it straight away.
With a care tip
Thank you for your order, {name}. One tip so it lasts: {care tip}. The full care guide is here whenever you need it: {link}
Useful advice is the most welcome kind of follow-up. Put one tip in the message and keep the rest behind the link.
They tagged you in their Story
Just saw your Story, {name}, and it honestly made my day. Thank you for showing your order to your followers! Would you mind if I added it to ours, with a tag back to you?
The mention lands in your DMs, so you can say thanks within minutes. Offering a tag back gives them something in return for the shout-out.
A gift order
Thank you, {name}! We've wrapped it as a gift and left prices off everything in the parcel. Would you like a short message on the card? Send it here and we'll write it in by hand.
Gift buyers worry about wrapping, prices and timing. Answer those before they ask, and the question at the end invites a reply.
A made-to-order piece
Thank you for trusting me with this, {name}. I'll start on it {time} and send you a photo before it ships, so you can check it's exactly what you pictured.
A promised preview heads off “is it ready yet?” messages. If it's been more than a day since they last wrote, send the photo by hand from the app.
A digital download
Thanks for buying {product}, {name}! Here's your download: {link} Save it somewhere handy, and if it won't open, message me here and I'll send a fresh link.
Put the file in the same message as the thanks. Someone who bought a download wants it now, not after a second message.
After an appointment or class
Thank you for coming in today, {name}, it was lovely to meet you. If any questions come up about {topic} over the next few days, ask me here.
Works when you already have a chat, for example because they booked by DM. Each question they send reopens the window for an automatic answer.
Thanks for a review
Thank you for the review, {name}. I read it out to the whole team (both of us). Kind words like yours help a small shop more than you'd think.
Thank them for what they wrote, not just the stars, and don't ask for anything else in the same message.
With a code for next time
As a thank-you for ordering, {name}, here's {discount} off your next order with the code {code}. Use it whenever suits you, there's no rush.
Meta lets promotions go out inside the 24-hour window, so a code can travel with the thanks. Make it a gift, not a deadline.
After a problem was fixed
Thank you for your patience while we put that right, {name}. Your replacement is on its way, and I'm sorry the first one let you down.
Send it once the fix is under way. Thanking someone who is still waiting reads like a brush-off.
Set it up in DMFast
Thank customers who tag you in their Story
Mentioned you in their story
Thank you for the Story love, it honestly made our day! We hope you enjoy every bit of your order. Want a couple of tips to keep it looking its best?Care tips for your new pieceRead the care tipsPeople who tag you right after unboxing are about as pleased as customers get, and a thank-you within seconds reaches them while they're still in the app. “Story love” fits a mention or a reply to your Story, since one Story auto-reply answers both. A care guide helps, so it never reads like an ad.
Pick Story replies
Connect your Instagram account and add an auto-reply for Stories. It answers mentions too.
Leave the word empty
With no word set, everyone who mentions you in their Story gets the message, once a day per person.
Paste the message
Add the message shown here and the link card that goes with it.
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Rules to know
- No official tool can DM someone just because they bought from you. Meta's API only lets a business answer people who messaged it, commented, or replied to or mentioned it in a Story.
- Automated messages, thank-yous included, must go out within 24 hours of the customer's last message. Every new message from them restarts that clock.
- Meta's messaging policy allows promotional content inside the 24-hour window, so a discount code for next time can go with the thanks.
- The human agent tag gives a person up to 7 days to reply by hand. It's for support conversations, not for sending thank-you offers after the window has closed.
- A Story mention reaches your DMs as a message, so replying to it follows the same 24-hour window as any other chat.
- If the law requires it where your customers are, Meta's policy says an automated chat must tell them it's automated.
Sources
When a thank-you can go out, and when it can't
The timing rules come from Meta's API, which every automation tool uses. A message you type yourself in the Instagram app isn't bound by them: in a chat that's already open, you can write whenever you like. Here's how that plays out after a sale.
| Situation | Automatic thank-you | Typed by you in the app |
|---|---|---|
| They ordered in your DMs today | Yes, within 24 hours of their last message | Yes |
| They ordered by DM last week and went quiet | No, the window has closed | Yes, in the same chat |
| They message to say it arrived | Yes, their message opens a new window | Yes |
| They tag you in their Story | Yes, within 24 hours of the mention | Yes |
| They bought on your website and never messaged you | No | Only as a message request, so email them instead |
Tip: In DMFast, a Story auto-reply with no word set answers mentions and replies to your own Stories alike, and each person at most once a day. Word the thanks so it reads well in both cases.
Getting website buyers into your DMs
An order placed on a website or marketplace gives you an email address, not an Instagram chat, and Meta offers businesses no way to open one. The parcel is where you can change that, by giving customers a reason to write first.
- Add a card asking for a Story tag, with your handle printed large. Every tag arrives in your DMs and can get an automatic thank-you.
- Or print a word for them to send, such as UNBOXED, and set it up as a DM keyword. Because the customer starts the chat, the reply can include a care guide or a how-to video straight away.
- Pick a word nobody uses in a complaint. ARRIVED and RECEIVED also appear in “it hasn't arrived” and “I never received it”, and a cheerful thank-you is the wrong answer to both.
- Thank website buyers by email as well. It's where they expect to hear from you about an order.
What to put in a thank-you, and what to leave out
Put in
- The product by name. “Your linen shirt” sounds like a person wrote it; “your order” sounds like a system did.
- What happens next: when it ships, when it should arrive and where the tracking will appear.
- One useful thing, such as a care tip, a sizing note or how to get started.
Leave out
- A review request. Ask once they've used what they bought, in a separate message.
- A pitch for something else. A code for next time is a gift; “you might also like” is an advert.
- “Follow us for more.” They've just paid you, which says more than a follow.
- Your full returns policy. Link to it if they ask.
How to tell if your thank-yous work
Start with replies. A thank-you that gets “aw, thank you!” back has opened a fresh 24-hour window and started a real conversation, which matters more than any click. Over a few months, compare customers who got a thank-you with those who didn't: how many tag you after delivery, and how many order again.
If the thank-you links to a care guide or a how-to page, a tracked link shows how often it's opened. A guide nobody opens usually means the message around it is too long, or the link arrives too late to be useful.
Questions people ask
Can I send an automatic thank-you DM to everyone who buys from me?
Only to people already in a chat with you. Meta's API lets a business answer messages, comments and Story mentions, but not start conversations, so no tool can DM website buyers out of the blue. For orders placed in your DMs, the thank-you can go out automatically within 24 hours of the customer's last message.
Should a thank-you message include a discount code?
It can: Meta's policy allows promotional content inside the 24-hour window. A code for next time suits repeat customers. For a first order, a plain thanks and a useful tip come across as more sincere.
When should I ask for a review?
Not in the thank-you. Give them time to use what they bought, then ask in a separate message, ideally after they've written to you so the window is open. Asking in the same breath as the thanks makes the thanks look like a set-up.
Can I reshare a customer's Story that tags my shop?
The mention shows up in your DMs, and Instagram usually lets you add it to your own Story from there while it's live. Ask first and tag them back. It's courteous, and some people would rather their Story stayed with their own followers.
What if a customer answers my thank-you with a problem?
Switch to support straight away. Their reply reopens the 24-hour window, so you can answer at once: ask for the order number and a photo in one message, and say when they'll have a fix.
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