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When the item becomes available, you send an alert and all of the item’s subscribers are notified at the same time.
Sending alerts requires the Dispatch events permission. The owner can always send.

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Send now

1

Open the item and click Send alert

Need Alert calculates the cost on the spot and shows how many people will be notified, how many credits the dispatch uses, and your current balance.
2

Write the alert

  • Title (optional): if left blank, the title is the item name.
  • Message: up to 200 characters. Example: “A fresh batch just came out of the oven, come get it while it’s warm!”
3

Confirm

Click Send. The status shows Sending and changes to Sent once everyone has been notified.

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What happens to subscriptions

  • For a one-time alert item, the subscription of each person notified closes.
  • For a recurring alert item, the subscription stays active, unless the person reached the number of alerts they chose.
People get a notification on their phone or computer, if they allowed notifications, and the alert also appears under My alerts and Notifications inside Need Alert. Anyone who hasn’t confirmed their account email isn’t counted as a recipient: they’re neither notified nor charged.

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Cost

Each person notified uses 1 credit. The charge happens at dispatch time, based on who is subscribed at that moment.
  • No subscribers: the dispatch is recorded and costs nothing.
  • Insufficient balance: the dispatch isn’t sent. The dialog shows how much is missing and, if you have the Manage billing permission, a Buy credits link. See Credits.

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When a dispatch isn’t accepted

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If sending fails

Rarely, a technical failure stops the sending even after several retries. The dispatch shows as Failed, with the reason Sending error. The notifications already sent stay counted, and the credits already charged aren’t returned automatically. This case doesn’t send an email or a notification: the dispatch only changes status in Dispatches. Contact support: the Need Alert team can resume the sending for whoever hasn’t been notified yet, at no new charge, as long as the item and the unit are still active.

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History

The Dispatches section lists every alert from the unit: date, item, message, status, recipients, credits used, how many notifications were delivered and how many failed, and who sent it. Each item’s latest dispatches also appear on the item page.
Want to notify people at a set time, like when the oven is done at 4 p.m.? Schedule the dispatch.