When Is the Best Time to Message a Seller in Creator Connections?
As an Amazon influencer, when you send a message matters almost as much as what you write. A good message sent at the wrong time can end up buried under dozens of others. Here is how I read my Creator Connections inbox as a seller, and the timing I would suggest because of it.
Many sellers are not in your time zone
I work from China, and so do many of the Amazon sellers I know. That is not unusual: according to Marketplace Pulse research, more than half of the top 10,000 sellers on Amazon.com are now based in China, and those are often the brands with active Creator Connections campaigns. That means I read influencer messages during China working hours, roughly 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on weekdays, which is the middle of the night or early morning in the US.
Not every seller works this way, of course. But if the brand you are pitching is run from China, your message is read on China time, not yours.
Why timing changes whether your message gets read
The Messages panel in Creator Connections has one habit that makes timing important. When I open an influencer’s message and then click back, the list does not return to where I was. It jumps to the top, to the newest messages.
So every time I finish reading one message, I start again from the top. Messages near the top get read. Messages further down need me to scroll back past everything I have already seen, and after a few rounds of that, most sellers stop scrolling. If your message arrived hours before the seller started work, newer messages may have pushed it down by the time they get to it.
The goal is simple: have your message arrive close to when the seller starts reading.
Avoid Fridays
In my experience, a message that arrives on a Friday is the easiest to miss. It sits in the inbox over the weekend while new messages keep coming in, and by Monday it is buried under everything from Saturday and Sunday. On Monday morning, I start from the top, just like any other day.
Monday to Thursday are much better days for your message to land.
What this means in US time
If you want your message to arrive just before a China-based seller starts work, send it in your evening, the day before. Here is how China working hours line up with US time:
| China time (weekday) | US Eastern | US Pacific |
|---|---|---|
| 9 a.m. | 9 p.m. the day before (8 p.m. after Nov. 1) | 6 p.m. the day before (5 p.m. after Nov. 1) |
| 6 p.m. | 6 a.m. (5 a.m. after Nov. 1) | 3 a.m. (2 a.m. after Nov. 1) |
Times in brackets apply after US daylight saving time ends on November 1, 2026. China does not change its clocks.
In practice:
- Send on Sunday to Wednesday evening, US time. Your message then lands on Monday to Thursday morning in China.
- Aim for your early evening. Around 8 to 9 p.m. Eastern or 5 to 6 p.m. Pacific puts your message near the top when the seller opens the inbox.
- Skip Thursday evening and Friday, US time. Those messages land on a Chinese Friday or weekend.
- Watch for Chinese public holidays, such as the Spring Festival and the National Day week in early October. Many sellers are away, and messages pile up the same way they do over a weekend.
Timing helps, but it is not everything
Good timing gets your message seen. What gets a reply is what is in it. If you have not read them yet, start with Amazon Influencers: How Much of Your Message Do Sellers See at First Glance? and What Amazon Influencers Should Put in Their First Message to a Seller.
Have a question about timing, or a different experience with sellers in your niche? You can reach me on the Contact page.