To auto-reply to Quikr and OLX leads on WhatsApp, put a click-to-WhatsApp link or your WhatsApp Business API number in your listing wherever the platform's rules allow it, and let a chatbot answer every buyer within seconds with price, photos, location and an inspection slot. Leads that reach you by email or SMS can be forwarded through Zapier, Make or Pabbly to RichAutomate's developer API, so those buyers also get a templated WhatsApp message instantly.
This guide is for Indian sellers who live on classifieds: used-car dealers in Delhi NCR and Pune, second-hand furniture and electronics resellers, PG and rental owners in Bengaluru and Hyderabad, and local service businesses such as packers and movers, AC repair and tutors. You will get the honest setup (there is no magic Quikr or OLX connector), message templates in English and Hinglish, a qualifying flow, a scam filter and a real cost table for 300 enquiries a month.
Why Quikr and OLX enquiries go cold so fast
A classifieds buyer behaves differently from a website visitor. Someone looking for a 2018 Swift Dzire or a 3-seater sofa does not message one seller and wait. They tap "chat" or "call" on five or six listings in a row, then deal with whoever answers first with a clear price and a viewing time. By the time you reply after a site visit or a lunch break, the buyer has often already fixed a test drive somewhere else.
The maths is simple even without industry benchmarks. Suppose you get 300 enquiries a month and close 8% of the buyers you actually talk to while they are still interested. If a slow reply means you only reach half of them while they are warm, you are effectively working with 150 leads, not 300. Fixing response time is the cheapest way to double the number of real conversations you have, without spending a rupee more on listings.
| Reply speed | What the buyer is usually doing | Likely outcome |
|---|---|---|
| Under 1 minute (auto-reply) | Still on the listing page, phone in hand | Answers your questions, books a slot |
| 5 to 30 minutes | Messaging other sellers in parallel | Compares you on price and speed |
| 2 to 6 hours | Already spoke to a faster seller | Polite "will let you know" |
| Next day | Visited or bought elsewhere | No reply, lead is gone |
An auto-reply does not replace you. It holds the buyer's attention, collects the details you would ask anyway, and hands you a warm, qualified lead on your WhatsApp inbox so you can call the serious ones first.
How the setup actually works (no native connector)
Be clear about one thing before you start: RichAutomate does not have a Quikr or OLX integration, and neither platform offers a public lead-push API that we plug into. Anyone promising a "one-click OLX connector" for WhatsApp is usually scraping or reselling, which can break at any time and may violate the platform's terms. There are three honest routes that work today.
Route 1: Let the buyer start the WhatsApp chat. Put your WhatsApp Business number or a click-to-WhatsApp link (a wa.me link with a pre-filled message such as "Hi, I saw your Honda City listing") wherever the platform's listing and contact-sharing rules allow it, for example in your listing description, your seller profile, your shop's own website or on the printed board at your showroom. Check each platform's current rules first, because classifieds sites change what contact details they allow in listings. When a buyer messages, your chatbot replies instantly.
Route 2: Forward email or SMS leads through an automation tool. If you buy a business lead package and the platform sends enquiries to your email, an email-parser step in Zapier, Make or Pabbly can pull out the buyer's name, number and the item they asked about, then call RichAutomate's POST /api/v1/send-template endpoint with your API key. The buyer receives an approved WhatsApp template within a minute. You can also point the automation at a flow's Incoming Webhook trigger so the lead enters a full chatbot flow instead of a single message.
Route 3: Manual CSV import. If you only export or copy enquiries once a day, upload them as a CSV of contacts and send a templated message. It is slower than routes 1 and 2, but far better than calling 40 numbers by hand.
The same pattern is how we recommend handling other Indian lead portals. If you also run listings elsewhere, see our guides on Justdial leads WhatsApp auto-reply and Housing and NoBroker leads on WhatsApp.
Setup steps: from listing to live auto-reply
Most sellers can go live in an afternoon. The slowest part is usually Meta's business verification and template approval, not the chatbot itself.
| Step | What you do | Time needed |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Create an account | Sign up on RichAutomate, 7-day free trial, no card, 100 free credits | 5 minutes |
| 2. Connect your number | Link a WhatsApp Business API number through Meta embedded signup (use a number not active on the WhatsApp app) | 15 to 30 minutes |
| 3. Build the welcome flow | Use the visual flow builder: keyword trigger on "Hi", "listing", "OLX", "Quikr", or any first message | 30 to 45 minutes |
| 4. Add qualifying questions | Budget, area, item of interest, inspection or visit slot, buttons wherever possible | 20 minutes |
| 5. Submit templates | Utility template for email-forwarded leads, marketing template for opted-in follow-ups | Meta review time varies; submit early |
| 6. Share the link | Add the wa.me link to your listing text where allowed, profile, website and showroom board | 10 minutes |
| 7. Optional automation | Zapier, Make or Pabbly email parser calling the send-template API or flow webhook | 30 to 60 minutes |
The full list of chatbot, inbox and broadcast tools is on our WhatsApp automation features page.
Auto-reply templates for classifieds sellers
Keep the first message short, answer the obvious question (is it still available?), and end with one easy choice. Buttons beat open questions because buyers tap faster than they type. Below are starting points you can adapt. Replace the square-bracket parts with your details.
Used-car dealer
English: "Hi! Thanks for asking about the [2019 Maruti Baleno Delta, 42,000 km, first owner]. Yes, it is available. Asking price is [Rs 6.1 lakh], RC and insurance are clear. Would you like a test drive? Tap a slot: Today evening / Tomorrow morning / This weekend."
Hinglish: "Namaste! [Baleno 2019] ke baare mein poochne ke liye shukriya. Haan, gaadi available hai, price [6.1 lakh] hai aur papers clear hain. Test drive kab karna chahenge? Aaj shaam / Kal subah / Weekend."
Furniture and electronics reseller
English: "Hello! The [L-shaped sofa, 6 months old] is still available at [Rs 18,500]. We can share more photos and a short video right here. Do you need delivery? Tap: Self pickup / Delivery in [Pune] / Send more photos."
Hinglish: "Hi! [Sofa] abhi available hai, price [18,500]. Aur photos ya video chahiye toh yahin bhej denge. Delivery chahiye ya khud pick karenge? Pickup / Delivery / Aur photos bhejo."
PG and rental owner
English: "Hi! Thanks for your interest in [Sunrise PG, HSR Layout]. Twin sharing is [Rs 9,500] per month with food and Wi-Fi, single room is [Rs 14,000]. When do you plan to move in? Tap: This month / Next month / Just exploring."
Hinglish: "Hello! [Sunrise PG, HSR Layout] mein twin sharing [9,500] per month hai, khana aur Wi-Fi included. Kab shift karna hai? Is mahine / Agle mahine / Abhi sirf dekh rahe hain."
Local service business
English: "Hi! Thanks for contacting [CoolCare AC Service]. Split AC service starts at [Rs 599] in [Gurugram]. Which service do you need? Tap: Service / Gas refill / Installation."
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Keep prices inside the message consistent with your listing. A mismatch is the fastest way to lose trust on classifieds.
A qualifying flow that separates buyers from browsers
Classifieds bring a lot of curiosity traffic. A short qualifying flow lets the bot handle the browsers and passes only serious buyers to you. Three to four questions is the sweet spot, after which the conversation should reach a human.
- Item confirmation: "Which listing are you asking about?" with buttons for your top items, or capture the item from the pre-filled wa.me text.
- Budget: "What budget do you have in mind?" with ranges such as Under Rs 5 lakh / Rs 5 to 8 lakh / Above Rs 8 lakh for cars, or Under Rs 10,000 / Rs 10,000 to 25,000 for furniture.
- Location: "Which area are you in?" so you know whether delivery or a visit is practical. Ask for a locality, not a full address.
- Slot: "When can you come for inspection or a visit?" with three time buttons. For rentals, ask for move-in month instead.
- Handover: tag the contact as "Hot" if budget and slot fit, assign the chat to a team member, and send them a notification. Everyone else gets a polite message plus photos and stays in the inbox.
In RichAutomate, each answer can be saved as a contact attribute, so your sales person opens the chat and sees "Baleno, Rs 5 to 8 lakh, Kothrud, Saturday 11 am" without scrolling.
Filter scam and spam enquiries before they cost you money
Classifieds sellers in India are a favourite target for fraud. The most common pattern is the fake "buyer" who agrees to your price without a question, claims to be in the army or posted out of town, and then sends a QR code or a UPI collect request saying it is how they will pay you. Scanning a QR code or approving a collect request moves money out of your account, never into it.
Build these protections into your process and your auto-reply:
- Never share an OTP with a buyer, for any reason. No genuine buyer needs your OTP to pay you.
- Never scan a QR code or approve a UPI collect request to "receive" money. To receive money you only share your UPI ID or bank details.
- Prefer in-person inspection and payment for high-value items such as cars and electronics, and verify bank transfers in your own banking app before handing over anything.
- Add a scam-safety line to your welcome message, for example: "We never ask for OTPs or send QR codes for payment."
- Use keyword routing so messages containing words like "QR", "OTP", "advance courier charge" or "army" are tagged for manual review rather than getting your full price list and address.
- Block and report obvious scam numbers inside WhatsApp, and report the listing interaction on the platform as well.
The flip side matters too: do not let your bot send long sales messages to numbers that never replied. Automated outreach to people who did not ask for it is what gets WhatsApp numbers flagged by users, and quality rating drops follow.
What it costs: 300 Quikr and OLX enquiries a month
RichAutomate runs on Client Pay: Meta bills you directly for WhatsApp conversation charges, and RichAutomate charges a platform fee of Rs 0.10 per message on top of your plan. In India, Meta's rate is Rs 0.8631 per marketing message and Rs 0.1150 per utility or authentication message. Since 1 October 2026, the first 1,000 replies a month per number inside the 24-hour customer service window are free from Meta, after which the utility rate applies.
Here is a realistic month for a used-car dealer or PG owner with 300 buyer-initiated enquiries, about 4 bot or agent replies per enquiry, and 100 marketing follow-ups to buyers who opted in. To keep the estimate conservative, the platform fee is counted on every message in the thread, including the buyer's own messages.
| Item | Volume | Rate | Monthly cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Starter plan (GST-inclusive) | 1 number | Rs 499 per month | Rs 499 |
| Replies inside the 24-hour window (free tier) | 1,000 | Free from Meta | Rs 0 |
| Replies above the free tier | 200 | Rs 0.1150 (Meta utility) | Rs 23 |
| Marketing follow-ups to opted-in buyers | 100 | Rs 0.8631 (Meta marketing) | Rs 86.31 |
| RichAutomate platform fee (counted on every message both ways, as a safe upper bound) | 2,500 | Rs 0.10 | Rs 250 |
| Total | Up to about Rs 858, or under Rs 3 per enquiry |
Compare that with the value of one extra car sale, one extra PG bed filled for a year, or a single AC installation job. Setup is Rs 0, and if you need more, Pro is Rs 899 a month and White-label is Rs 1,199 a month, with extra numbers at Rs 399 and extra team seats at Rs 199 a month. Full details are on the RichAutomate pricing page.
Consent, opt-in and the DPDP Act basics
When a buyer messages you first on WhatsApp, they have started a conversation and expect replies about that enquiry. That is your basis for the auto-reply and the qualifying questions. It is not a blanket permission to send them every offer you have for the next year.
- Service replies: answering the buyer's enquiry inside the 24-hour window is fine and, under the current Meta free tier, mostly free.
- Marketing follow-ups: ask for opt-in before sending new listings or offers, for example a button "Yes, send me similar cars when they come in".
- Emailed or CSV leads: the buyer contacted you through the portal, not WhatsApp. Use a utility-style template that refers to their specific enquiry, and offer an easy opt-out.
- DPDP Act 2023: India's Digital Personal Data Protection Act expects you to collect personal data with consent, use it only for the purpose you collected it for, keep it secure and delete it when the buyer asks. Do not reuse classifieds leads for unrelated businesses, and do not sell or share the list.
- Honour "STOP": set a keyword that unsubscribes the contact automatically.
No tool can promise that your number will never be restricted or that every message will be delivered. What keeps your number healthy is replying only to people who asked, keeping marketing to opted-in contacts and acting quickly on blocks and complaints.
Mistakes classifieds sellers make with WhatsApp automation
- Long first messages. A wall of text with your full stock list gets ignored. Answer the question asked, then offer buttons.
- No human handover. If a buyer types "call me" or "final price?", route the chat to a person immediately. Bots should qualify, not negotiate.
- Same number on the WhatsApp app and the API. A number used on the API cannot run the regular WhatsApp Business app at the same time unless you use coexistence. Plan which number goes where.
- Stale availability. Mark sold items in your flow the same day. Telling a buyer a sold car is available damages trust and wastes a visit.
- Not measuring. Track enquiries, qualified leads, visits booked and deals closed each week. If visits are low, your slot question is probably too vague.
Start replying to Quikr and OLX buyers in seconds
Your listings already bring buyers. The difference between a busy month and a quiet one is often just who replies first. Set up a WhatsApp auto-reply with a short qualifying flow, add a scam-safety line, and let your team spend their time on buyers who have a budget and a slot.
RichAutomate gives you the WhatsApp Business API, a visual chatbot builder, a shared team inbox and a developer API for email-forwarded leads, starting at Rs 499 a month with Rs 0 setup. Start your 7-day free trial of RichAutomate, no card needed, with 100 free credits to test your first auto-reply today.
Selling cars on the big auto portals too? Read our CarDekho and CarWale WhatsApp auto-reply guide.