Reviewing and approving buyer applications

When you require approval on a listing, buyers who want it submit an application, and you decide. This article covers the applications inbox, the approve and deny actions, and what your decision covers.

The applications inbox

• Where it is: Dashboard, then Applications. Every kind of application you send or receive shares this one inbox: buyer applications to your listings, boarding requests, litter or group applications, program applications, and sale-event submissions. Type tabs (Purchases, Boarding, Groups, Programs, Events) cut it to one kind, and filters (Needs action, Submitted by me, Approved, Closed history) cut it by state, with each card labeled by its kind so nothing gets mixed up.
• What it shows: the buyer's responses to every question you asked, so you can judge fit. A pending application sits under Needs action awaiting your decision.
• What it means: this is where you do the actual choosing. Read the answers, look at the buyer's profile, and decide. (Program applications carry their own decisions here, accept, waitlist, or pass; see Opening your program to applications and running a waitlist.)

Approve or deny

Each pending application gives you two actions:

• Approve: you accept the buyer. The buy or bid control unlocks for that buyer, and they are notified they can proceed. For a count-group reservation, approving moves their reservation forward.
• Deny: you turn the application down. The buyer is notified. Approval is at your discretion, so it is fine to decline a buyer who is not the right fit.

What the buyer sees

• If approved: they get a notification and can buy or bid as normal on that listing.
• If denied: they are notified that the application was not approved. They are not told a reason unless you have communicated one.

Each listing's approval is its own decision

• What it is: your decision applies to that buyer's application on that listing. Approving unlocks the buy or bid controls for them there.
• What it means: if the same buyer wants another of your approval-gated animals, they apply on that listing too. Your forms are reusable and you already know the buyer, so repeat reviews take moments.
• Why it works this way: each animal is its own sale, with its own price and its own considerations, so the decision stays with the listing.

If you ever want to reverse a decision, denying removes that approval for the listing.

After approval

An approved buyer checks out like any other, and the sale enters the protected flow: their payment is held by Creatures and reaches your Wallet only after they confirm delivery. See What happens after I sell an animal?. To take prices below asking, see Reviewing offers on your listing. To follow your applicants and buyers as they move from interested to purchased, see Your buyer pipeline.

Related information

• Requiring buyer applications and building a form
• Reviewing offers on your listing
• Listing an animal at a fixed price

Updated on: 07/08/2026