How to Use the Premium Inbox Block in UniLink (Charge for Direct Message Access)
How to Use the Premium Inbox Block in UniLink (Charge for Direct Message Access)
A step-by-step guide to adding the Premium Inbox block to your UniLink page so you can set a price for direct messages, manage incoming paid inquiries, and set clear response time expectations — without a separate paid DM platform.
- The Premium Inbox block lets visitors pay a set fee to send you a direct message — you control the price, the currency, the maximum message length, and the response time commitment shown to senders.
- The fee covers message delivery and access, not a guaranteed response — set this expectation clearly in the block description so senders know what they are paying for before they submit.
- Price too low and you get overwhelmed with volume; price too high and you get no messages at all — start at the rate that reflects your actual time cost per message and adjust based on queue volume.
- The most common mistake is leaving the default placeholder text — customize the block title and description to tell visitors exactly what kinds of questions you will engage with and what they can expect in return.
Free DMs do not scale. Any creator who has built an audience past a few thousand followers knows the pattern: the inbox fills up faster than it can be answered, the quality of requests varies enormously, and the time spent reading and replying to messages that lead nowhere is time taken away from the work that built the audience in the first place. The Premium Inbox block addresses this directly — it adds a small financial commitment to the message-sending process that filters out low-effort requests, compensates you for the time a genuine response requires, and signals to serious senders that your attention is worth something. The fee is not about being inaccessible; it is about being accessible to people who genuinely need what you know, rather than to everyone who happened to find your page.
What the Premium Inbox block does
The Premium Inbox block adds a message submission form to your UniLink page where visitors can write a message to you and pay a fee before it is delivered. You set the price — anything from a few dollars to several hundred — and choose a currency. When a visitor fills in the form and completes payment, the message is delivered to your UniLink inbox and you receive a notification at the email address you specify. You can then read the message in your Dashboard and decide how to respond. The block also shows the price prominently and displays the response time commitment text you write — for example, "I respond to paid messages within 48 hours" — so senders know what to expect before they pay.
The block includes optional configuration for maximum message length (in characters), which lets you define the scope of what you are taking on — a 500-character limit is a quick question; a 2,000-character limit is a detailed brief. You can also enable a category or topic selector, which lets senders tag their message with a type (coaching question, business inquiry, press contact, collaboration request, etc.). This makes sorting and prioritizing your inbox faster when messages are coming in at volume. Payments are processed through Stripe or PayPal, the same payment infrastructure used by the other commerce blocks in UniLink, and each paid message is recorded in your Dashboard with the sender's name, email, message text, amount paid, and timestamp.
The Premium Inbox block is not a live chat tool, a ticketing system, or a guaranteed consultation service. Senders pay for the right to have their message delivered and read — the fee does not legally obligate a response, and it does not create a service contract. This distinction matters enormously in how you write your block description. Creators who communicate this boundary clearly before payment — "this fee ensures your message gets into my inbox and gets read; it is not a guarantee of a specific outcome" — have far fewer disputes and refund requests than those who leave the expectation ambiguous. The block is a filtering mechanism, not a booking tool.
Before you start
- Connect Stripe or PayPal: Go to Dashboard → Settings → Payments and confirm a live-mode payment processor is connected. Without a live-mode connection, the message form will appear on your page but the pay button will not work — the form looks functional during setup but silently fails real payments until the connection is live. If you are still in Stripe's restricted or test mode, complete the identity verification steps before publishing the block publicly.
- Set your price thoughtfully: Before opening the editor, decide on a price that reflects the actual cost of reading a message and crafting a response. A useful starting point is to estimate how much time a genuine response takes, multiply by what you would charge for that time in any other context, and round to a clean number. A coach who charges $300/hour should not offer paid messages at $3 — that misaligns the signal completely. Conversely, $200 for a text message from a creator with 10,000 followers will generate no messages at all. Start at a price that feels appropriate for your context, monitor queue volume after launching, and adjust upward if you are getting too many messages or downward if you are getting none.
- Write your block description before opening the editor: The block description is the most important text you will enter. It needs to answer three questions before the visitor decides whether to pay: what kinds of messages you will engage with (specific topics, types of questions, or industries you know well), what happens after payment (how and when you respond), and what the fee does not include (guaranteed outcomes, ongoing follow-up, refunds). Draft this in a document before entering it in the editor — it will be better than anything written directly in a form field.
- Decide on your notification email: Paid messages deliver a notification to the email address you configure in the block settings. Use an email account you actually check — not a catch-all that you review weekly. A sender who paid $25 for message access and received no reply because the notification went to a rarely-checked inbox is a legitimate grievance, even if no response is contractually required.
How to add the Premium Inbox block to your page
- Open your page in the Dashboard: Log in to UniLink, go to My Pages, and click Edit on the page where you want the Premium Inbox to appear.
- Add a new block: Click + Add Block in the editor. In the block picker, scroll to the Commerce or Monetization section and select Premium Inbox.
- Set the price and currency: Enter your price per message and select your currency from the dropdown. The price displays prominently on the block — exactly as you enter it — so visitors see the cost before they write a single word. If you are unsure about pricing, start at $10–$25 for a general creative or coaching audience and adjust based on results.
- Write the block title and description: Replace the default placeholder title ("Send me a message" or similar) with something that positions the offer clearly — "Paid Direct Access," "Ask Me Anything," or "Business Inquiries." Then write the description in the text field: what you will engage with, your response timeline, and your refund policy. Be direct. Three to five sentences is the right length — enough to set expectations, not so much that it becomes a legal disclaimer that no one reads.
- Set the response time commitment text: Enter your response time commitment in the designated field — for example, "I respond to paid messages within 48 hours on weekdays." This text appears on the block below the price so senders see it before paying. Write what you can genuinely commit to, not what sounds impressive. A 48-hour commitment you keep is better than a 24-hour commitment you miss.
- Configure maximum message length (optional): Set a character limit if you want to define the scope of messages. A 300-character limit keeps messages to quick questions. A 1,500-character limit allows detailed context. If you leave the limit off, senders can write as long as they want — which can be useful if you are offering consulting-style access but can also result in messages that take significant time to parse before you even begin to respond.
- Enable the topic selector (optional): If you expect messages across multiple domains — coaching, collaboration, press, brand deals — enable the category selector and add the relevant topic tags. Senders choose one tag before submitting, and your inbox in the Dashboard filters by tag, making it easy to triage messages by type rather than reading every subject line to understand what each one is about.
- Set the notification email: Enter the email address where you want to receive new paid message notifications. Confirm the email is correct before saving — a typo here means paid messages land in your Dashboard but you receive no alert.
- Save and publish: Click Save, then Publish. Visit your live page and confirm the block is rendering — price displayed, description visible, form accessible. Do not submit a test message with a real payment card; instead, confirm in your Stripe dashboard that the payment processor is in live mode and the connection is active.
Key settings explained
| Setting | What it controls | Best practice |
|---|---|---|
| Price per message | The fee a sender pays before their message is delivered to your inbox | Set to reflect the actual value of your time per message; calibrate upward if queue volume exceeds your capacity and downward if you receive no messages after two weeks |
| Currency | The currency in which the price is displayed and charged | Use your primary operating currency; Stripe handles conversion for international senders, so you do not need to offer multiple currencies — one is enough |
| Block title | The heading shown at the top of the Premium Inbox block on your page | Name it after what you offer — "Business Inquiries," "Coaching Questions," "Direct Access" — not the generic placeholder; the title signals who the block is for before they read the description |
| Block description | Free-text field explaining what kinds of messages you accept, what happens after payment, and what the fee does not include | Address the three questions senders have before paying: what you will engage with, when you respond, and what the fee covers; clarity here dramatically reduces disputes and refund requests |
| Response time commitment | Text shown to senders before payment — sets expectations for when they will hear back | State what you can genuinely deliver every week, not your best-case scenario; "within 5 business days" that you keep is better than "within 24 hours" that you miss when you are traveling |
| Max message length | Character limit on the message field — controls the scope and depth of what senders can submit | Match the limit to your offer: 300–500 characters for quick questions, 1,000–2,000 characters for consulting-style access; unlimited is rarely the right default because it creates no boundary on what you are taking on |
| Topic/category selector | Optional tags that senders choose to classify their message before submitting | Enable this if you receive messages across multiple distinct topic areas; it makes triage faster and helps you identify which topic areas generate the most paid inquiries |
| Notification email | The address that receives an alert each time a new paid message arrives | Use an email account you check at least daily; a sender who paid for message access and receives no reply because the notification was missed has a legitimate complaint even if a response is not guaranteed |
How to manage your paid inbox without burning out
The Premium Inbox block works best when you have a system for processing it, not just a price. The price filters the volume; the system determines whether engaging with that volume is sustainable week over week. Creators who add a paid inbox without thinking about their processing workflow often find themselves in the same position they were in with free DMs, just with additional guilt about the fee senders paid. The block does not prevent overwhelm automatically — the price reduces the quantity, but the creator still needs a routine for reading, responding, and closing messages.
A practical approach is to process paid messages in a dedicated time block once or twice a week rather than trying to respond as each one arrives. Notifications tell you when new messages come in; you do not need to reply in real time. Set aside one hour on Tuesday and one hour on Friday — or whatever cadence works given your response time commitment — read the messages that came in since the last session, and respond to the ones you can address fully. For messages that require more thought, flag them and return in the next session. For messages that fall outside what you said you would engage with, respond briefly and honestly: "This is outside the area I mentioned in my block description, but here is a resource that may help." That is not a full response, but it shows the sender you read their message and engaged with it.
When your paid inbox volume exceeds your available processing time, raise the price rather than lowering your response quality. A $10 message that generates fifteen messages a week and three hours of work is a worse outcome than a $50 message that generates three messages a week and an hour of work — especially if the $50 sender's question is more focused and interesting. The price is a dial you can adjust at any time. The response quality and response rate are what determine whether senders feel the fee was worth it and whether they recommend the experience to others.
Troubleshooting
| Problem | Likely cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Pay button not appearing or not working on the live page | Payment processor is not connected, or Stripe account is in test or restricted mode | Go to Dashboard → Settings → Payments and confirm a live-mode account is connected; Stripe accounts that have not completed identity verification appear as connected but cannot process real payments |
| Paid message arrives in Dashboard but notification email was not received | Notification email address was entered incorrectly, or the notification landed in spam | Check your spam or promotions folder first; if not there, open the block editor and verify the notification email address — re-enter and save if it was mistyped |
| Sender says they paid but message is not in your Dashboard | Payment completed on the Stripe side but the webhook delivery to UniLink failed or is delayed | Check Stripe's dashboard to confirm the payment completed; if it did, wait 15 minutes for webhook retry before contacting UniLink support with the Stripe payment ID — support can manually reconcile the message delivery |
| Sender is requesting a refund for a message you have not responded to | Response time expectation was not set clearly, or the stated response time has been exceeded | Refunds are handled via Stripe or PayPal dispute process — UniLink does not issue refunds directly; prevent future disputes by updating your block description to state explicitly what the fee covers and what response time you commit to |
| Message length is not being limited despite setting a character cap | Character limit was set but not saved, or a browser extension is overriding the form field behavior | Re-open the block editor, re-enter the character limit, save explicitly, and test the live form in a private browser window without extensions active |
| Topic selector not showing on the published page despite being enabled | Selector was enabled but no topic tags were added — the field renders only if at least one topic is defined | Open the block editor and add at least one topic tag in the category selector field; an empty tag list hides the selector even when the toggle is on |
| Block description showing as placeholder text on the live page | Default placeholder was not replaced before saving | Edit the block, click into the description field, delete the placeholder text, write your actual description, and save; placeholder text that was never edited renders on the live page exactly as entered |
Best fit for
- High-demand creators who receive more DMs and inquiries than they can answer for free — the price filters out low-effort requests and ensures the messages that arrive are from people genuinely interested in a real answer
- Consultants and coaches who want to offer lightweight, text-based access to their expertise without booking a full call — a paid message is a lower commitment than a 60-minute session but still compensates for the knowledge it requires
- Subject-matter experts in any field who have specific knowledge people will pay to access quickly — finance, law, health, engineering, creative fields — where a focused answer to a focused question has clear value
- Celebrities or public figures with large audiences who want a structured, compensated way to engage with fan questions rather than ignoring the message channel entirely
- Creators who want to offer "business inquiry" access without fielding every cold pitch for free — the fee structures who reaches out and signals that unsolicited outreach has a cost
Not the right tool if
- You want to guarantee responses — the block is access, not a service contract; if you need to guarantee a response with a defined deliverable, a booking or consultation block is the right architecture
- Your audience is early-stage and price-sensitive — a paid inbox works when the sender's perceived value of your answer exceeds the fee; if your audience is not yet convinced you have expertise worth paying for, the fee will simply stop all incoming messages
- You want to accept free messages alongside paid ones — the Premium Inbox block is a single price-gated form; if you want both free and paid tiers, you would use a separate free contact form alongside the Premium Inbox, which can create page confusion
- You expect to need back-and-forth threaded conversations — the block delivers one message per payment and you reply once; it is not a threaded inbox for ongoing dialogue within a single paid engagement
Frequently asked questions
Am I legally required to respond to every paid message?
No — the fee covers message delivery and access, not a guaranteed response, and UniLink's block is designed around this model. That said, "not required" and "what you should do" are different questions. If someone pays $25 to send you a question and you never acknowledge it in any form, you are creating the conditions for a dispute or a chargeback, even if one is not technically warranted. A brief reply — even if it is "this is outside what I engage with, but here is a direction" — is both professionally appropriate and dispute-preventive. Write your block description to set this expectation before payment rather than after.
What is the right price for a paid message?
There is no universal answer, but the logic is consistent: price based on your time cost per message, then calibrate based on volume. If you estimate a genuine reply takes 20 minutes and you would charge $150/hour for that time in another context, $50 is a reasonable starting point. If that generates too many messages to process within your response time commitment, raise the price. If it generates none, lower it or reconsider whether your audience currently perceives your responses as worth that amount. Start somewhere defensible, track the queue, and adjust quarterly.
How do refunds work if a sender is unhappy?
Refunds are processed through Stripe or PayPal's standard dispute mechanism — UniLink does not have a built-in refund button in the Dashboard. If a sender opens a dispute with Stripe or PayPal, the payment processor's normal chargeback process applies. The best defense against disputes is a clear block description that states what the fee covers before payment, and a habit of acknowledging every message even when a full response is not possible. Creators with clear expectations and consistent acknowledgment habits have far fewer disputes than those who leave expectations vague.
Can I see who paid for a message before deciding whether to respond?
Yes. Your Dashboard shows each paid message with the sender's name, email, the topic tag if enabled, the timestamp, and the message text. You can read the full message before composing a response. You are not obligated to respond in order of arrival — you can prioritize by topic, by question quality, or by any other criterion that fits your workflow. Nothing in the block architecture prevents you from reading all messages before deciding which to address first.
Can I change the price after the block is live?
Yes, at any time. Open the block editor, update the price field, and save. The new price takes effect immediately for any new message submissions. Messages that were already paid at the old price are unaffected — their payments were processed at the price that was current when the sender submitted. There is no need to unpublish the block or notify existing senders when you change the price; the change is forward-looking only.
- Confirm your Stripe or PayPal account is in live mode — not just connected — before publishing; test mode looks identical in the Dashboard but the pay button will fail silently for real senders until the account is fully verified.
- Write the block description to answer three specific questions before the sender pays: what you will engage with, when you respond, and what the fee does not guarantee — this single investment of ten minutes dramatically reduces disputes and refund requests.
- Set a price that reflects your actual time cost per message and adjust based on queue volume: too many messages means raise the price, no messages means lower it or reconsider whether your audience currently values paid access to your expertise.
- Process paid messages in scheduled time blocks — once or twice a week — rather than trying to respond as each notification arrives; the price reduces volume, but the processing system is what makes the workflow sustainable.
- Replace the default placeholder title and description before publishing — generic placeholder text appearing on your live page signals to visitors that the block was added without thought, which is the opposite of the impression a premium-access offer should make.
Ready to put a price on your inbox? Create your free UniLink page and add the Premium Inbox block to filter your messages, compensate your time, and give your most motivated followers a direct line to your expertise.
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