OfferUp notifications not working?

OfferUp's notifications are push notifications, which puts them ahead of Craigslist's emails, and they fail for the usual phone reasons: the app's notification permission, battery optimization on Android, Scheduled Summary or a Focus on iPhone, and OfferUp's own notification settings. Search alerts have a second problem that no setting fixes: by OfferUp's own description they fire for related models and accessories too, with no low price limit. Here is the checklist, then the part about the wrong-item alerts.

1. Your phone's settings for the OfferUp app

iPhone: Settings → OfferUp → Notifications, Allow Notifications on. Settings → Notifications → Scheduled Summary, OfferUp not in the summary. Settings → Focus, OfferUp allowed or no Focus active.

Android: Settings → Apps → OfferUp → Notifications on, categories set to Alerting. Settings → Apps → OfferUp → Battery → Unrestricted. Do Not Disturb schedules off or OfferUp allowed. Data Saver off for OfferUp.

2. OfferUp's own notification settings

In the OfferUp app, tap your profile picture (top right) → Account → Settings → Notifications, and turn on the categories you want: messages, search alerts, offers. OfferUp also emails about search alerts and messages waiting in the app; those are separate switches.

3. The alert itself

1. Search alerts. Open OfferUp, search the item, and on the results page tap the Bell icon in the top right (or the floating Set Search Alert button). The bell turns green with a check mark when the alert is set. To see or delete alerts: profile picture → Search Alerts → Delete next to a term.
2. Similar item alerts. Open a listing, scroll below the description to Get Notified About Similar Items, tap Set Alert. Remove it from the same place or from the bell when a similar-item notification opens the feed.
3. If an alert used to fire and stopped, delete it and set it again.

Source: OfferUp Support, "Get notified about items you want" (updated April 10, 2025). Checked October 26, 2026.

4. Message notifications

Chat notifications are a separate category in OfferUp's settings and on your phone. If messages are what is missing, check that category and, on Android, battery optimization. "OfferUp says I have a message but I don't" is a badge glitch: open the inbox, open each chat, force-close the app.

Alerts that fire for the wrong things

This one has no setting. OfferUp's help page says it plainly: save "iPhone 15" as a search alert and "you'll get notified any time a new iPhone 15 is posted, plus other iPhone models, and items related to iPhones like phone cases or screen protectors." There is no low price limit, so the $8 case comes through with the $600 phone. And OfferUp does not say how often an alert is re-checked. For a specific item, most of what buzzes is noise, and the search "offerup notifications about previous search" exists because of it.

Deal Scanner watches OfferUp, Facebook Marketplace and Craigslist for a search you set, on our servers, around the clock. A relevance filter drops most accessories and lookalikes, a low and high price limit and a radius keep the rest honest, and every alert shows when we found the listing, with a Deal Score when it is a clear bargain. An alert for "PS5" means a PS5. No OfferUp login. $3.99 a month for three searches, cancel anytime. Full details on OfferUp alerts.

FAQ

Why am I not getting OfferUp notifications?

The OfferUp app's notification permission is off on your phone, battery optimization (Android) or Scheduled Summary and Focus (iPhone) are holding them, or the category is off inside OfferUp under profile → Account → Settings → Notifications. For search alerts, make sure the alert is actually set (green bell).

How do I set a search alert on OfferUp?

Search the item, then tap the bell icon at the top right of the results page or the floating Set Search Alert button. Manage alerts under your profile picture → Search Alerts.

Why does OfferUp notify me about things I didn't search for?

By OfferUp's own description, search alerts include related models and accessories, and there is no low price limit. Deal Scanner's relevance filter and price range are the fix.

How do I stop OfferUp notifications?

Profile picture → Account → Settings → Notifications, and turn off the categories. Delete search alerts under Search Alerts. Email copies have their own switches.

Is there an app that alerts me only for the exact OfferUp item?

Deal Scanner. It filters lookalikes, takes a low and high price, and buzzes your phone when a matching listing is posted on OfferUp, Facebook Marketplace or Craigslist.

Sources checked

OfferUp Support, "Get notified about items you want"; Apple and Google support on notification settings and battery optimization. Checked October 26, 2026.