How to Link a Drop: Import Your Existing Instagram Posts

4 min read · Updated August 2026

You don't have to post your drops through Thryft Ship to use the Sales Assistant. Link a drop points it at posts that are already live on your profile — it reads the comments, answers the bids, and builds every buyer's cart, exactly like a drop you posted here.

TL;DR

Post your drop to Instagram however you like, then link it — no re-uploading, no reposting.
Start a new drop and choose Link a drop (the “I post, Thryft tracks” option) instead of Create a drop.
Give it a name, a drop type, and an end time — the things Thryft Ship can't read off Instagram.
Pick your posts from the last 48 hours, confirm, and the Sales Assistant catches up on the comments already there.

Why you'd link a drop

Three situations, and they're all common:

You'd rather post it yourself. Some sellers just like their own flow — writing the caption in the Instagram app, or drafting and scheduling everything through Meta Business Suite. Linking means you don't have to change any of that to get the automation.
You want video in the post. When you build a drop inside Thryft Ship, the item uploader takes photos — not video. So if you film a try-on for every item, post it yourself with the clip included and link that instead. You keep the video, and the Sales Assistant still reads every comment.
You just turned the Sales Assistant on and your drop is already live. Posts up, bids landing, and you only connected the Assistant halfway through? Nothing to cancel and nothing to repost. Link the drop and it picks up every comment that's already sitting there.

If you're posting a try-on video, two rules Instagram won't take a video as the first slide of a carousel, so lead with a photo and put the clip anywhere after it. And keep the item in a regular feed post: a carousel with a video inside it links and gets monitored like anything else, but a standalone Reel won't show up in the grid.

How to link a drop

Start a new drop and choose “Link a drop”
Head to your Sales Assistant and start a new drop. You'll see two ways to run it: Create a drop (“Thryft posts for me”) or Link a drop (“I post, Thryft tracks”). Choose Link a drop and click Link my posts.

Choose Link a drop on the Start a new drop screen
Tell us about your drop
Because these posts are already on Instagram, there are just two things Thryft Ship can't read from them: how bidding works and when it closes. Give your drop a name, choose a drop type (this tells the Sales Assistant how to read the comments on every post you link), and set when the drop ends. Then click Pick your posts.

Name your drop, pick a drop type, and set when it ends
Pick your posts from the grid
You'll see a grid of your Instagram posts from the last 48 hours. Tap the ones that belong to this drop (tap again to remove one). Posts already in your inventory are tagged; anything new gets imported as a new item when you link. Just posted something and don't see it? Hit Refresh.

Tap the posts from your last 48 hours to include them
Verify, and let the Sales Assistant take over
Give everything a once-over to make sure it's right, then confirm. From that moment, the Sales Assistant reads all the comments already on those posts — bids, BINs, and SOLD/claims — responds to them, and keeps monitoring new comments in real time. It runs exactly like a drop you posted through Thryft Ship.

It catches up on comments you already haveThis is the part sellers love: if bids or “sold!” comments already piled up before you linked, they don't get missed. The Sales Assistant reads and responds to what's already there, then takes it from the next comment on.

Thryft Ship won't post anythingLinking is read-only on your Instagram. Bids, questions, and SOLD comments are read exactly the same way as an assisted drop — your buyers won't notice any difference.

Good to know

You choose the posts. Nothing gets swept in automatically — you tap the exact posts that belong to the drop.
It shows your last 48 hours. The grid pulls your recent posts; use Refresh if you just posted. Items already in your inventory are tagged, and anything new imports as a new item.
The drop type matters. It's how the Sales Assistant reads each post's comments (for example, bidding vs. buy-it-now), so pick the one that matches how you ran the sale.
Video sits inside the post, never first. Lead with a photo, and keep it a feed post — standalone Reels aren't picked up.
Scheduled-but-not-yet-posted items aren't supported yet. Link a drop works with posts that are already live. Pulling in Meta Business Suite posts that haven't gone out yet is something we're looking at for a future update.

Common questions

Will buyers be able to tell I linked the drop?

No. To your buyers, nothing looks different — they keep commenting on your Instagram posts like always. The Sales Assistant simply starts handling those comments behind the scenes, and Thryft Ship never posts anything itself.

What happens to bids that came in before I linked?

They're picked up. When you link, the Sales Assistant reads all the existing comments and processes them — so early bids, BINs, and claims are recognized and answered, not lost.

Why do I set an end time instead of it being automatic?

Because the posts are already live, Thryft Ship can't know from Instagram when you want bidding to close — so you tell it during setup. That, plus your drop type, is the only info it needs that it can't read from your posts.

Can I include my try-on video?

Yes — that's one of the best reasons to link instead of build. Post the item on Instagram yourself with your photos and your try-on clip, then link that post. Two things to keep in mind: a video can't be the first slide of a carousel, so lead with a photo, and it needs to be a regular feed post rather than a standalone Reel.