Open a proposal you were sent

A proposal sent with Magpie arrives as an email from the business with an Open the proposal button. The proposal opens in the Magpie account at the email address it was sent to. If that address had no account, Magpie made a free one for it when the proposal was sent, and the email says so. An account Magpie makes has no password: you sign in with a link Magpie emails to that address. The proposal is listed under Sent to you in the account; see Sent to you.

The first time

While the account has never been used, the email's button opens a page that names the account, with a Sign in button. Select Sign in to sign in and open the proposal. Opening the page alone signs nobody in. The button works once, within 14 days, and only in the newest email from the business: each new email stops the button in the one before.

After that, the button opens the proposal. If you are not signed in, it opens Magpie's sign-in page for the proposal. Select Email me a sign-in link: Magpie emails a sign-in link and a six-digit code to the address the proposal was sent to, without asking you to type it. Open the link, or enter the code on the page. You can also sign in with a password, a passkey, Apple or Google once you add one in Account settings; see Create an account and sign in.

A link in an email sent before proposals opened in Magpie accounts still opens the proposal, once you sign in with the address it was sent to.

Choosing, asking and signing

• Choose a package and any options. The totals change as you choose, and the business sees your choices.
• Ask a question about the whole proposal or one section, or Request changes. The business is emailed, and its reply is emailed to you and shown on the proposal.
• Accept opens the confirmation step. Enter your full name and draw or type your signature, then select Accept and sign: selecting it is your agreement to the proposal and to signing it electronically. Your Magpie account, how and when you signed in, and when its address was confirmed are recorded with your signature, with the time, your IP address and your browser. If no confirmation is recorded for your account's email address, the confirmation step first shows Confirm your email address to accept: select Email me a code, enter the code from the email in Code and select Confirm. The form then appears, with your choices and what you typed. This is asked once for each address; reading, choosing, asking and declining do not need it.
• Decline ends the proposal for every recipient. You can give a reason, and the business is told.

If you were asked only to read the proposal, you can read it and ask questions, but not accept or decline it.

A proposal the business shows in your client portal also opens from the portal's Proposals, with Open. Accepting it there works the same way, in your Magpie account, and asks for the same code when no confirmation is recorded for your address.

If the business set an access code, the proposal asks for it before it opens. The business gives you the code separately. Each browser asks for it once.

Paying the deposit

When the accepted proposal has a deposit, its invoice is emailed to the signers, and the proposal's page offers Pay deposit, which pays it by card. Magpie will then email you a receipt and keep a record of the payment in your Magpie account.

Forwarded emails

Until you first sign in to the account, for at most 14 days, whoever selects the button in a forwarded copy of the email first is signed in to your account and can accept or sign as you. Do not forward the email. Once you have signed in, a forwarded email no longer opens the proposal for anyone else: ask the business to add the other person as a recipient. If someone may have signed in with a forwarded email, go to Account settings and choose Sign out of every other browser.

When the page shows something else

• This email's button no longer signs you in: the button was used, its days passed, or a newer email from the business replaced it. Select Email me a sign-in link for a new link.
• No access to this proposal: you are signed in to a Magpie account that the proposal was not sent to. If the business sent it to another of your email addresses, sign out and sign in with that one. If you use Magpie with another address, ask the business to send the proposal to it.
• Confirm your email address: the proposal opens only in an account whose email address is confirmed. Select Email me a code, enter the code from the email in Code and select Confirm: the proposal then opens. See Create an account and sign in.
• This proposal cannot be opened: it was sent to an email address that cannot be given a Magpie account. Ask the business to send it to another address.

After about 13 months, the button in the first email opens Magpie's sign-in page instead of the proposal's. Sign in there and open the proposal from Sent to you. The buttons in later emails keep opening the proposal.

The proposal itself says when it has expired, been withdrawn or been declined. To ask for an updated proposal, select Ask for an updated proposal on an expired one.

For more help, Contact support.