Text-a-photo quotes over iMessage for junk removal and the trades

Who uses iMessage for photo quotes?

Photo quotes over iMessage suit businesses that price small jobs by looking at them: junk removal, movers, landscapers, plumbers, HVAC techs, roofers, pressure washers and handymen. A photo in the thread stands in for an on-site estimate that burns drive time on a job that may never book, a phone quote that is a guess, or a web form that leaves the customer waiting while a competitor answers first.

The same photo-in pattern runs in other businesses too: insurance claim photos, tenant maintenance requests and auto repair approvals. The use-case hub lists the rest.

How iMessage photo quotes work, step by step

In a ZeroSettle photo quote, the customer starts the thread and a person prices the job; ZeroSettle carries the messages and stores the photos.

1. Publish the link. An sms: link labeled “Text a photo for a quote”, with “Quote please” as the body, goes on your website. Truck wraps and yard signs get a QR code of the same link, which customers scan with the iPhone Camera app.
2. The customer texts first. That never counts against ZeroSettle's new-contact limit, and it makes your number a known sender, so links you send back are tappable.
3. The photo arrives in the console and, if you registered a webhook, as a signed message.received event with an image object. Your code fetches the file from GET /api/imessage/messages/{id}/image with your API token and attaches it to a CRM lead.
4. The estimator asks what the photo can't show (stairs, access, zip code), then replies with a range and the booking link. Each reply leaves once the line hands it to Apple, normally 2–5 seconds after Send.

Keep the line managed by API, the default: while the hosted AI agent manages a line, your estimators' sends from it are refused.

What arrives when a customer texts a photo

ZeroSettle delivers the first photo of each message, with the file, so put “one photo per text” next to the link and in your first reply.

iPhones save photos as HEIF (HEIC files) when Settings > Camera > Formats is set to High Efficiency (Apple Support). More on media: what an iMessage API can send and receive.

Example conversation: a junk-removal photo quote

This photo-quote thread runs from first text to booking in the ZeroSettle console. Both photos arrive because the customer sends them as two texts.

Setup: an sms: link and a photo inbox

Photo-quote setup is one link, plus a webhook receiver only if you want photos in your CRM. Estimators who answer from the console need no code.

<a href="sms:+18055550100&body=Quote%20please">Text a photo for a quote</a>

Use your ZeroSettle number. The link opens Messages on iPhone and Mac; on Android it opens the SMS app, so keep your quote form for those visitors. How to get customers to text you first covers QR codes and where to put them.

The receiver below checks X-ZeroSettle-Signature with the docs' verifier, answers 200 at once and fetches the photo in the background: ZeroSettle allows 10 seconds for a 2xx, then retries 3 more times (after 1, 5 and 20 seconds) with the same message id.

# quote_photos.py: run with  uvicorn quote_photos:app --port 8100
import hashlib, hmac, json, os, pathlib, time
import requests
from fastapi import BackgroundTasks, FastAPI, Request, Response

BASE = "https://portal.zerosettle.io"
TOKEN = os.environ["ZEROSETTLE_TOKEN"]
SECRET = os.environ["ZEROSETTLE_WEBHOOK_SECRET"]
app = FastAPI()
seen: set[int] = set()                     # use your database in production

def verify(header, raw):
    try:
        parts = dict(p.split("=", 1) for p in header.split(","))
        t, v1 = int(parts["t"]), parts["v1"]
    except Exception:
        return False
    if abs(time.time() - t) > 300:
        return False
    expected = hmac.new(SECRET.encode(), f"{t}.".encode() + raw, hashlib.sha256).hexdigest()
    return hmac.compare_digest(expected, v1)

def save_photo(msg):                        # swap the file write for your CRM call
    r = requests.get(BASE + msg["image"]["url"],
                     headers={"Authorization": f"Bearer {TOKEN}"}, timeout=30)
    r.raise_for_status()
    ext = msg["image"].get("content_type", "image/jpeg").split("/")[-1]
    pathlib.Path("leads").mkdir(exist_ok=True)
    pathlib.Path("leads", f"{msg['id']}.{ext}").write_bytes(r.content)

@app.post("/webhook")
async def webhook(request: Request, tasks: BackgroundTasks):
    raw = await request.body()
    if not verify(request.headers.get("X-ZeroSettle-Signature", ""), raw):
        return Response(status_code=401)
    payload = json.loads(raw)
    msg = payload.get("message") or {}
    if payload["event"] == "message.received" and msg.get("image") and msg["id"] not in seen:
        seen.add(msg["id"])                 # retries repeat the id
        tasks.add_task(save_photo, msg)
    return Response(status_code=200)

Register the receiver with PUT /api/imessage/webhook and store the signing secret, which is shown once. Apart from ZeroSettle's built-in Close integration, CRMs are connected through webhooks like this one; see the webhook steps in the ZeroSettle docs.

Limits and consent for photo quotes

ZeroSettle never limits customers who text your number first, so every quote request in a storm week comes through. Your sends go out one at a time, and texting a web-form lead first makes them a new contact.

• 80 photo requests on a Saturday: none count as new contacts.
• Three estimators hit Send at once: at the normal 2–5 seconds per text, the third waits about 4–10 seconds, inside the window before line_busy.
• 25 web-form leads texted first on Pro: 5 go out that day; the other 20 get 429 new_contact_limit until the 3 AM Eastern reset. Ask for a photo in plain text: a link to someone who hasn't texted you isn't tappable.
• An unanswered quote and follow-up, on either plan: that is the 2, so a third text waits for the customer's reply.

When ZeroSettle is not a fit for photo quotes

ZeroSettle is the wrong tool for photo quotes in these cases:

• You quote from video walkthroughs. Inbound video and documents arrive without the file.
• You want the hosted AI agent and your estimators on one number. While the agent manages a line, your own sends from that line are refused.
• Most of your customers use Android. iMessage goes only to iPhone and other Apple users, and ZeroSettle has no SMS fallback.
• You need a group thread with the homeowner, a property manager and your crew lead. ZeroSettle conversations are one-to-one.
• You want to send quotes to people who didn't ask. ZeroSettle's terms forbid unsolicited messaging, and ZeroSettle suspends lines used for it.

How much does iMessage for photo quotes cost?

Photo quotes your team answers cost only the plan price: messages and photos are unlimited, with no per-message fee.

Neither plan has a setup fee, and both carry a 30-day money-back guarantee on the subscription. AI credits apply only to texts the hosted AI agent sends (packs: 1,000 for $50 or 5,000 for $200); a line your estimators answer uses none. Compare ZeroSettle's plans or get a number.