How big can the timer be?

Choose small, medium or large digits. Email apps scale images to the width of the column, so a large timer stays sharp on a phone.

Is a flash sale timer on the Free plan?

Yes. Fixed-deadline timers in every style are on every plan. Free timers carry a small flashtimer mark; paid plans remove it.

What should the email say once the sale ends?

Whatever is still true. Point readers to the full range or the next sale, so an email opened tomorrow still earns its click.

Flash sale

Flash sale email examples: 24 hours, with the timer as the hero

A coffee roaster's 24-hour sale where the countdown is the biggest thing in the email. No hero photo competes with it: the clock is the offer, and everything else follows.

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Coffee dripping through a paper filter in a dark kitchen — 24 hours. 30% off every bag.

Countdown to the end of Brew Theory's 24-hour sale — 24 hours. 30% off every bag.

The email

As your readers will see it

Switch to mobile to see how it reflows on a phone, where most of your readers will open it.

Brew Theory Roasters

24 hours. 30% off every bag.

Brew Theory Roasters <beans@brewtheory.coffee>

to me

Today

Brew Theory

Small-batch roasters

24 hours

30% off every bag

Stock up before it ends

Roasted coffee beans on white — House blend, 1 kg
$22.40 $32

Coffee being poured from a glass brewer — Pour-over kit
$47.60 $68

A steaming stoneware mug in morning sun — Stoneware mug
$15.40 $22

Coffee beans spilling from a burlap sack

Roasted on Tuesday. At your door by Friday.

Brew Theory Roasters

Unit 4, Roastery Yard, Leeds, United Kingdom

You're getting this because you buy your coffee from us.

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Brands, people and addresses in these examples are fictional. The timers are real, rendered by flashtimer.

Why it works

What makes this email work

The clock is the headline. In a 24-hour sale the time left is the news. Putting it first makes the email readable in two seconds.
Hours, not days. With days hidden, the first number a reader sees is how many hours are left, which feels as short as it is.
The brand is in the details. Roasted browns, caramel borders and a cream type color make a loud timer look like it belongs to a calm brand.
Three things to buy. A bag, a brewer and a mug: one for each kind of customer on the list.

Subject lines

Other subject lines to try

Test two against each other. The timer stays the same, so you learn what the words do.

Brew Theory Roasters
24 hours. 30% off every bag.
Brew Theory Roasters
Today only: our coffee at 30% off
Brew Theory Roasters
The roaster's running a sale. Briefly.
Brew Theory Roasters
Last 6 hours of the coffee sale

Build it

Build it in flashtimer

1Hide the days
In a 24-hour sale, switch the days off so the timer opens on hours.
2Make it big
Choose Boxes at the large size, cream digits on roasted brown with caramel borders.
3Put it first
Place the timer at the top of the email, directly under the headline, and the product photography below it.
4Write the ending
Set the expiry message to The sale's over. The coffee's still good. for anyone who opens late.