57 messages back and forth but no star seller for next month

[DonnaTrullGlass]

A buyer and I have 57 messages back and forth. On the same day she answered one of my questions in a new thread. I ignored it as I understand that messages would be combined. Now I'm not on track for October because I ignored that stray message. 

[Adorabilities]

If it's a new thread, you need to answer (or spam) it. It doesn't surprise me that the new combining system might have glitches.

[nineteen27 · Accepted solution]

i respond to every message at least once.

new thread... old thread... every thread.

i never ignore a message.

yes etsy says they combine message threads but this site is always glitching so why trust it.

try putting that stray into spam and see if it helps you later when it updates.

[BagmakerSupply]

@DonnaTrullGlass:  Didn't the *new* message have the advisory on it that it was a new message / thread? If not, that is more troubling than the combining not working.

[DonnaTrullGlass]

I don't remember it saying new. It does say "needs help". But when I opened it it was the buyer answering my last question. Why she started another one right in the middle of a conversation makes no sense. 

Last month I got dinged because a seller I bought from sent me a thank you message. I didn't respond because it didn't seem like something I needed to respond to. 

[catfluff]

I know you guys and Etsy all say put it in spam, i put one from a vendor that just keeps bothering me to buy from him  and now all his messages end up in spam even when he starts a new thread. So I'm reluctant to put a customers messAGE into spam for fear of not seeing others.   Saying that,  57 messages from one customer, i would have stopped at 10 , they usually dont end well with that many back and forths.

[DonnaTrullGlass]

Yea I didn't realize how many messages we had done till I started investigating. She did make the purchase but it was a very cheap item. I think it may have been her first purchase on Etsy. 

I didn't mind the high volume at the time as I was sitting on my pc working on my shop anyways. But if I had been at work, it would have been super annoying. 

[SugarTaffySoap · Accepted solution]

Mark As Spam the "stray" message so your % will re-adjust.

Here's some additional info from an Etsy Staff member posted in the Forums: 

The Message response rate counts initial messages from all Etsy members, both buyers, and other sellers. This is because fellow sellers could be potential buyers for your shop. If it's not a spam message it requires a response within 24 hours. If it is a spam message you can mark it as such and it won't count towards your score."

"Please note that Messages sent on the last two days of the 3-month review period may be excluded from the current review period and counted towards the next period instead. This is to allow Sellers a full 24 hours to respond and not be penalized for messages received late on the final day of the review period. Only messages initiated by other users are counted for the message score."

The messages from the same buyer will be consolidated into fewer threads. However, when a buyer reaches out via the Help With Order request, a new thread will be created. These types of message threads need to be responded to in 24 hours to be counted positively toward your Star Seller score. New threads will now have notification badges showing if a message is a buyer’s first time contacting you, or a new help with an order request. 

[DonnaTrullGlass · Accepted solution]

Ah so because she clicked the needs help button Etsy sees it as a new buyer convo. That's why it didn't get merged.