Annoying Star Seller Prob

[BlockForest]

Seems to be my fault for not understanding how limited the star seller system really is at recording data, but just thought I'd post on this to save anyone else any aggro in the future!

I've had a perfect Star Seller rating for well over a year, just got Decembers removed because I didn't reply to a message I received about an order I bought personally - so nothing to do with my shop at all! 

Really annoying as nothing to do with my customer service on my shop, which is all still perfect and naturally Etsy won't amend or change anything. 

So everyone please remember to reply to ALL messages you receive at ALL times (as if we don't have enough to do already) and use auto-reply also, although in my case this wouldn't have helped . Also if you buy stuff on the same account as what your shop sits on then maybe think about separating this and having another etsy account just for your personal buying so this can't become an issue! 

[ChillwolfArt]

Yes, that is how it works.  Even if another Seller messages you, "How's it going?"; that still counts as a Message you must respond to.  For all Messages where you are not the Initiator of the Message.  You must answer them or Mark as Spam.

Hope this helps.

(It's definitely an individual preference, but I use the same account for selling and buying).

[HazelsSewingSupplies]

So do I, but I also check for messages every day.

[HazelsSewingSupplies]

The rules have always been that you respond to all first messages.  Probably 95% of sellers know and do that.

The other 5% come crying to the forum the first of every month because they never read the rules of the "game" and their SSB was taken away unfairly.

[MrsDsHandKnits]

and that's exactly what the SS program is: a "game",a ploy, a gimmick by Etsy to keep all those badge seeking sellers on their toes and jumping through all the hoops...The forums today are a-hoppin' with thread after thread after thread about all the annoyances associated with the SS program...I have 0 interest in Etsy's gimmicks,but seeing the annoyance & frustration sellers put themselves through,this needless over-stressing about an over-rated status designation does make for an amusing read with the morning coffee.

[nineteen27]

on our dashboard for star seller... it says.

What messages count towards the message response rate?

Your message response rate is based on just the first message in a conversation, not ongoing conversations. This means you just need to respond to the first message within 24 hours. This applies to messages both from buyer and seller accounts. Messages from Etsy staff do not count toward your response rate, and neither do messages that you mark as spam. You can also now find a breakdown of your message response rate score by downloading a CSV.

[PillowDetails]

Just want to mention - Look for the Blue !  The past few months any message that requires a response has a blue banner on desktop, and a blue dot on mobile.  Easy to spot, so look for it from now on!

* And yes, I got caught out once not answering a message as a Buyer too.  Once.

[anythinggoeshere]

There will be sellers who find out how Star seller message answering works.  From now into infinity.

[audreytherese]

Ya... doubt this will help anyone, as people only seem to come here and complain once it affects them.