Appeal for Star Seller Status Review Due to Messaging System Error

[JosieMaeDesignz]

Dear Etsy Support Team,

I am writing to address an issue that has arisen concerning my Star Seller status on Etsy. My shop, JosieMaeDesignz, has met all the criteria for this prestigious recognition. However, I was recently noticed that my response rate metric fell to 83%, which has affected my eligibility for the Star Seller award.

Upon reviewing my message history, I discovered that this drop-in response rate was due to a single message from a purchase I made as a customer from another shop, specifically a message from a seller named Cocoa Twins (Mesha) on September 29th. This message was NOT a customer inquiry but a response instructing me on how to retrieve my purchase from her shop.

I believe this message should not impact my response rate as a seller. My commitment to timely and effective communication with my customers has always been paramount, and my response rate to customer inquiries stands at 100%. The inclusion of this particular message in the calculation appears to be an oversight that has unjustly affected my status.

I kindly request a review of my account concerning this matter. Ensuring accurate metrics is essential for the integrity of the Star Seller program and for sellers like me who strive to provide the best service possible. I am confident that upon reviewing the specifics of this case, you will find that my shop meets all the requirements for the Star Seller status.

Thank you for your attention to this matter. I appreciate the opportunity to clarify this situation and look forward to continuing to provide exceptional service to my customers on Etsy.

Sincerely,

Kimberly James

JosieMaeDesignz

(REMOVED BY ADMIN)

[UniqueGiftOrnaments]

Etsy will do nothing about it. You must answer every new message or put into spam. Bots don't know the difference between buyers and sellers.

[TheVintagePineapple]

You are not contacting anyone from Etsy who can help you.  We're just other sellers such as yourself.  But as already mentioned by UniqueGift, they wouldn't change anything anyway.

Also, this is a public forum that anyone can access.  You should edit your post and remove your email address and phone number, @JosieMaeDesignz .

[BootifulLabels]

If you don't want your purchases to affect your status as a Star Seller, the solution is simple.  Don't make purchases on your seller account.  It is a fast and simple process to create a new buyer only account and always use that to make purchases.  It is your choice.

If on the other hand, you choose to use your seller account for purchasing, then you will need to answer those messages just as you would messages from buyers. Etsy does not read messages to determine whether they require a response or not, ALL new messages need a response regardless of the subject matter or whether they are from buyers or other sellers.  Etsy will not review anything, regardless of the reasons, you either make the cut or you don't.

[BagmakerSupply]

@JosieMaeDesignz: "I believe this message should not impact my response rate as a seller." Unfortunately Etsy disagrees with you. As it says right on your Star Seller page and elsewhere, you need to reply to the FIRST message of EVERY NEW INCOMING THREAD within 24 hours. It does not matter who sent it, the subject matter, if it is a duplicate or blank or anything else. If it is SPAM then it should be marked as such.

"The inclusion of this particular message in the calculation appears to be an oversight that has unjustly affected my status." The Star Seller metric for messages is very simplistic and binary - either you replied to (or marked as SPAM) that first message of a every new incoming thread within 24 hours or you did not. And by your own admission you intentionally did not follow the published rules.

A workaround : if the unanswered new thread is not a Help Request, at least for the time being, it appears that marking an unanswered new thread as SPAM (even after the 24 hour deadline has passed) will cause your reply percentage to change in a day or two if the original message was within the current star seller period (but not retroactively). Note that subsequent messages from that account may go directly to the SPAM folder.

You may also want to reread all of the Star Seller rules so that you are not surprised by anything else.

"Dear Etsy Support Team" Just so you know, even if Etsy Support or the Help Pages sent you here this is a seller peer to peer forum, and should not be considered a way to contact Etsy, if that is your hope (although Etsy does sometimes read and reply to posts).

You should also edit your post and remove any references to other shops per the Community Policy and also your personal information such eMail addresses and phone numbers.