Calculation for messages

[PinkDaisyStore]

Hi there I have always responded to my messages within 24 hours and have not reached 100%. I studied the data for this and noticed that the messages where I haven’t responded in the timeframe were ones where I was the customer not the seller. Please can this be rectified in the calculation as this doesn’t seem to be a fair assessment of performance as a seller. 

[PlatypusDream]

No.  It cannot be rectified.  Etsy employees can't fix it.

You must answer ALL messages, no matter if you were the buyer or seller.

Live and learn.

[Former_Member]

It doesn't matter if you're the buyer or the seller, it's all messages.

[PinkDaisyStore]

Star seller is an indication of the performance of a seller and not as a buyer so it’s not a fair representation is it!!!

[NanaLetha]

@PinkDaisyStore  How would the automated program know the difference?

[Former_Member]

No, it's not, but Etsy has no way to determine if the message is for you as the seller or for you as the buyer.

Consider opening a separate buyer account to use for purchases.  If you do, be sure to disclose all accounts in the public profiles of each account.

[PinkDaisyStore]

In this day and age I am pretty sure they can figure that one out. They could keep the inboxes separate. Why should I respond to messages that could be regarded as spam with 24hrs when my priority are my customers

[PlatypusDream]

@PinkDaisyStore 

Privacy laws prevent them from reading your private messages.

YOU can keep them separate by creating a buyer only account.

https://help.etsy.com/hc/en-us/articles/4403058372503-How-to-Become-a-Star-Seller-

"Messages from the same buyer will now be consolidated into fewer threads. To help keep track of messages you should prioritize for Star Seller metrics, new threads now have notification badges showing if a message is a buyer’s first time contacting you, or a new help with order request. Both of these types of messages need to be responded to in 24 hours to be counted positively toward your Star Seller score."

https://www.etsy.com/legal/policy/star-seller-terms-and-conditions/1020908425032

[WitticismsRus]

@PinkDaisyStore 

"Why should I respond to messages that could be regarded as spam ..."

If they are spam then you need to mark them as spam. The system doesn't read your messages and then make a decision if it's spam or not. It just sees a message that got no reply and calculates accordingly. You have to tell it that it's spam. Etsy provides tools to deal with spam messages. It's up to you to use them. If you failed to mark it as spam or reply then it's a missed message plain and simple. Mark it as spam if it's spam. 

[BootifulLabels]

It is up to you to manage your messages.  It is unrealistic to expect Etsy to manage 8 million inboxes for their owners, they don't have the capacity to read all our messages, and quite frankly why would you even want them to?  If you want to keep your buying and selling messages separate, the solution is simple.  Either use guest checkout for all your purchases, or better still, open a buyer only account so that your purchase messages go on a different user ID and won't interfere with your selling messages.

[VintageRescueSquad]

You're buying from your seller account. If you don't want them to count, open a separate buyer-only account. Etsy told us from the very beginning that all messages factor into the score.

[Former_Member]

Like it or not, that's how it works.  Reply to ALL initial messages if you want the badge.

[CraftyCornishMaids]

You have to reply to each new message thread,

they are highlighted in BLUE

sellers can be buyers, the only way etsy would know, if the seller was a potential buyer too, would be to read all the million messages,

that's why they highlight them for you

......

you can always set up another account, for buying only, if you have a problem with this

[GlassyFields]

for SS you must answer the first message in each message thread within 24 hours

for messages that you don't want to count - mark them as spam. This even works retroactively.

And regarding automation should be able to figure it out ... I have a couple instances where I am the buyer and the seller for another shop. Sounds odd but I've asked jewelry makers who buy my handmade glass items as supplies to make me custom pieces for myself or presents ... e.g. my beads or cabs in one of their lovely settings or compositions. Needless to say we have lots of messages going back and forth where sometimes I am the seller and sometimes the buyer talking to the same shop owner.

I realize that my situation noted above might be a bit odd but even w/o it would it really be a great thing to have bots reading our conversations and making judgement calls? especially Etsy bots - which don't seem very discerning in the situations where they are used?

[TonsOfPaper · Accepted solution]

Hello @PinkDaisyStore,

The Message response rate counts initial messages in new threads from all Etsy members, both buyers and other sellers. You may want to create a Saved Reply in order to quickly and easily answer messages from other Sellers. Using a Saved Reply within 24 hours will count as answering the message.  If the message you've received is 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. Marking a message as spam will remove it from your inbox.

While it is not possible to retroactively remove this message from your score, we do understand your concern, and really appreciate you sharing your experience with us. We've gathered your feedback and will be sure to share it with the appropriate teams. 

Thank you very much!

[DesertChains]

Which teams?