Can the Speedy Reply Badge criteria be improved?

[WhoScentYouLLC]

I always respond to my customer messages in far less than 24hrs. But I had another shop that I purchased from message to thank me for ordering from them and telling me to reach out if I had any questions. I had no questions, so I didn't respond. Etsy counted that as me not responding to a customer message, and my shop was denied the Star Seller badge for that reason alone. 

My shop is still young and needs every symbol of trustworthiness I can get for it. So, I was pissed that it was penalized for something that had absolutely nothing to do with my customer service.

Can Etsy do something about the Speedy Reply Badge criteria or improve the way they screen messages to see if they actually warrant a response? Or at least determine that the message is from an actual customer?

[FallenAngelBrass]

If we want the badge, we have to respond to all message threads.

I vote no on Etsy employees reading our messages.   I'd rather just write a quick "Thanks" or "No thanks" and keep my messages private. 

[nineteen27]

in order to receive the star seller badge you have to be a star buyer by answering other sellers messages within 24 hours too.

or open another account to use to buy stuff.

[AAANativeArts]

Probably not. It tells you right on your dashboard under the star seller section that you have to either 1) Answer each convo at least once, regardless of what it is about, or 2)Mark it as Spam if no reply is required. Or you could answer and just say something like, Thanks. Any of those methods will meet the Star Seller requirements. But ignorance of the rules is no excuse. This program has been out for a long time and has been discussed ad nauseum in the forums, including your very problem, and they've also placed a notice on your dashboard. What else do you expect them to do? It is your responsibility to keep up with the rules.

[bradgoodell]

Sellers are buyers and buyers are sellers.  Bots have no idea who is contacting you for what.  I could be your best freind wanting to chat, or your worst enemy harassing you.  

Two choices:  Reply, or mark as spam.  

[BagmakerSupply · Accepted solution]

@WhoScentYouLLC  : Etsy has been very clear and consistent about messages / convos from the very beginning of the Star Seller program. The Star Seller metric is that the FIRST message of a NEW thread must be replied to 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. Those have always been the rules. Subsequent messages from the same account (a buyer may have multiple accounts) are supposed to be combined into a single thread.

Help Requests always start a new thread. By the way, if you are creating a custom listing based on a new thread, you still need to reply to the message. Etsy is now putting a blue text warning / advisory on those messages they consider to be a "new message" but should semantically be called a "new thread".

At least for the time being, it appears that marking an unanswered message 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.

[PrimFun]

Did you read the information on the program.  It states specifically we need to answer all new messages coming in or spam ones that don't need answers.

[AnniebelloPaper]

Perhaps sellers need to review the 'need' to send unnecessary messages after an order has been made. You can set up an auto message that goes with the order/shipped confirmation messages Etsy sends. It appears these types of messages are not counted as a sent message for the SSP. There have been plenty of sellers commenting that they sent this type of message and when the buyer responses, Etsy counts the buyers' message as the first one in the thread.

[CatsWhiskersCurios]

The way it’s currently set up is clear in that every first message needs a response. It couldn’t be clearer. I certainly don’t want my fees paying for a more complicated system of reviewing messages to see what’s been sent by who. Now that Etsy even tell you when you get a first message there’s no reason to miss one. 

[Amaradorn]

Just to be clear - Etsy does not 'screen messages to see if they actually warrant a response' or 'determine that the message is from an actual customer'

[CuriosAnCollectibles]

"Thanks" will suffice.