Dinged for not replying to a message from a SELLER I bought from

[MamanDaddyVintage]

I got dinged in my Star Seller stats for not replying to a message from a SELLER I bought from and who was sending me what looks like an automated message with an update on shipping times! This is ridiculous.

Etsy said we wouldn't have to reply to messages from places we bought from, only from potential buyers for our shop. But it is clearly not true. I wish there was a way to file an official complaint and that they would rectify it. 

[UppNorthCo]

oooh no,  That's awful. 

[catfluff]

Etsy never said that, they have always stated we had to reply to all messages or mark spam. just search the forums there are abou t4 posts just like yours on any given day.

[TagTeams]

I'm sorry you haven't seen it until now, but Etsy has stated that it basically doesn't matter why the convo was started, that we need to reply to the 1st one every time.  You can always mark it spam & in a day or two it should remove the ding.  

[WitticismsRus · Accepted solution]

@MamanDaddyVintage 

"Etsy said we wouldn't have to reply to messages from places we bought from, only from potential buyers for our shop. " 
Umm where did etsy say that? Perhaps you misunderstood or misread the program rules.

Etsy is pretty clear about how the message response rate is calculated in help center here https://help.etsy.com/hc/en-us/articles/4403058372503-How-to-Become-a-Star-Seller?segment=selling

There is a highlighted bit under message response rate info that says "The Message response rate only applies to the first message in a thread. Initial messages from both buyers and sellers on Etsy are counted towards the Message response rate. "

That means ALL messages. It also means each individual message thread so if someone sends you 5 different messages with 5 questions instead of putting them in the same message chain you need to respond to all 5 of them. The system is completely automated and doesn't know if the message is from a buyer or another seller. It just sees a message and calculated the response time. That's just how it works.

The info is also right there on the Star Seller page in shop manager. Just go to shop manager > star seller. Once there scroll toward the bottom until you find "Questions? We've got answers." Then click messages. The very first question there says

"What messages count toward 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."

You can try marking the message as spam now and it should be removed from the calculation in a few days.

If the star is important to you then it may be a good idea to read or review all the info Etsy provides about the star seller program.

Bottom line...you have to either reply or mark as spam.

[audreytherese]

Etsy has no way to know if a message is from a seller or customer. I've had shops that I've bought from and they've turned around and bought from me - so we were both the sellers and the buyers. 

[BirdsongEmporium]

This has been occurring ever since the beginning of the program over a year ago. There have been many many threads in the forums. It is possible there was a comment at the start about not needing to respond to messages as a buyer but if that was the case, it was quickly changed and all statements for a year now have said ALL messages need to be responded to within 24 hours unless they are spam and are marked as spam. It doesn't take much to register a response. You can set up an auto response but be sure to see when that will need renewal. You can just respond quickly with "Thank You", "Received" or even an emoji. 

[MamanDaddyVintage]

I must have misread or misremembered then. Dang. It was not even a private message, it looked very much like an automated message about delivery timing.  

[Girlfriendnecklace]

Maybe don't use your seller account to buy on etsy and problem solved.

[AnniebelloPaper]

If it's the auto message that Etsy sends you when the seller marks your order complete, that shouldn't count. If it's a message or snippet being sent by the seller manually... that will count if you don't answer or spam it in the 24 hour window. You would think that sellers would not send unnecessary messages to other sellers (or anyone for that matter) because of the SSP.