Error - You can't contact this person right now - when I am trying to reply

[MollyHarrisonArt]

If Etsy expects us to send a reply within 24 hours it would be nice if their messaging system worked.

A potential customer reached out today asking about buying some prints.  I tried to reply but got the red error box stating 

"Sorry, you can't contact this person right now" with no explanation.  I already have a headache

[ThePurplePuppy]

Are you able to contact anyone else or is it only this person? Trying to determine if they have stopped your ability to send messages or if this is something else.

I have never seen or heard of that particular message before. Usually if they suspend your ability to send messages it will say just that "Your ability to send messages has been temporarily halted--" or something very similar.

[DaysofYoreTreasures]

Some people reported a similar issue when valid messages were being sent to spam.
Try clicking on the user's profile. If there is a message on the profile screen saying something like - blocked for messages - you should be able to toggle it off. I think this would be a valid action given the user contacted you first.

[MollyHarrisonArt]

Thanks for your replies. I have never had this issue and I have been on Etsy since 2010. She seems like a legitimate potential customer.  I have not tried replying to anyone else because no one has contacted me recently. Etsy has become a graveyard for me for the most part, sadly.  Thanks to AI images.

I will see if it is working now - but I moved it to spam so my star seller status wouldn't be ruined by this one message - I guess I will put it back in inbox but now I will take the hit for next month. 

Etsy needs to be more specific if there was something weird about this person.  And if it was a glitch, they should make sure it does not affect my star seller status. 

[MollyHarrisonArt]

I moved it out of spam and tried replying and still getting the error message.  The user profile is just her first name and nothing else - I guess if she is a legit person I just lost a nice sale. Or maybe she got banned from Etsy after she sent me the message? I don't know how that works.  

[PeachyPopp]

I just went through this! Once you remove the message from Spam, go to her profile and you have to unblock her. Apparently if Etsy automatically puts it in spam, they block them too. Once they get unblocked, you can respond. 

[TheDustyDoorBoutique]

I just received this message for the first time and I know this is a legitimate seller. Also, I have had issues with my Star Seller badge due to not responding on time when I always respond on time

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