HELP Needed for Star Seller

[MemphisandTate]

I am new to Etsy and have been doing amazing on shipping and responding to messages so that I can achieve Star Seller Status.  I purchased an SVG on my personal account and the seller messaged my store account for a review.  I was super busy so I didn't respond to it right away since it was just regarding a review.  NOW my response rate dropped from 100% to 93%!!!!  Is there anything I can do to get this fixed since that message shouldn't have come to my store messages?

Thank you in advance!!

[UniqueGiftOrnaments]

Put it into spam and should bring percentage back up. The bots don't know the difference between buyer and seller

[UppNorthCo]

put the message in spam.  no help required.  you can do this all by yourself.  you will be back to 100%

[Mooncavo]

How long does it take to go back to 100% if you mark the message as spam? I have the same issue all of a sudden.

[AnnaleasFinest]

@Mooncavo 

ca 1 day.

[DesertChains]

Perhaps it shouldn’t, but it did. Respond or spam. Those are your only two options.

[AnnaleasFinest]

It's too late to reply if it was already counted against her...

[WitticismsRus · Accepted solution]

@MemphisandTate 

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.

[PersonalizeStation]

There's no "store messages." There's just messages. If you want to separate selling and buying, it's best to have a buyer account as well in order to make purchases. By doing so, you won't have to worry about missing a message or not responding to a seller you've done business with. 

[AnnaleasFinest]

Right. And the other accounts have to be published in the About section of each account,- correct?

[TinTeddy]

They have to be declared on one's Profile.

[Mooncavo]

I have the exact same issue all of a sudden and I've maintained my star seller badge since they launched it! I still have 95% on my message replies but I had 100% until this happened so being right on the line is worrisome to me. I purchased a $6 digital file on Etsy and the shop owner sent me a message asking me what I thought about it in great detail. I'm sorry but I work FT on top of running my shop so I don't have time to give feedback on everything I buy. I was busy running my own shop providing service to my own customers because isn't that what being a Star Seller should be about? They need to have someone available to review these one off situations - our responses to other shop owners towards purchases we've made have absolutely nothing to do with the service we provide in our shops.

[AnnaleasFinest]

@Mooncavo 

the system can't distinguish between seller and buyer messages, so it says:

Reply to ALL initial messages.

The seller only needs to read closely.

Have you heard of the auto-reply function?

It's a good tool for very busy people.

Takes less than a minute to set it up.

[dippeldiundscribble]

@Mooncavo Have you read the responses in this thread? Have you read the requirements on your Star Seller Dashboard?

It’s not an issue or a glitch. It‘s something that you can completely  control. 

Familiarize yourself with all the options provided by Etsy and use them to meet the criteria.

1. Set up auto-reply
2. Create and use saved replies
3. Mark as spam 
4. Set up a buyer account for your purchases

*1: How to set an auto-reply for Messages

*2: How to Use Saved Replies in Messages

[mommawhazelsquilts]

Now you know.  All messages.  Not just those that you deem important.  ALL.

Anyone can take 5 seconds to say "it's okay" or some such message.

If Etsy considers all messages to be important - then we comply with the rules.

[eclecticasia]

You can set up Auto Reply, but unlike the past when it was for all time this only lasts for a maximum of 5 days, so you always have to have the 5 days in mind in order to reset it. Not sure why there would be a limit of only 5 days.

As others have said, if it is past the normal reply period put the message in Spam, this should bring up your response %.