Incorrectly calculated Star Seller for September

[EtsyExclamation]

Hi,

I believe September's Star Seller rating has been miscalculated. Upon downloading my message history I have been marked down on late reply from an item I bought on Etsy - not an item I sold.

Am I correct in presuming star seller status is only as a seller ?

An item I purchased from Sock Lady was a purchase, not a sale !!

Please rectify Etsy, thanks

[CappuccinoLace]

Am I correct in presuming star seller status is only as a seller ?

No.

all messages require an answer. It's 1 message inbox. You are a seller, therefore all messages come to you as a seller, whether they are about you as a seller or for you as a buyer.

It's really that simple. Answer all messages you receive.

[JackisJustVintage]

All inital messages need a reply or be marked as spam. It does not matter why you got the message, whether you are a buyer or a seller, it is all inital messages. It has always been this way. Requirements are on the star seller page.

[OmasFabricStash · Accepted solution]

All messages need a reply if it’s the first one. This includes messages about items you have bought. 

[SugarTaffySoap · Accepted solution]

Here's what a Community Specialist has posted in several threads recently regarding Star Seller:

"We suggest using the Forums' Search function prior to posting (just be careful to not bump an old thread that hasn't seen any activity in the last months/years), as questions regarding the Star Seller Program have been extensively covered by our fellow members since its launch, as well as our official Star Seller Guide, which contains in-depth answers to some of the more common questions regarding Message Response Rate, Shipping, Local Pick-Up, Digital Orders, and other topics. You can check it out here:etsy.com/starseller. "

[HazelsSewingSupplies]

@EtsyExclamation  - Might be a good time to read the rules.

[CraftyCornishMaids]

ALL new message threads have to be replied to

and etsy highlights them with a big blue message, telling you it has to replied to, so you can't miss it

[BagmakerSupply]

@EtsyExclamation: The Star Seller metric is that the FIRST message of a NEW thread must be replied to (or marked as spam) 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. 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".

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. But be aware that doing so may cause you to miss other messages from that account.

This has been brought up in innumerable threads on this forum - if you have not yet done so, you might want to read https://help.etsy.com/hc/en-us/articles/4403058372503-How-to-Become-a-Star-Seller?segment=selling

[audreytherese]

Very presumptuous indeed.