Loss of star seller

[CathyWhiteVintage]

The ratings of this are ridiculous !  I lost my message reply badge as I bought something from India and didn’t reply to the 100 th message . I have replied to every customer buying from me within hours .  
the dispatch star I lost as I delivered an item by hand instead of sending tracking details .   

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[audreytherese]

 "didn’t reply to the 100 th message ." 

Only the first message requires a response. You don't have to get the last word in and respond to every single one. The fact a message came from someone you bought from is irrelevant. If it was a new message, it required a response. 

"the dispatch star I lost as I delivered an item by hand instead of sending tracking details ."

Yes, this is how it works. Orders require shipping and it explicitly states that orders that are picked up or delivered are not exempt at this time. 

[ChillwolfArt]

Hi, Sorry you were dinged by this.  Just so you know, if you receive a Message from a Seller you are friendly with ("How's it goin"?). That counts the same way, since you are not the Initiator of the Message; you must Respond or Mark as Spam. I purchased something recently, the Seller sent a Thank You, with some details about the Order. And I replied Thank You. I've always used the same account for both buying and selling, so nothing really changed in that respect.  If someone sends a Message, "Buy my gems 20% off"), into Spam it goes. But not a Seller's Thank You.

The hand delivery thing is unfortunate.  Some Sellers were sending a copy of the receipt to their local Customer, and they entered that Tracking No. I haven't had a local delivery, but just going by what others said on the Forum.

Hope this helps.

[audreytherese]

As far as I know mailing the receipt only works in the US, where we can buy first class postage through Etsy labels and that satisfies the tracking  requirement. The OP is in Ireland, so I don't know of a workaround for the tracking that would work there. 

[BagmakerSupply · Accepted solution]

@CathyWhiteVintage: The Star Seller metric for messages is very simplistic and binary - either you replied to (or marked as SPAM) that first message of a new incoming thread within 24 hours or you did not. As it says right on your Star Seller page and elsewhere, you need to reply to the FIRST message of EVERY NEW INCOMING THREAD 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. Remember that the Star Seller metric is NOT all new messages but only the first message of all new incoming threads.

A controversial workaround : if the unanswered new thread is not a Help Request, at least for the time being, it appears that marking an unanswered new thread 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 not retroactively). Note that subsequent messages from that account may go directly to the SPAM folder.

If you have not yet done so, you might want to read https://help.etsy.com/hc/en-us/articles/360000338067-How-to-Offer-Local-Pickup-or-Delivery?segment=s... and https://help.etsy.com/hc/en-us/articles/4403058372503-How-to-Become-a-Star-Seller?segment=selling 

Will local pickup orders be part of my evaluation for a Star Seller badge?

All physical listing orders must include a valid tracking number or a shipping label purchased on Etsy to be considered for a Star Seller badge. At this time, we’re unable to make exceptions for local pickup orders.

This also applies to delivery orders.