Lost star seller for replying late when I was not the seller

[NagilahJewishGifts]

Hi.
I feel I lost my star seller badge unfairly. The only message I did not reply to within 24 hours was one where I was the buyer, not the seller. It was a case I opened because I did not receive an order I placed on time. It was also not the first communication but an ongoing thread. He kept sending me daily updates. They required no response. And I was not the seller. 
I have never replied late to any potential or current buyer on my shop. Disappointed.

[cutebutton]

Etsy has no idea who is a buyer and who isn't.  Sellers can be buyers too and etsy doesn't look at the message content.  It's been said by ETSY very clearly that you have to respond to ALL messages.  Plus if you scroll down in the forums you will see every other post recently is about this same issue.  

What you can do is mark it as spam and hopefully in a few days it will update.  

[NerdPropellant]

That is genuinely the dumbest policy I have ever heard of in my life. Etsy should not be implementing systems like this without super obvious issues like this not being resolved in testing beforehand. 

[cutebutton]

@NerdPropellant 

I don't see it as an issue at all.

All you have to do is respond or send to spam.  VERY simple, everyone can do that.  The problem is apparently people don't bother to read the criteria for what you have to do with messages regarding star seller.  If they read what etsy had put out there they would have answered ALL messages or marked them as spam.

They are fixing the issue where you no longer have to respond if the same person sends multiple messages in different threads but you still have to respond to any initial message no matter who sends them.

[DesertChains]

It doesn’t matter whether or not you answered questions or provided information. It doesn't matter if a message doesn't need a response. It doesn’t matter if you’re the seller or the buyer. It doesn't matter if the message you received is a duplicate. The system only determines whether or not you replied to an individual message. If you didn't respond or send a message to your spam folder, you are going to get rated down. That's how it works.

Right or wrong, the program has worked this way for nearly a year! The instructions for meeting this metric are clearly stated and easily accessible. Daily posts in the forums also discuss this exact topic.

Send the missed messages to spam. Your stats will update in a day or two.

[thePaperFramer]

"I feel I lost my star seller badge unfairly. "

Nope.  There have been 770 zillion threads on this exact same issue. This is actually great training to get everyone to learn what constitutes Star Seller. The first time is forgiven and hopefully there will never be a second but it takes keeping track. I learned my lesson....................twice. After the first time I swore never again..................until again.  Now you know and will join the other 770 zillion sellers who didn't know.................at first.

[NerdPropellant]

That sounds a lot like making an excuse for Etsy's own policy that isn't even consistent with the description of the classification (i.e. as a Star SELLER).

The OP is right that this is 100% unfair and Etsy should sort their own features out so they work properly before implementing them. If there are constant threads on the topic and yet a whole year later Etsy hasn't fixed their mess that is on them. Nobody should make excuses on their behalf or try to dismiss legitimate criticisms like the OP's.

[thePaperFramer]

Etsy right or wrong, my Etsy. We may not like something they do and wildly post about it here but it is what it is. If you got rid of all the posts from folk who didn't answer a message and then posted about it here without reading other posts about it, the forum would be  a whole lot smaller. On other, less gentle forums I have been on, such redundant posters would be wildly flamed.

[CatsBeadKitsandMore]

@NerdPropellant , People need to read the rules about how to get/keep the star seller badge. It's all there on the dashboard. Maybe then there'd be less threads whining about how unfair it is.

[NVFaceMasks · Accepted solution]

I stopped caring about the Star Seller quite some time ago, when I unfairly, yes unfairly, lost it.  I just do business as usual, caring about my customers, providing them with the best customer service, and listening to their requests and create something that meets or exceeds their expectations.  I don’t need a badge to motivate me in accomplishing my goals.  I prefer a satisfied customer.

[maggiemaybecrafty]

We can criticize all we want but there's nothing unfair about it. We were told many, many times in the chats and by Etsy that we have to either respond to the first thread in EVERY message or mark the message as spam. It does not matter if we are the buyer or the seller. Try marking the message as spam and see if that will help.

[CatsBeadKitsandMore]

ALL new messages need to be answered. Whether it's from a buyer, seller, duplicate message, you already answered the question in another message, etc. If it's a NEW message either answer it or spam it.

It states this on your star seller dashboard. Maybe you need to read the rules on how it all works again.