Message Response Rate Effected by Personal Messages as a Buyer

[BringHomeVintage]

I am an Etsy Seller and have finally started earning the Star Seller badge each month. It took a long time because my business is small and slow growing. I recently experienced a truly disappointing glitch, I purchased a pair of necklaces for myself and someone else and the seller cancelled half of the order. I reached out to the seller using my own seller account, and after being disappointed by their response I did not write more. Low and behold, personal messages effect YOUR business stats that go towards the star seller badge. Because my business is so small, I only have 4 messages this month and I am disqualified as a star seller next month because I did not respond to the shop I did business with. Its absolutely preposterous to me that personal messages count towards my seller stats. I run my business well, I have perfect 5 stars, but something out of my control is effecting my shop. 

Until this is resolved I suggest you respond to every initial contact. Maybe it doesnt effect your percentage the same way it effects mine, but it still adds up and I guarantee its counting towards your stats. 

[NanaLetha]

The criteria is very clear. You must respond to all messages or mark as spam.

[BringHomeVintage]

I always respond to buyers. Its not logical to me that messages regarding purchases I made effect me as a seller. 

[PrimFun]

@BringHomeVintage    Etsy does not see a separation between you as buyer and you as seller.  The account is both.

In order to truly have separate you have to open a buyer account only.

Etsy does not check to see what is in messages.  They only do that for issues like harassment.  

[TBQSC · Accepted solution]

What messages count towards 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.

More info can be read here @ https://www.etsy.com/starseller

Terms of SS Program can be read here @ https://www.etsy.com/legal/policy/star-seller-terms-and-conditions/1020908425032

[NoFrogsAllowed]

 but something out of my control is effecting my shop.  It is not out of your control.  You have 3 choices when it comes to first messages in any thread (even if they are from your granny's cat).  You can answer, mark as spam or ignore and lose Star Seller.

[LeParisMetro · Accepted solution]

It has been this way for two years and there have been a bazillion threads on it. Those who have read the criteria for star seller or visit the forums on a regular basis are aware of it.  It was not out of your control as you could have chosen to reply but you did not. 

Some have said that if you mark it as spam it may update your stats but there have been others who said there is a time limit for doing that. Plus not sure if it would penalize the seller for something that was not their fault as it was 100% in your control.

Sorry you were blindsided by this but now you know for the future. 

[BringHomeVintage]

I do read the criteria and apparently assumed incorrectly that it was based on the relationships between myself and my own buyers. But you're correct, I was naive to think that it would be based on logic. I appreciate the encouraging responses, its a ray of sunshine to receive such support from fellow sellers

[michellepatterns]

Sadly that is not a glitch.  You made a mistake but can earn the badge back. Make sure to read how it works so you understand the rules to follow.  

[TBQSC]

@BringHomeVintage If you have not already done so, you can set up an auto reply in your messages, then you can be sure any messages you receive from both buyers & sellers are answered within the required timeframe.  You can set up 2 types of auto messages ... temporary and weekly.  It's a great tool Etsy gave us to use and works perfectly for when you cannot answer messages right away and helps preserve your Star Seller.

[JJewellerySuppliesUK]

The bots are just programmed to report unanswered messages and have no idea who it is from or the content. Go back and mark the message as spam if there is still time (I'm not sure how long the limit is) and then your score will recalculate in a few days.