Message Response Rate and Star Seller Status

[TheSterlingSisters]

I was on track for Star Seller but it was revoked b/c I didn't respond to a message from a purchase I made outside my seller account. The message was just thanking me for my order so it didn't require a response but this somehow affected my message response rate on my seller account? This is the reason I didn't get Star Seller badge which is a huge deal b/c I sell seasonal items for the holiday season and I'm down nearly 500% in sales b/c of this! Etsy support can see the issue and it's a glitch in the Etsy system, but they didn't have the keys to fix it and recommended I contact technical support on here. I need to get this fixed immediately!

Thank you,

Jaclyn

[UniqueGiftOrnaments]

Can't be fixed. the Star Seller info clearly states that ALL new messages must be answered or put into spam.

Besides that, I don't think buyers pay attention to the star anymore. It's become pretty mundane these days.

[BagmakerSupply]

@TheSterlingSisters: "I need to get this fixed immediately!" Etsy has said that they will not manually adjust Star Seller stats and in this case there is nothing to fix. As it says right on your Star Seller page, 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.

A quick search of the forum would show you that you could fix this yourself: 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.

"... and I'm down nearly 500% in sales b/c of this!" Etsy does so much tweaking and testing that it is almost impossible to make definitive cause and effect correlations.

[PriddeyThings]

If you read the rules on the star seller dashboard, you will see that it clearly states that all messages count, whether they are from a buyer or a seller. It’s been that way since the start of the programme. 

[CraftyCornishMaids]

I think you need to look elsewhere for your decline in sales,

I have the badge, and not had it, it doesn't appear to make any difference in search, or sales

.....

not sure what you did with previous sales, but all the listings have gone, which doesn't help your shop quality score

and you'll miss out on people that click on previous sales, and come and buy your current items, people who have found them through others pinterest, and goggle search etc.

[dippeldiundscribble]

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@TheSterlingSisters 

I was on track for Star Seller but it was revoked b/c I didn't respond to a message from a purchase I made outside my seller account. 

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If your shop is linked to the account you used to make this purchase, it is still considered your seller account.

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
5. Purchase as a Guest

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

*2: How to Use Saved Replies in Messages

[audreytherese]

"I didn't respond to a message from a purchase I made outside my seller account."

Was it a completely different account attached to a different email? That's the only way the message would not have needed a response. 

[Adorabilities]

It is upsetting to lose the badge over something that doesn't seem like a true measure of customer service.

I don't think there's any chance that your orders have dropped 500% merely due to the loss of the badge, though. A lot of us have the badge off and on, and the amount of orders received does not change much, if at all. Some sellers even complain that they get more orders without the badge. 

[mommawhazelsquilts]

I'm not going to comment on the loss of star seller badge.  I am curious as to why Etsy made all of your past 426 sales "item no longer available"?

Are the kits you are selling now the same that you sold before?

[audreytherese]

If they deleted the actual listings for the items they sold last year they would show as unavailable like that. Normally it looks that way when they've been deactivated by Etsy, but that's because we don't see shops doing this often, most would just deactivate the listings or let them expire, not completely delete them. 

[mommawhazelsquilts]

I didn't think we could delete sold listings.  I mean from our Sold file.

[audreytherese]

Yes, you definitely can. If you go into your 'sold out' section, you can highlight and delete any old listings you want. Most people don't do this because 1) it makes the history look funky with everything missing (no reviews actually show what they're reviewing) and 2) if creating anything similar ever again it's no longer there to copy from

[mommawhazelsquilts]

Thank you.  I'm proud of my sales so I think I will keep them...lol

[michellepatterns]

Those probably were removed by etsy.  You can see where it's going right when you go in this shop...Elf on the Shelf. 

It was used in the tags so yes, it's entirely possible etsy took those down and they weren't removed by the seller.  

[MississippiSpoon]

Had one in sept on a help request I answered in 5 minutes on my phone. Shows 3 responses. Sent a return label on my PC which started a new thread. When I bring up the help request thread no response shows up but shows 3 on the side. I know I responded. It went from 100% to 94% this month. And they don't think it's a problem  

[hopeandjoystudios]

You can put it in your spam folder now and it won't be held against you for the next 2 months but you won't get a star retroactively.