Message Response time

I'm being penalizes for not responding to a message from another seller who was updating me on the progress of my order.  Her message stating my shipment had been dispatched did not merit a response and yet since I did not response my message statistics are skewed.

Should I have responded with a simple "Thank You".  Yet, had I done that, she would then have had to also respond within 24 hours and then back to me, ad nauseum.

This is quite a conundrum.  What is the fix?

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Re: Message Response time

@CorgiHillTreasures 

Etsy is pretty clear about how the message response rate is calculated in help center here https://help.etsy.com/hc/en-us/articles/4403058372503-How-to-Become-a-Star-Seller?segment=selling

There is a highlighted bit under message response rate info that says "The Message response rate only applies to the first message in a thread. Initial messages from both buyers and sellers on Etsy are counted towards the Message response rate. "

That means ALL messages. It also means each individual message thread so if someone sends you 5 different messages with 5 questions instead of putting them in the same message chain you need to respond to all 5 of them. The system is completely automated and doesn't know if the message is from a buyer a another seller. It just sees a message and calculated the response time. That's just how it works.

The info is also right there on the star seller page in shop manager. Just go to shop manager > star seller. Once there scroll toward the bottom until you find "Questions? We've got answers." Then click messages. The very first question there says

"What messages count toward 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."

You can try marking the message as spam now and it should be removed from the calculation in a few days.

Re: "Should I have responded with a simple "Thank You".  Yet, had I done that, she would then have had to also respond within 24 hours and then back to me, ad nauseum."

Not exactly. The bits from etsy pages about star seller that I quoted above specifically say the first message in a conversation/message thread. So you would need to respond to their message within 24 hours. It doesn't go on and on forever it's just that first message.

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Re: Message Response time

Criteria has been the same since SS started. You either have to reply to a message or mark as spam. It does not matter who sent the message. Messages do not have to keep going to have the last word. That seller would not have to reply back to you.  All criteria is on the star seller page.

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thePaperFramer
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Re: Message Response time

Only the first response counts. After that you can ignore them.  Respond to the first, ignore the rest as long as they are in the same thread. Each new thread requires a single response.

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Re: Message Response time

Thanks for the education.

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anythinggoeshere
Conversation Maker

Re: Message Response time

The rules are on your Star seller dashboard.

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