Message from a seller and not a buyer

[adesignbyangie]

A message from a seller (I am the buyer) that I did not answer within 24 hours is being used to calculate my rating. Those really shouldn’t be counted since I’m not the seller on those messages 

[OneEyeCatStudio]

This is how it has always worked. This is how it is intended to work.

But you can just toss the convo into Spam, and in a day or two it will no longer count against you.

[WitticismsRus]

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 or 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.

If the star is important to you then it may be a good idea to read or review all the info Etsy provides about the star seller program.

Bottom line...you have to either reply or mark as spam.

[ImbuedInk]

I’ve had this occur as well... as a Buyer, I a put in the note during purchase “thank you- very excited!” 

Seller replies, with a “thank you, etc” - this opened up a “new” chat thread. This response did not warrant a reply on my end and yet this convo was marked as “not replied within 24 hours” for Etsy’s Star Seller program... 🤯

[michellepatterns]

For whatever reason it seems etsy can't read the note at checkout as the initial message.  So even though you sent the initial convo, for whatever reason etsy picks up the reply to this as the initial message. 

I lost my star seller over this one too, but I'm ok with it since all SS does is give me the opportunity to spend more on google ads and I'm not interested in spending more on ads.  My sales have not seemed to suffered due to losing the badge.

[SunnytyDE]

@ImbuedInk marking the second thread as spam will fix your SSB score to 100% again. Takes about 24 hours to adjust. 

[ChillwolfArt]

@adesignbyangie   Great advice from others.

F.Y.I. In the future and only If you want to, you could quickly reply, "Thanks" or "Thank You" (I've done it and Buyer only accts. have done it to me as a Seller. Takes 2 seconds).  

Also, Etsy released an Announcement re: testing  "Bundling of Messages" (Admin FidosFlowers is the OP).  (You can check under Announcements if you have not seen this yet).
I've not experienced this "bundling" thus far; have no idea what it looks like.  And my Messages are on Auto Reply.

Hope this is helpful to you.