Message from another seller tanked my response percentage!

[SmithDesignLab]

I received a message on 8/21 from a shop I buy from, notifying customers that they would be on vacation. I didn't respond considering it was a mass message to all their customers. Etsy needs to have a way to differentiate these messages from customer service related messages to sellers. I don't think it's right to be penalized because I didn't message a seller back who reached out to me.

[JCMSGifts]

Just send it to spam. Usually it adjust it self in a few days.

[JackisJustVintage]

You need to reply to all initial messages or mark them as spam. It is how it has always worked with star seller. Send the message to spam, and your numbers should go back up.

[BirdsongEmporium]

This seems to keep tripping sellers up even though there have regularly been threads like this in the forums ever since the start of the star seller program a year ago. ALL incoming messages have to be answered within 24 hours unless they can be marked as spam. 

ETA if you are concerned that you might accidentally miss a message, you can set up an auto response in messages. The auto response counts as a first response and is sent right out after an incoming message is received. The auto response can be set up for as little as one hour up to a maximum of 5 days. So if you use this, you have to be watchful for when it expires if you want to regularly use this option.

[CraftyCornishMaids]

etsy auto reply is changing, it has already been rolled out to some, (unless it's just a test)

there isn't a max number of days any more, but you can only set it for a certain amount of hours a day - so, for example, overnight

I think etsy saw a large uptick in people putting on the autoreplies 

[BirdsongEmporium]

@CraftyCornishMaids  that is interesting. I definitely still have the old version. I don't use it except sometimes on a holiday weekend. I think it is better to make a habit to reply to messages unless we are truly not available. However, it had previously seemed to me from things Etsy told sellers that they were encouraging them to use it. But perhaps there was a problem with using it. Maybe sellers were not replying at all to messages and the auto responses were the only response. 

[DesertChains]

Etsy does have a way. Spam.

[BagmakerSupply]

@SmithDesignLab  : There are innumerable threads about this in this forum. Etsy has been very clear and consistent about messages / convos from the very beginning of the Star Seller program. Just to clarify so people don't think they have to respond to every message and it will be a never ending loop: the FIRST message of a NEW thread must be replied to 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. Those have always been the rules. Help Requests always start a new thread. By the way, if you are creating a custom listing based on a new thread, you still need to reply to the message. Etsy is now putting a blue text warning / advisory on those messages they consider to be a "new message" but should semantically be called a "new thread".

At least for the time being, it appears that marking an unanswered message 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.

[Arcalliq]

Message from another seller did not tank your response percentage - you not reading the rules properly did

[TinTeddy]

The only way Etsy could distinguish the contents of messages is with a human checking every one. Which is obviously far too expensive an option.  They could, potentially, use AI - but this would inevitably be flawed, causing even more annoyance.

[WarmHugsCornBags]

@CraftyCornishMaids  I hope that is not the case...how is a number of hours on auto-reply going to help you if your away for the weekend (2-3 days) Summer is my slower time of year so I take some weekends off to make up for the 24/7 the rest of the year, lol.

[CraftyCornishMaids]

If you go on vacation, you can put your shop on vacation, and have an auto-reply message on for the whole time.

it looks like etsy wants shops that are not on vacation, to answer the messages, with a real reply, in 24 hours - which is probably why it's a metric for star seller

[TonsOfPaper · Accepted solution]

Hello there,

The Message response rate counts initial messages from all Etsy members, both buyers, and other sellers. This is because fellow sellers could be potential buyers for your shop. If it's not a spam message it requires a response within 24 hours. If it is a spam message you can mark it as such and it won't count towards your score.

Thank you very much!

[CarpetCollectionAU]

@TonsOfPaper The potential for misuse of the "Spam" function by marking as "Spam" a message which is NOT "Spam" still exists

You advise "If it's not a spam message it requires a response within 24 hours."

You also advise "If it is a spam message you can mark it as such and it won't count towards your score.

But it is the Seller who decides what is and what is not "Spam" for SSP Rating purposes

Does Etsy actually monitor "Spam" to determine if a "not a spam" message has, in fact, just been "missed" and subsequently marked as "Spam" to avoid the penalty for respnding later than 24 hours?

At present, marking a message as "Spam" any time within the Month will remove it from the SSP Rating calculation.

Surely, it would be fairer and more reasonable to apply the 24 hour rule to both "Spam" and "Not Spam" responses? Yes,a Seller may choose to not reply and mark as "Spam", but this must be done within the same timeframe as is applied to any Message which does require a response within 24 hours.

[DesertChains]

@CarpetCollectionAU  A “no response needed” button would work just as well within the same 24-hour period, as well as save the Spam designation for actual spam.

[CarpetCollectionAU]

@DesertChains Agreed. But, whatever the option is, it should have the same 24 hour time limit for response as applies to messages requiring a reply.

That is the only fair and reasonable way to manage this.

Far too many people are resorting to "Spam" to clean up their Messages before the Month ends, whether the message was, in fact, "Spam" or "Not Spam". How any times have we read this offered as a solution to "missed" messages to Sellers from other Sellers?

[BirdsongEmporium]

Agree @DesertChains about a no response needed button. Perhaps Etsy is concerned that sellers might take advantage of such. So maybe the button should be for the message sender. I mean if I am just sending a thank you to someone, I don't really need a response to that and would easily check a button for no response needed. Since they set up for users to choose the desired response with the 48 hour help request, why not set up a no response needed button for users to choose when sending a regular message? I mean shouldn't the person sending a message have some input on whether they need a response to their message or not? 

[RESINCraftersDesigns]

Star Rating mistake. On 8/24/22 at 16:21:09 I was in a conversation with Cooper. He responded to my questions at 16:45:37 there is a difference of 24 minutes not 24 hours requiring NO response back from me. This was an ongoing conversation that should not be  counted against a star seller status. I work very hard to keep my star status for a glitch in differentiating what needs to be responded to and what doesn't to mess it up. ResinCraftersDesigns