Message response rate error

[TinasTroveStore]

I downloaded the message documentation and found that the one response being counted against me is in my role as a buyer, not a seller. It occurred before I even started my Etsy shop. Since this is a peer forum, does anyone know where I should report this directly to prevent its impact on my star seller status?

[BootifulLabels]

ALL new messages require a reply within 24 hrs, or to be marked as spam, for Star Seller.  Etsy won't make modifications to "errors" on SS.

No-one reads your messages, the system is fully automated.  The filter looks for new messages, and compares the time stamps for receipt and response to determine if they were answered on time.

If you don't want your purchasing activity to interfere with your SS, create a separate account just for buying and keep the two activities separate.

If you mark the message as spam now, it should adjust your stats in a couple of days, but if it were me, I would not do that. Since this was a message from a seller you purchased from, it may well impact any future communications with that seller.

[CanningCrafts]

The requirements of Star seller are to respond to EVERY message in 24 hours. Those requirements are stated on the StarSeller page. It doesn't matter if you were a buyer not responding to a seller's message. How did it occur before you had an Etsy shop though?? Did you have a shop setup but not live? That is confusing!

[BagmakerSupply]

@TinasTroveStore: "It occurred before I even started my Etsy shop." Then it will have NO effect on your Star Seller because you will not be eligible until 90 days AFTER your first sale. Star Seller is calculated and awarded only on the first day of the month using the data from the preceding three month period.

"... being counted against me is in my role as a buyer, not a seller" You may want to reread the Star Seller rules. As it says right on your Star Seller page and elsewhere, 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. Remember that the Star Seller metric is NOT all new messages but only the first message of all new incoming threads.

[cutebutton]

This is copied and pasted from etsy.  This has always been the requirement for star seller.  I am also including the link so you can read all the information so you can become more informed about how it works.

Star Seller | How it works and how to earn your badge (etsy.com)

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.