Message response rate

[TheSoapOtter]

I received a 0% in message response rate for the past month because I didn't respond to a seller thanking me for my purchase!  Absolutely absurd that this would count against me. I reached out to customer service and of course they couldn't do anything for me.  If the agent looked into the details of the message they would have seen how the message did not require a response.

[NanaLetha · Accepted solution]

The star seller criteria requires you to respond to ALL messages or mark as spam. It's an automated program and no one is reading your messages.

[mommawhazelsquilts]

Of course that thank you required a response.  Not only because the rules of SSB state that you must reply to the first message whether it's from buyer or seller.

But mainly it "required" a response purely because it's extremely rude not to answer someone that thanks you.

If that person were face to face with you, would you ignore their "thank you" or would you say "you're welcome"?  Think about it.

[vintageNCtreasures]

This^^^^^^^^^
I don't know what is so difficult in replying back "you're welcome" when a seller thanks you for purchasing one of their items.
This only takes a few seconds to do this.

Etsy cannot tell if a message is from a buyer, a seller or a friend.
@TheSoapOtter Do you really want Etsy reading your messages trying to figure out if a message needs a reply or not?? I sure don't!

The rules have been clear now for more than 1 1/2 years, it's on your dashboard, on the help pages that state all NEW messages need replied to or mark as spam.
I would never mark a message as spam where a seller was thanking me for purchasing one of their items.

[TheSoapOtter]

Of course I would kindly respond to someone in person.  The point is it was a computer generated response in which I didn't believe a response was necessary.  

Obviously I didn't realize such messages were "counted" in the Star Seller program. Which by the way most of us sellers know its a crock;)

[BagmakerSupply]

@TheSoapOtter: Isn't a seller you purchased from a prospect to be a buyer from YOUR shop?

Probably almost everyone on this forum can sympathize with you but a quick search would show you innumerable threads about your exact issue. As it says right on your Star Seller page, you need to reply to the FIRST message of a NEW THREAD.

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.

If the unanswered message is not a Help Request, 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 (although not retroactively). Note that subsequent messages from that account may go directly to the SPAM folder.

[CatsBeadKitsandMore]

You should read the SSB requirements. It is stated in the rules that ALL new messages need a response whether from a buyer or seller. It's been this from the  beginning of the program.

[michellepatterns]

You made a mistake--ok, two really.  The solution is to read the rules for how it works so you don't make them again.