I had a 100% rating in the message response rate stat for star seller. Now it dropped to 33%.
The only messages that appeared recently are the two automated ones sent by Etsy about 2FA that say, "this message is automated, there is no need to respond to it." So I didn't.
<span;>It is very upsetting to be penalized for this, as I was very close to earning a star seller rating.
@Pengwenrocks: Etsy has recently made some "improvements" to the Messaging system so not 100% sure that this is still true, but your response percentage should change in a day or two with the Messages marked as SPAM no longer being factored in.
The Star Seller metric for messages is very simplistic and binary - either you replied to (or marked as SPAM) that first message of a new incoming thread within 24 hours or you did not.
@Pengwenrocks: "... the two automated ones sent by Etsy ..." Are you sure they were from Etsy? Were the messages in the "From Etsy" section on your Messages page when checking messages using a browser or had a colored blurb of text on the Message, saying "From Etsy" if using the app? If not, they were a SCAM and needed to be marked as SPAM.
Have you checked the applicable CSV file available on your Star Seller page to confirm that these two Message threads are the ones Etsy thinks were unanswered or answered late?
Thank you for the advice.
Yes, I'm a new seller so I don't have very many messages and those were the only two unanswered.
I've never received a message from Etsy so I don't have anything to compare it to, so I thought they were from Etsy but after reading your response, they were most likely spam. I just marked them as spam but am worried my rating is now so low for something that was not even related to a customer's message.
@Pengwenrocks: Etsy has recently made some "improvements" to the Messaging system so not 100% sure that this is still true, but your response percentage should change in a day or two with the Messages marked as SPAM no longer being factored in.
The Star Seller metric for messages is very simplistic and binary - either you replied to (or marked as SPAM) that first message of a new incoming thread within 24 hours or you did not.
I just saw my rating was restored to 100% so I'm very relieved.
Thank you for your help and advice @BagmakerSupply it really helped clear things up. Hope you have a great rest of your day!