Not responding to an "Your order has shipped" email as a buyer effects my Star Seller rating?!

[PineconesAndClover]

Not responding to an "Your order has shipped" email as a buyer effects my Star Seller rating?!

I ordered some supplies under my seller account and received a canned message that my order has shipped. I didn't respond and now my star seller message response is 93%? Why do messages received as a buyer count towards my star seller rating? Did I just not read the star seller guidelines? Does anyone know how to resolve this, since the 24 hour response time has obviously passed?

[audreytherese]

If it's a message in the inbox of the account you use to sell from, then the requirements are the same as messages from potential buyers. Because Etsy isn't reading your messages and deciphering what requires a response and what doesn't. 

If you don't want messages like this to count against you, then I would consider opening up a buyer only account to make all your purchases through, and not using the same account as you do you selling from. 

[OwlAlwaysKnit · Accepted solution]

SS rules

https://help.etsy.com/hc/en-us/articles/4403058372503-How-to-Become-a-Star-Seller?segment=selling

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. 

[bradgoodell]

"Did I just not read the star seller guidelines? Does anyone know how to resolve this, since the 24 hour response time has obviously passed?"

Yes, sounds like you missed the part about "initial messages from both buyers and sellers".  You can try marking the message as spam, it should adjust in 24 hours or so.  

[secondarycreations]

That's when the seller sends an Etsy message. I get notifications in my email from Etsy when I buy things and when orders are shipped and I don't believe you need to respond to those. 

[RiversEdgeRelics]

@ secondarycreations - Yes, you do need to respond to such messages when you are a buyer. The message response rate applies to ALL first message in a thread. Initial messages from both buyers and sellers on Etsy are counted towards the message response rate.

[Adorabilities]

@RiversEdgeRelics 
Emails don't count though. Only Etsy convos are counted.

[audreytherese]

Even though they called it an email, because they said their stats went down I assume the seller also sent a message through Etsy giving them the same information. Many sellers do this, because Etsy recommends they do in the handbook. 

[Adorabilities]

@audreytherese 
But this person's post is about emails. "I get notifications in my email" about purchases. Looks like they are the emails Etsy sends out.

[ArtDollsbyJD]

People confuse emails and messages using terminology interchangeably.  It's one reason gotta ask if they mean this or that because terms used get mixed up by some.

[Adorabilities]

I don't think @secondarycreations is confusing the terms at all. On one hand she has an Etsy message (from the seller), and on the other, automated email notifications from Etsy.

[BagmakerSupply]

@PineconesAndClover: Probably almost everyone on this forum can sympathize with you but as it says right on your Star Seller page, 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.

If you have not already done so, you might want to check the applicable CSV file on your Star Seller page to make sure you and Etsy are thinking about the same message.

If the unanswered new thread 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 (but not retroactively). Note that subsequent messages from that account may go directly to the SPAM folder.

[ChillwolfArt]

Sorry you were hit with this. But it is as others have said; any time you are not the Initiator of an Etsy Message, you must respond or Mark as Spam. It could be a Message from a Seller you are friendly with ("How's it going"?, for example).  This still counts; you did not Initiate the Message.

Hope this is helpful.

[RiversEdgeRelics]

@ Adorabilities - this convo thread has nothing to do with "emails," The OP wrote she "ordered some supplies under my seller account and received a canned message that my order has shipped." Such a "canned message" would have been sent via the Etsy message system.

[audreytherese]

OP calls it an email in the post title and first sentence. 

"Not responding to an "Your order has shipped" email as a buyer effects my Star Seller rating?!"

[Adorabilities]

@RiversEdgeRelics I was responding to the post that you replied to, not the OP's post.

@secondarycreations  said:
"I get notifications in my email from Etsy when I buy things and when orders are shipped and I don't believe you need to respond to those. "

And you replied:
"Yes, you do need to respond to such messages when you are a buyer. "

[secondarycreations]

I agree that the terms are often used interchangeably, which can be confusing. That's what I was trying to clarify in my post. Sorry if it just added more confusion. 

[RiversEdgeRelics]

@ Adorabilities

Don't confuse messages sent by Etsy that arrive as a email in your inbox stating your purchase has shipped vs. a message sent by the seller using Ety's message system stating your purchase has shipped that arrives as an email in your inbox vs. a direct message sent by the seller stating your purchase has shipped using the email address that is accessed within the order information.

The OP wrote she "received a canned message that my order has shipped." Was that "canned message" from Etsy (there is no way to respond to such a message) or was it directly from the seller using Etsy's message system? As a buyer, I have received both.

As far as I know, when a seller looks up the buyer's email address from the order, and uses their private email to correspond with their buyer outside of Etsy - that Etsy does not see them. Am I missing something?

[Adorabilities]

@RiversEdgeRelics 
Yes, as I said above, I'm not talking about the OP's post at all. 

I was replying to a post you made later on, to another seller, about needing to reply specifically to Email notifications from Etsy.

[RiversEdgeRelics]

@ Adorabilities - Define "Email notifications from Etsy."

[Adorabilities]

A message, from Etsy, telling you that you purchased something, that your something has shipped, or that (ding dong!) your item is out for delivery.

None of those come from the seller.

(And those are delivered through email.)

[RiversEdgeRelics]

@Adorabilities 

It is impossible to reply to a "Your Etsy Order Shipped" message from Etsy. 

As audreytherese pointed out, "Even though they called it an email, because they said their stats went down, I assume the seller also sent a message through Etsy giving them the same information. Many sellers do this, because Etsy recommends they do in the handbook."

The OP wrote she "received a canned message that my order has shipped"and got dinged in her Star Seller stats.

The only way she could have been dinged is if the seller sent her a "canned message" that her order shipped. In that case, a response is required.

[audreytherese]

"The only way she could have been dinged is if the seller sent her a "canned message" that her order shipped."

I've actually been wondering if the OP is just confused and possibly missed another message that has nothing to do with this shipment notification. 

Last I checked I hadn't seen the OP come back to clarify anything, so all this may be a moot point anyway. 

[Adorabilities]

@RiversEdgeRelics

It is impossible to reply to a "Your Etsy Order Shipped" message from Etsy.
I know that. That's why I didn't understand you saying "Yes, you do need to respond to such messages when you are a buyer." when another poster said they didn't think they needed to respond to those Etsy-generated emails.

Like I keep telling you, I'm not talking about what the OP wrote. It was your comment to someone else that I was replying to.  I'm ready to give up now though.  : )

[RiversEdgeRelics]

My reply to the post to which you refer, "Yes, you do need to respond to such messages when you are a buyer. The message response rate applies to ALL first message in a thread. Initial messages FROM BOTH BUYERS AND SELLER (emphasis added) on Etsy are counted towards the message response rate."

This has nothing to do with notifications from Etsy as you previously implied.