Penalized as a seller for making a purchase

[UrbEmSketches]

Back in April I made a purchase on Etsy, and when the seller thanked me for my purchase in a message, I didn't respond within 24 hours. As a result, my own Etsy shop has been kept from being a part of the Star Seller Program for three months. I have answered 100% of my customers' messages on time. The message simply said "thanks for ordering!" and didn't need a response.

Please consider reinstating my Star Seller status, and not counting these types of messages going forward.

[UniqueGiftOrnaments]

It is clearly stated in the star seller that we have to reply to every NEW message or put it into spam.

[bradgoodell]

Most Etsy sellers are also buyers on Etsy.  No one reads the messages, so Etsy doesn't know if it was someone who wanted to make a purchase, a friend who wanted to chat, or someone sending you spam.  All messages need to either be answered or sent to spam.  

I'm sorry you were unaware, but you could have cleared this up back in April.  You can mark that message as Spam today, and within 24-48 hours it will be removed from your SS count.  In the future, a simple "thanks" is all that is needed.  If that is too much, click Spam.

Good luck!

[w5wbfzaz]

Every message means every message. Amazing.

[WitticismsRus]

@UrbEmSketches 

Etsy is pretty clear about how the message response rate is calculated in help center here https://help.etsy.com/hc/en-us/articles/4403058372503-How-to-Become-a-Star-Seller?segment=selling

There is a highlighted bit under message response rate info that says "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. "

That means ALL messages. It also means each individual message thread so if someone sends you 5 different messages with 5 questions instead of putting them in the same message chain you need to respond to all 5 of them. The system is completely automated and doesn't know if the message is from a buyer or another seller. It just sees a message and calculated the response time. That's just how it works.

The info is also right there on the Star Seller page in shop manager. Just go to shop manager > star seller. Once there scroll toward the bottom until you find "Questions? We've got answers." Then click messages. The very first question there says

"What messages count toward 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."

You can try marking the message as spam now and it should be removed from the calculation in a few days.

If the star is important to you then it may be a good idea to read or review all the info Etsy provides about the star seller program.

Bottom line...you have to either reply or mark as spam.

[Hertfordweaver]

I would like to know if I mark a message as spam, does the sender know that?

[bradgoodell]

No