Response Time % appears to be incorrect,

[AngelicasVintageFind]

All of the messages that we receive get a response almost immediately - let alone within 24 hours. It states that if it is a chain, that is not included, but maybe the reason for the miscalculation? How to determine which messages have been flagged as not replied to within allotted timeframe?

[BootifulLabels]

Sometimes Etsy's filter bots will mark a message as spam and place it in the Spam folder, it pays to check that folder at least once a day (I do it morning, noon and night)  to ensure there aren't any "good" messages there by mistake.  Two reasons for this, 

1. you don't want to miss out on a potential sale just because Etsy's bots got it wrong.

2. you need to catch them early, because if you move them out of the spam folder and respond AFTER the 24 hr requirement, they will still count against you for SS.

[GlassyFields]

@BootifulLabels 

Thanks and wow.

I just checked my spam folder and found a message about a custom order.

The first message from the potential buyer was from mid early Dec 2024 and I responded the same day with some questions.

The person's answers to my questions and messages with photos went to my spam folder ... between Dec 15 and Jan 1. Geeze ... they probably thought I was ghosting them.

I moved the thread from spam to my active folder and hope I don't get penalized. I did respond to the first message within 24 hours. But the last message says this buyer hasn't messaged me before.

What a mess.

A buyer with a request for a custom order is probably annoyed. I'm annoyed. Might cost Etsy some fees for an order and me some revenue for an order. Might cost me the star seller badge. Etsy's bots are really dumb.

[BagmakerSupply]

@AngelicasVintageFind: "How to determine which messages have been flagged as not replied to ..." You need to check the applicable CSV file available on your Customer Service page. When you look at the file remember that that the dates / times are in UTC (not your time zone), only the first message of a new incoming thread is included (all that counts for Star Seller), and usually a new incoming thread is not included until after the 24 hour reply window has passed regardless of when you replied. Star Seller stats (and the CSV file) are updated only once per day so there may be an additional day's delay. There is also a link to the actual message thread so you can verify if the data is correct or not. Keep in mind that the Star Seller metric is NOT all new messages but only the first message of all new incoming threads.

Some Messages from the same account (a person may have more than one account) always start a new thread - for example Help Requests