I just had my Seller Response reduced from 100% to 67% for not responding to an unsolicited message asking if I wanted to buy the person's item VS buy my item I am selling. In addition, it looked fraudulent as it did not have the yellow/orange Etsy logo oval that I'm supposed to look for - so it looked like a scam.
In addition, I was penalized for taking too long to ship when I was not hearing back from the out of country buyers to confirm whether they were OK with the almost $1,000 in VAT taxes they would have to pay on a $3,800 purchase AND I needed their phone number and email to put of the international customs form. So I could not send the package without confirmation! And when I did send it I believe I was technically within the correct time window as Etsy calculated the 4th of July Federal/Postal holiday, which fell on a Thursday, as a business day.
It sucks when we work so hard for a sale, not to mention star seller status, and then have it taken away for inaccurate reasons - and there's no way I know of to update a shipping timeline due to questions that need to be answered by the buyer.
I also recently got a nastygram about using the description "Cashmere" in my item posted for sale. I was posting antique china - the pattern name was Cashmere - it wasn't made of cashmere! Ugh! AI fails again!
I am not happy with Etsy regarding the above. Especially when I sold an expensive item they made significant money on as well. Even worse profit margin these days not that the IRS requires a 1099 and we are getting taxed 22%!
