STAR Seller Error

[SalamanderAlley]

I didn't get it because I did not respond to a message w/i 24 hrs. One of those messages was spam. I didn't mark it as spam I just left it. It was in German and it was about webinars and challenges and google search.

[UniqueGiftOrnaments]

Every quarter the forums are flooded with this problem. The star seller clearly states that EVERY message must be answered, or put into spam

[PiecesOfMePaperCraft]

You mean every month. The complaints should die down around the 3rd week and then they'll start up again a week or two later.

[DesertChains]

It doesn’t matter whether or not you answered questions or provided information. It doesn't matter if a message doesn't need a response. It doesn’t matter if you’re the seller or the buyer. It doesn't matter if the message you received is a duplicate. The system only determines whether or not you replied to an individual message. If you didn't respond or send a message to your spam folder, you are going to get rated down. That's how it works.

Right or wrong, the program has worked this way for a year! The instructions for meeting this metric are clearly stated and easily accessible. Daily posts in the forums also discuss this exact topic.

Send the missed messages to spam. Your stats will update in a day or two.

[WitticismsRus]

@SalamanderAlley 

"STAR Seller Error" "I didn't mark it as spam I just left it."

It sounds like the system is working as intended. If it was spam then you need to mark it as spam.

If you didn't then yes, you did make an error.

Unfortunately there is nothing you can do to receive the star that was awarded today. But you can mark it as spam now and it should be removed from the calculations in a couple of days and not included in the calculation for next months star. 

[TonsOfPaper · Accepted solution]

Hello @SalamanderAlley,

Please know that your response rate does not include spam messages. However, for it to be considered a spam message, you need to mark it as spam. It will then be removed from (or "not count towards") the Response rate score for the current evaluation period. The score will be adjusted the following day. It will take up to 24 hours for this to be reflected in the Response rate score.

Thank you very much!
 

[OneEyeCatStudio]

Thank you!

[BagmakerSupply]

Just to clarify so people don't think they have to respond to every message and it will be a never ending loop: the FIRST message of a NEW thread must be replied to 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. Those have always been the rules. Etsy is now putting a blue text warning / advisory on those messages they consider to be a "new message".

[BootifulLabels]

Etsy doesn't read your messages to see if they are spam ( OMG can you imagine the uproar in the forums if they started doing that?) .  If you want the badge it is up to you to report the message as spam. Do it now and it should fix it for next month's evaluation, but Etsy won't retroactively change a badge decision, so your current badge status won't change.

[GothamBBC]

I'd like to see a spreadsheet that shows Star Sellers compared to Sellers who have been disappointed after being snagged by the calculations gone wrong.  I'll bet the latter is the larger group. Bottom line, I can forgive a client for making a mistake. But it's much harder to forgive the folks you pay to do things for you when they demonstrate no remorse or effort to improve the processes. 

[CarpetCollectionAU]

@TonsOfPaper I wonder if you could confirm the correct timeframe for marking a message as "Spam"? Prior to August 2022, it was possible to retrospectively mark messages as "Spam" (ie later than 24 hours after receipt) and they were removed from the SSP Metric

Recently, I have read suggestions that "Spam" messages now have to be responded to in the same timeframe as other messages. That is, a "Spam" message must be marked as such within 24 hours?

If this is not the case, then may I suggest that your Team consider making this change.

It really seems unfair / inappropriate that Sellers can go to messages which are over 24 hours old and simply mark them as "Spam" in order to preserve / restore their SSP rating.

In other words, all messages must be replied to or marked as "Spam" within 24 hours. Messages should not be able to be marked as "Spam" a week later when someone notices they have actually missed something.

[TonsOfPaper · Accepted solution]

Hello there,

In order for the message to be considered spam, you need to mark it as spam. It will then be removed from (or "not count towards") your Response rate score for the current evaluation period. It will take up to 24 hours for this to be reflected in the Response rate score. 

@CarpetCollectionAU, the process on spam messages is the same prior to August 2022. Messages that are marked as spam cannot retroactively give a seller the badge. As an example, the seller missed the badge on August 1st, and then on August 2nd, they go back and mark old messages as spam. They still won't get the badge for August but may be eligible for September 1st. 

Please know that we will take note of your feedback and will be sharing it with the team to consider for a future update. We take comments from the community to heart, and we make many changes to the site based on what we hear.

Thank you very much!

[CarpetCollectionAU]

@TonsOfPaper Thank-you for the clarification. It is clear that "Spam" is not subject to the 24 hour rule.

"Spam" will be removed from the Messaging Metric

But, depending on the time / day the message is marked as "Spam", it may be removed from the Messaging calculation in time for the "Badge" calculation.

If the message is marked as "Spam" on the last day of a Month, it may not be removed in time for the new Badge to be awarded, but this will rectify for the following month.

I still maintain "Spam" messages should be subject to the same 24 hour rule as all other messages, as there is clearly a "loophole" through which many messages may "slip" (or are "pushed") as they can (but should not) be marked as "Spam" if they were simply a "Missed" message.

I appeciate your offer to communicate this "loophole" with your Team.

Imposing a 24 hour time limit for "Spam" would never 100% prevent inappropriate use of the "Spam" function, but it would make the playing field a bit more "level" for all of us.

[NoFrogsAllowed]

@CarpetCollectionAU 

Be careful what you ask for.  Etsy very seldom gets it right and usually creates a worse mess.

[CarpetCollectionAU]

@NoFrogsAllowed But... surely you are not saying it is too difficult to fix this "Spam" loophole? SSP has so many flaws, but this is one which can be easily remedied. Personally, I have no problem responding to all "Messages" even "Spam" within 24 hours. But to see so many giving the advice "Just "Spam" it" to duplicate or missed "Messaages", whilst clearly permitted withing the current rules, seems to me to be blatantly unreasonable and bordering on "exploiting the system" (even if tsyalready knows it is a system actually set up to be exploited!!)

[NoFrogsAllowed]

@CarpetCollectionAU 

I don't believe in spamming messages either and would never do it just to get an extremely stupid, useless purple star.  I did, however, spam a message last week that was truly spam.  Thought about replying within a couple of minutes of receipt, but decided spamming was more polite than my expletive undeleated response.

[BagmakerSupply]

@CarpetCollectionAU   I interpret what @NoFrogsAllowed said to mean something along the lines of the way messaging was "improved" in a way that to some of us is now a disaster (all messages is one thread and none of the resultant side effect issues fixed). I also suspect that the spam loophole is an unintended consequence rather than a design choice.

[NoFrogsAllowed]

@BagmakerSupply 

Exactly!!!