Sales messages counting against Star Seller Status

[SeasideSilverJewels]

I received a form sales message from another Esty shop and didn't respond. I was told that these messages would not count against me for Star Seller. Esty support will not remove it. How is this ok?

[BagmakerSupply]

@SeasideSilverJewels: "I was told that these messages would not count against me for Star Seller." Who told you this? As it says right on your Star Seller page and elsewhere, 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.

"Esty support will not remove it." Because there is nothing to remove. The Star Seller metric for messages is very simplistic and binary - either you replied to (or marked as SPAM) that first message of a new incoming thread within 24 hours or you did not.

If the unanswered new thread is not a Help Request, at least for the time being, it appears that marking an unanswered new thread 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.

[mommawhazelsquilts]

@BagmakerSupply questioned, who told you that?  Now might be the time to read the actual rules of the SSB as there are other rules that might prove to be a pitfall in the future.

There's an old saying "If all else fails, read the manual".  In these cases, "If all else fails, read the rules."