Shipping Stats for Digital Products / Star Seller

[MichaDesignCo]

Hi there Etsy support,

I've been facing an issue for several months now that relates to my star seller status and having a store with only digital products. My issue is about the shipping data. I am aware that some changes have been made, but somehow I'm not still not able to attain the star seller status due to what I think are technical issues.

Digital Products

My store is made up of digital items. Some are instant downloads while others are custom orders. In the past, I have listed my custom orders as "physical" so that I could deliver the finished product to customers when it's complete (via email). This was the only option, as I could not list the product as digital because that would require a digital download.

Custom Orders

Today, I am aware that Etsy has made some improvements to this issue (which are great) - specifically, providing a "made to order" option and excluding digital orders from the star seller data. This is awesome, however it doesn't seem to solve my issue. Particularly, one listing seems to be continuously affected - a custom graphic design product.

Custom Graphic Design Listing

The listing that I am getting repeated issues on is my custom Graphic Design Listing: https://www.etsy.com/listing/920073438/quality-graphic-design-services-custom?click_key=09e2e54d0603...

No Tracking #

Because this product is a custom order, I listed it as a physical item. This caused all my orders for this product to be incomplete since there was no shipping carrier or tracking # I could associate with them. I thought that if I simply marked the item as "Complete" then it would fix the issue of being late. However, even though I marked the item complete immediately after it was purchased, if there's no tracking #, it will not be complete.

Etsy made improvements to this by adding the option to not include tracking because the item is a digital product. Unfortunately, this solution has not worked for me. I clicked on that option, yet my recent orders are still showing up as incomplete and affecting my shipping stats. 

Possible Solutions

It seems that even though Etsy made some improvements, I can't seem to improve my shipping stats on this particular listing. In the meantime as a workaround, I now made this listing Digital. I don't know if this will have any affect on my past orders that are still incomplete or if it will help me. My potential solutions/ideas are as follows:

• Delete this listing all together and create a new one.  Start fresh?
• Possibly review my listing by an Etsy Specialist and reflect those past orders as in fact, complete.
• Provide tentative "tracking #s" that sellers like me can use to simply mark the item complete.

Hopefully we can resolve this soon

Etsy support has been fantastic and prompt in helping me with my store. I've reached out a few times about this issue and other issues as well. I know they are on it. I know they already tried to make improvements. I've been having this issue for several months and it would be awesome to see an update soon. Star seller badge isn't everything, but it sure does provide a boost of confidence for customers. I hope I can achieve that badge sometime soon. I love Etsy and hope your support team can address this soon! Thank you.

[CappuccinoLace]

Etsy made improvements to this by adding the option to not include tracking because the item is a digital product. Unfortunately, this solution has not worked for me. I clicked on that option, yet my recent orders are still showing up as incomplete and affecting my shipping stats. 

It doesn't apply to Star seller, that's why.

There is no threshold for star seller, all orders in US$ require tracking for star seller.

In the meantime as a workaround, I now made this listing Digital. I don't know if this will have any affect on my past orders that are still incomplete or if it will help me.

no it won't affect past orders.

In order to get star seller and offer custom digital listings, use the new digital made to order function, that allows you to upload the finished file to the order. It will not longer be counted as a physical item, with no tracking.

But this only works from when you change it, it will not update past orders. You'll just have to wait it out until those orders are no longer part of the SS review period.

[TonsOfPaper · Accepted solution]

Hi there,

Digital items that are created as physical items will still require tracking or a shipping label purchased on Etsy because they are listed as physical items. We encourage you to list them as digital items if they’re truly digital moving forward. Unfortunately, those past orders will be considered physical items that require on-time shipping & tracking. Moving forward, once you list digital download items as digital they will not be counted towards your shipping stat in the Star Seller dashboard at all.

When you edit your listing through the thumbnail photo or gear menu, you can edit every part of the listing, including if a listing is digital and/or made-to-order. Visit your Shop Manager page, click “Listings” in the left-hand bar, and click on the listing you’d like to change by either clicking the thumbnail or “edit” in the gear menu on the listing. Once you’re there, you can change the listing to “Made To Order” in the “About this listing” section, and select “Digital” in the listing “Type” section.

Thank you very much!

[BalloonBlowout]

I created my private listing as a digital item and I marked it as shipped before the shipping date, I indicated that it was a digital item so it did not ask me for a tracking code and it still said I did not ship on time. THERE IS A BUG IN THE CODE. This will destroy my star seller streak for probably the next 3 months.

[CappuccinoLace · Accepted solution]

@BalloonBlowout  You cannot create private digital listings.

Private listings are physical, as noted by the fact you had to mark it as complete.

All orders in US$ require tracking. 

Indicating "this order doesn't have tracking", makes no difference to Star Seller. 

It's really clear, not a bug.

[MarriageVowRenewal]

I've had a buyer twice order a certificate from my store, to be shipped, but then he noted to please email it in pdf instead. So, that's what I've done. Then I refunded the amount of shipping, marking the order complete. Obviously, his change of mind caused me to get TWO reductions to my tracking %. I feel like i've been penalized for being a really accommodating seller. What option do I have in a case like this?