Spam messages counting against star seller badges could be fixed by Etsy's software engineers.

[WanderlustAndWhimzy]

I should have qualified for star seller status this month, during Q4, which would have been AMAZING, but did not because of a spam message. They say that they won't count against us, but they still do.

I saw that Etsy's solution for us it to mark the messages as spam and turn on auto messaging. However, the spam messages I receive typically do not have contact information for me to reply to them, so Etsy isn't going to know if I responded to them or not in 24 hours. They typically provide their own email in their message and not on the site.

I am certain that this issue could be resolved by their software engineers fixing their code. They have 3 options as I see it.

1) Messages without contact information are automatically not calculated in the tally of message response times being less than 24 hours. 

2) Messages without contact information are automatically not allowed.  I cannot fathom any reason that this is allowed anyway.

3) Make it so that the help staff can actually change these miscalculated results and keep their sellers happy. This would be a royal pain, I agree but it would mostly just happen one or two days of the month.

We work hard for that badge of status and it gets withheld by faulty code.  Ironically, it's poor customer service on Etsy's part for the sellers trying to achieve a badge of good customer service.   

Please solve this issue Etsy!

It would make so much sense to try and keep the sellers happy and help us make more sales!

[BootifulLabels]

Do you really want Etsy reading all your messages to determine which have contact information, or need to be marked as spam?  I know I don't.  I wouldn't want Etsy prying into my messages, any more than I would want the tax man prying into my payslips and bank records.  It is up to you to mark the message as spam and then it won't count.  If the badge means that much to you, it's your responsibility to take control and manage it. 

[WanderlustAndWhimzy]

The messages are right there. I think if they want to read them, they can.

[AnniebelloPaper]

@WanderlustAndWhimzy yes, the messages are right there ...on your account and millions of others. Etsy notes that you received a message but doesn't have time to check each one in its entirety. What they do is have bots checking for particular words presented in unusual ways (like email) and then block those. It's up to sellers to actually read their messages and take the appropriate action. Etsy cannot police every single message coming into and out of every single account. 

[JDTotesnDolls]

Yes, you can spam the scam messages. That counts for star seller.  If you try to reply and it can't go through because Etsy has already disabled the account then spam the message.

I'm not sure what you are meaning about contact information.  All we do when we get a message is to reply,  If that name has been removed by Etsy, spam the message.  The information on the right is just the name of the initiator of the message.

Etsy is not going to change star seller for this.

See if you can spam the messages and if this will help.  Putting a message into spam without the other information should work.

[UppNorthCo]

They have solved the issue.  Its called the Spam button which you already seem to be aware of.  Takes a nano second.  Voila, Star Seller restored..  There are a lot more pressing issues etsy needs to fix.  

[bradgoodell]

Which is easier and more cost effective?

1. Sellers mark Spam messages as "Spam".
2. Etsy pays programmers to create a program to catch spam, but might also mistakenly mark actually legit messages from buyers as spam, pissing of potential buyers who actually want to buy something?

If you aren't willing and capable to do something as simple as hit the "spam" button yourself, it ain't Etsy who is at fault.  

[BagmakerSupply]

@WanderlustAndWhimzy: "However, the spam messages I receive typically do not have contact information for me to reply to them ..." So why did you choose to not just mark them as SPAM so they would be excluded from the calculations?

[WanderlustAndWhimzy]

I did mark it as spam. It's still in my list of messages that I downloaded.

[BagmakerSupply]

@WanderlustAndWhimzy: How long ago did you mark any unanswered new threads as SPAM. Since Star Seller stats only seem to be updated once per day it may take a couple of days for things to catch up (but not retroactively).

[bohemians]

Even if you could reply to spam con people messages - you never should.

Like everyone here has said … they go directly to spam.

[KGarnerDesigns]

Contact information? Convos never contain contact information. You reply in the convo thread.

Marking a message as spam removes that message from the Star Seller equation.

[WanderlustAndWhimzy]

I mean when you hit reply, that it says that there is no contact information and you can't send your response. 

[MaynardMillinery]

@WanderlustAndWhimzy @That means Etsy has already nuked the user. (Never come across that though as only get convos from legit users) You just need to hit the spam button then. It helps if you spam it within 24hrs, but it can still be recorded at al later date as long as you do it before about the 27th of the month, it should register before the cut off at the end of the month.

[pinwheelspeech]

Same thing happened to me. Received a SPAM message on 11/28. I ignored it and it tanked my seller response.

[BootifulLabels]

As I said above (first reply to this thread), Etsy doesn't read all your messages, and the majority of sellers would probably not want them to.  If it is spam, you need to tell Etsy it is spam by marking it as spam.  It is not rocket science (as my grandson would say).

[dippeldiundscribble]

---

@pinwheelspeech  I ignored it and it tanked my seller response.

---

Now you definitely know that you can't ignore it in the future.

Go to your Star Seller dashboard and scroll down to the Q&A section.

https://www.etsy.com/your/shops/me/star-seller

Questions? We’ve got answers. -> Messages -> What messages count towards the message response rate?

Your message response rate is based on just the first message in a conversation, not ongoing conversations. This means you just need to respond to the first message within 24 hours. This applies to messages both from buyer and seller accounts. Messages from Etsy staff do not count toward your response rate, and neither do messages that you mark as spam. You can also now find a breakdown of your message response rate score by downloading a CSV.

[CraftyCornishMaids]

@WanderlustAndWhimzy 

Etsy says if you mark spam messages as spam, they don't count against you

you can't just ignore them

[TBQSC]

“.I ignored it and it tanked my seller response.”

What exactly were you expecting to happen by ignoring it?  

[CuriousityShop · Accepted solution]

You really think they have more than one software engineer or programmer?  I envision one guy, and a bunch of unpaid interns...

[WanderlustAndWhimzy]

Thanks to you all for your input. I will strive harder next month to mark all the spam immediately.  I didn't realize all of the rules because I'm very new at this and just barely got my first sales. I've watched a thousand you tube videos and nobody ever mentioned this! 

I'm going back to work on my shop now. My views were skyrocketing and today, they absolutely tanked today and I'm honestly quite worried about what's happening with it.  Y'all have a good one!

[BagmakerSupply]

@WanderlustAndWhimzy: "My views were skyrocketing and today, they absolutely tanked ..." New shops and listings get a boost on search so the algorithm can get a feeling for how many people are interested in purchasing the item(s). Sounds like your honeymoon period may be over.

"I've watched a thousand you tube videos ..." Did the videos mention that to succeed on a platform like Etsy you will need to drive a majority of the traffic and sales yourself (and not rely on Etsy's search engine) until the algorithm learns that people want your items?

[TheVintagePineapple]

Your views skyrocketed because you started an OP, so naturally a lot of people, sellers who replied and others who just read along, checked out your shop.  Your view count should stay steady now unless you start another OP. 

[CraftyCornishMaids]

@WanderlustAndWhimzy 

the you-tubers are there to make money, to tell you nice things that keep you watching.

If you want to know reality, read the handbook.

you will find the views aren't from word searches, they are people who read the forums looking at your shop.

[WanderlustAndWhimzy]

Thanks for the insight, BagmakerSupply. Have a good night

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