Span message affecting star seller

[MichelesAManoDesigns]

My response time in my messages is being affected by a spam message. This has happened to me in the past and I was told that it won’t anymore, however it happened again.

[TheVintagePineapple]

If it was truly spam, why didn't you put it in the spam folder?

Whoever told you it wouldn't happen again was wrong.  Was it a Support person?

[MichelesAManoDesigns]

It was a post card looking message about discounted USPS prices.  I first saw it on my phone and thought it was USPS.  Then I noticed the person who sent it and it was not an Etsy Admin or someone like that.  I remember having this issue a while ago where I was getting emails from sellers who were sending me coupon codes via messages and a support person told me that soon they would be able to determine if the message was spam.

[HazelsOldiesNGoodies]

It's only spam if you mark it as such.

If you think you can ignore it because it's spam - you can't.

[bradgoodell]

Etsy doesn't know it is spam unless you tell them.  Which is what the SPAM button is for.

Just mark it as spam.  The number will adjust in about 24 hours.

[CappuccinoLace]

Note: If you're using the app, there is no mark as spam button. You have to go to a browser to mark as spam.

[MichelesAManoDesigns]

This is exactly what happened.  Then I must have forgotten to do it because I originally saw it come in on my phone.

[BagmakerSupply · Accepted solution]

@MichelesAManoDesigns: The Star Seller metric is that the FIRST message of EVERY NEW INCOMING 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.

Etsy is now putting a blue text warning / advisory (blue banner on desktop, and a blue dot on mobile) on those messages they consider to be a "new message" but should semantically be called a "new thread".

If the unanswered message is not a Help Request, at least for the time being, it appears that marking an unanswered message 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. Note that subsequent messages from that account may go directly to the SPAM folder.