Speedy Replies

[EHStickersCo]

I’ve been a star seller since the beginning and this month it was taken away because I didn’t reply to a message within 24 hrs. The message  is from another seller I purchased from and it is one of the automatic discount codes sent as a thank you for purchasing. Has to his happened to anyone else? I personally don’t think it’s fair.

[dippeldiundscribble]

@EHStickersCo 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.

[EHStickersCo]

But how is that fair? What are we supposed to respond to? The message is just a discount code…I went from 100% to 92% to 88% because of that one message. I also had multiple messages after that which I replied to with in the 24hr mark and my % dropped even more. I’m just confused on how it’s all calculated. How can one message drop my % that much.

[ArtDollsbyJD · Accepted solution]

@EHStickersCo    It may not be fair but Etsy does not want to take the time to decide if that message is as seller or buyer.  

I personally don't want them reading messages.  I want them to concentrate on other issues.

If you want, open a buyer account only to use.  

[dippeldiundscribble]

@EHStickersCo 

Etsy demands responsibility from its sellers. Sellers should know how the site works, so they should read the requirements and adapt.

This is your seller account and there is only one inbox. 

Familiarize yourself with all the options provided by Etsy and use them to meet the criteria:

1. Set up auto-reply
2. Create and use saved replies
3. Mark as spam 
4. Set up a buyer account for your purchases
5. Purchase as a Guest

*1: How to set an auto-reply for Messages

*2: How to Use Saved Replies in Messages

[BagmakerSupply]

@EHStickersCo: Whether or not it is fair, how is Etsy supposed to know the nature of a message? Do you want some bot reading every one of your messages and guessing if it is a buyer or seller or personal message? How many threads would there be in this forum that "some bot incorrectly classified my message"?

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.

"How can one message drop my % that much." It takes 19 answered on time new threads for every 1 not answered on time new thread.

"I’m just confused on how it’s all calculated." 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.

Remember that the Star Seller metric is NOT all new messages but only the first message of all new incoming threads.

Your statistics change on the first of the month because the three month period being considered changes.