Star BUYER Status? Requesting help from Technical Team

[PeacefulValleySeeds]

Hi

I attempted to contact Etsy support but went in circles with them for much too long about this. 

I am a seller and respond to all of my customers very quickly-often within minutes. I pride myself on maintaining my Star Seller status.  

I made a purchase on etsy and the seller sent me, the buyer, a note about the item being shipped that did not require a response.  I did not respond. 

That message, as a BUYER, apparently impacts my star SELLER status!  

This seems like an oversight--just does not make sense to me no matter how I try to look at it.  

It seems very unfair to calculate star SELLER status on my BUYING habits.  The individual I spoke with at etsy indicated that this is, in fact, a "pinch point" for sellers.  Why is this still this way? 

The individual I spoke with told me that only the technical team could help but they do not have an email and I must post a message here hoping they will see it and respond.  

Jim

[UniqueGiftOrnaments]

There is nothing to do. We have to respond to every message (provided in the star seller info), be it buyer or seller. Bots can't tell the difference. When not having to answer, just put into spam. 

[DragoninKnots]

The system doesn't distinguish.

Next time, you can just reply, "Thanks for the update" and move on with life. If it really bothers you, create a second account to use just for purchases.

[audreytherese]

Etsy doesn't know what the message is about. I don't need them reading all my messages and trying to categorize them for what they deem needs a response and what doesn't. 

A seller can become a future buyer. I've had this happen. I bought from a shop, had an issue along the way and during our messages said I understood because I also had a shop, they checked out my shop and ended up making a purchase. So we were both the buyer and the seller in that conversations. Etsy believes any conversation has the ability for this to happen, hence why messages from sellers aren't omitted. 

They also spell it right out for you in the program rules: 

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. 

If you don't want them counting, then create an account for buying only, that way you don't have to worry about responding to messages. 

[VintageGiftsEE]

I had the same experience , now I answer all messages of send them to spam folder 

Now we do not have the 3 option - not to answer 

[WantableDesigns]

This has been the case since the inception of Star Seller, yet every day we get posts complaining about it. It's not a glitch, the technical team can't do anything about it.

[TonsOfPaper · Accepted solution]

Hello @PeacefulValleySeeds,

Please know that the Message response rate counts initial messages in new threads from all Etsy members, both buyers and other sellers. You may want to create a Saved Reply in order to quickly and easily answer messages from other Sellers. Using a Saved Reply within 24 hours will count as answering the message. 

If the message you've received is not a spam message, it requires a response within 24 hours. If it is a spam message you can mark it as such and it won't count towards your score. Marking a message as spam will remove it from your inbox.

While it we're unable to retroactively remove this message from your score, we do understand your concern, and really appreciate you sharing your experience with me. We've gathered your feedback and will be sure to share it with the appropriate teams. 
 

Thank you very much!

[SunnytyDE]

@WantableDesigns  You’ve got to remember that most sellers don’t come to the forum and don’t know how to do a search or are just upset and post because they encounter a problem. 

The thing that really bothers me is that Etsy chat or the email response from Etsy is directing sellers here to the forum to post about it and they tell them that the technical team can fix it. In my opinion this is terrible customer service on Etsys part. They do this to get a seller to stop bothering them and give them hope that there is something the technical team can do about it. Then they come here like the OP did  and we (other sellers) and the ‚technical team‘ crush their hopes. 

[WantableDesigns]

@SunnytyDE 

I understand that and I agree with what you're saying, but ultimately it's every seller's responsibility to make themselves aware of Etsy policy if they want to maintain Star Seller.

There's no point not reading the rules then complaining about it as if it's a fault.

[SunnytyDE]

@WantableDesigns  So true! Especially since the rules are right there on the dashboard. 

I just really have a problem with how Etsy handles this. It’s not only the SSB that they do this with. They can’t or won’t answer a question and take the easy way out and tell them to post in the forum to get whatever it is fixed. And then you get annoyed sellers (us) because we answer the same questions over and over again. 

Sorry if this seams like a rant but this is a sore spot for me. (One of many lately, lol) 

[SugarTaffySoap]

@PeacefulValleySeeds  You may want to review the Q&A in your dashboard under Star Seller.  

[CuriosAnCollectibles]

All the criteria for each star is in your Star Seller Dashboard, you might not like what it tells you but it's all there.