Star Seller Badge for Messages ineligible

[DnDApothecary]

Someone I purchased from, sent me a thank you message for purchasing from their shop, and I didn't reply to it in 24 hours. Now I'm ineligible for the messaging star seller badge. It says that it won't count for shops that you purchase from, but it clearly did??
 As per the guidelines for what counts:

The Message response rate only applies to the first message in a thread. Initial messages from both buyers and sellers on Etsy are counted towards the Message response rate. 

To help keep track of messages you should prioritize for Star Seller metrics, notification badges are displayed on messages which are: 

• A buyer’s first time contacting you
• A new help with order request

Both of these types of messages need to be responded to in 24 hours to be counted positively toward your Star Seller score.

This was a seller reaching out to me to say "thanks for purchasing". Now I have a 0% response rate. Is this a common occurrence or did I just get super unlucky?

[NanaLetha]

The Message response rate only applies to the first message in a thread. Initial messages from both buyers and sellers on Etsy are counted towards the Message response rate.

[PriddeyThings]

I'm afraid you didn't follow the rules. The message would have been highlighted just as messages from buyers are. Etsy couldn't make it any clearer on the star seller dashboard:

"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."

[PlatypusDream]

You have no badges at all.

Are you sure you haven't been permanently banned from the Star Seller program for breaking the Terms of Use?

[PriddeyThings]

I was about to add the same...

[DnDApothecary]

No? I took a long break from Etsy and came back to it, but I have badges, and have had them in the past, but thanks for the help

[GlassyFields]

Etsy doesn't distinguish who messages are from. So reply to ALL first messages in a thread going forward.

You're about the millionth seller who has learned this the hard way.

[DnDApothecary]

Thanks

[Natalya1905]

This is from the Star Seller page:

Your message response rate stat is based on:

• The percent of initial messages that you replied to in 24 hours or less, including by auto-reply

You received a message. You didn't reply to it in 24 hours or marked as Spam. Rates are calculated automatically by Etsy.

[BagmakerSupply]

@DnDApothecary: "It says that it won't count for shops that you purchase from ..." Out of curiosity, where does it say this? The guidelines you yourself quoted say "Initial messages from both buyers and sellers on Etsy are counted towards the Message response rate."  It says right on your Star Seller page and elsewhere, you need to reply to (or mark as SPAM) 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.

[WitticismsRus · Accepted solution]

Umm I think you answered your own question in the body of your post. Perhaps re-read it? 

"As per the guidelines for what counts:

The Message response rate only applies to the first message in a thread. Initial messages from both buyers and sellers on Etsy are counted towards the Message response rate. ..."

edit to add-

"It says that it won't count for shops that you purchase from, but it clearly did??"

Where exactly does it say that? 

[DnDApothecary]

You know what, you're absolutely right. I suppose I kept skipping that over and over again. Thank you for being polite about it.