Star Seller Error

[stoneblissdesigns]

I have been a consistent Star Seller since the program began, only missing a month or two due to customers that gave me 4 stars, but glowing comments.  Those frustrations I can accept.  Some people never give 5 stars.  However, this month, I missed it because I was penalized for not responding to a seller that I purchased something from!  The seller contacted me to say my order was going to be shipped late.  There was no reason for me to respond, so I didn't.  That bounced me out of contention as of the 6 messages I received last month, the 5 messages from my customers were responded to in 24 hrs (within a few minutes actually).  How can I get Etsy to review this issue and correct this error?  

[NanaLetha]

It's not an error. You must reply to all messages or mark as spam. The program is automated - a message is a message.

[OwlAlwaysKnit]

https://help.etsy.com/hc/en-us/articles/4403058372503-How-to-Become-a-Star-Seller?segment=selling

Extract from SS rules

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

[dippeldiundscribble]

"... I missed it because I was penalized for not responding to a seller that I purchased something from! The seller contacted me to say my order was going to be shipped late. There was no reason for me to respond, so I didn't."

You could've thanked the seller for informing you about the delay. Being polite does no harm.

Go to your Star Seller page 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.

Read the information on your Star Seller page. The forum is also a great source to understand how Star Seller works. 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

[NoFrogsAllowed]

A seller telling you they are shipping late is a message that should be responded to, star seller or no star seller.

[SugarTaffySoap]

Here's what an Etsy Community Specialist/Technical Issues has posted in several threads regarding Star Seller:

"We suggest using the Forums' Search function prior to posting (just be careful to not bump an old thread that hasn't seen any activity in the last months/years), as questions regarding the Star Seller Program have been extensively covered by our fellow members since its launch, as well as our official Star Seller Guide, which contains in-depth answers to some of the more common questions regarding Message Response Rate, Shipping, Local Pick-Up, Digital Orders, and other topics. You can check it out here: etsy.com/starseller. "

[ShimmyBoutique]

Mark it Spam it will drop off in a few days.

[OmasFabricStash]

If you want to keep the SS then that should have been reason enough to respond to the message, or put it in spam. The rules were very clear about all messages being responded to and you chose not to respond or send it to spam. At the beginning of each month there are a lot of threads like this so you’re not the only one that didn’t get the SS because they didn’t respond to a message.