Star Seller Incorrectly Calculated

[WroughtDesigns]

It appears that my Star Seller was not awarded due to lack of response to a message that I received from a shop (where I purchased an item). The message simply thanked me for my purchase and requested a review.  See Copy/paste below.

Message Status is listed as "No reply" however, I don't believe the message relates to the service that my own shop provides. As noted in the other statistics, all of my other messages have 100% response time within the guidelines.

I believe that I should be eligible to receive Star Seller Status this month.

Thank you for your attention to this matter. See below for the message.

( REMOVED )

[NanaLetha]

You must reply to all messages or mark as spam. 

[WroughtDesigns]

Thank you. It doesn't seem fair to the seller that I purchased from to label their customer service follow up and request for a review as spam. As someone who makes a large number of digital purchases, I don't think that it seems reasonable to respond via message to everyone that follows up and requests a review as it takes time away from my own level of service. I do always provide a review for those sellers when possible of course. IMO Star Steller should be an accurate reflection of my own exceptional service that I provide to my customers. Thanks for responding. 

[NoFrogsAllowed]

@WroughtDesigns 

I don't think it is right to mark non-spam messages as spam just to maintain Star Seller either.  However, if you mark a message as spam the sender never knows that you marked it as spam.  All it does is put that message in your spam folder.  It does not inform the sender or Etsy and contrary to popular belief you will continue to receive new messages from the sender.

[SugarTaffySoap]

Here's what an Etsy Community Specialist has posted in several threads recently 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. "

[SugarTaffySoap]

@WroughtDesigns I understand how you feel. If you want to be Star Seller, you have to respond or mark the message as spam. Not responding to a  message will lower your percentage.

[BagmakerSupply · Accepted solution]

@WroughtDesigns: Fair or not, there are innumerable threads about this very issue. The Star Seller metric is that the FIRST message of a NEW 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. Those have always been the rules.

Subsequent messages from the same account (a buyer may have multiple accounts) are supposed to be combined into a single thread.

Help Requests always start a new thread. If you are creating a custom listing based on a new thread, you still need to reply to the message if it is a new thread. Etsy is now putting a blue text warning / advisory on those messages they consider to be a "new message" but should semantically be called a "new thread".

Cancellation requests must be replied to in the actual message - replies using the cancellation form do not count as a response.

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.

[BootifulLabels]

The rules have always stated ALL messages , not just those from buyers.  If you don't wish to have to respond to seller thank yous, why not create a separate Etsy account for purchasing.  

[sarahsmemory]

I set up the "auto-reply" option for my messages to prevent things like this from happening.

[ModMatt]

Hi there!

Here is a friendly reminder to avoid posting private information and private correspondence in the forum space. For that reason the OP has been edited.

Thank you! 

[simpletreasures55]

On Nov 16 I received two messages a minute apart from the same customer.  One said a customer had a question and the second was about a custom order.  I responded almost immediately, but because I only replied once I am being counted as not responding within 24 hours.  This is incorrect.   I always respond in a timely manner.  I do not think I should lose my star seller badge since I did respond in a timely manner.

simpletreasures55

[ModFabio]

Hello!

Prior to posting in a thread in the Forums, we ask that you please check if you are not bumping an old thread that hasn't seen any activity in a few months (or years, even). If that is the case, and you still would like to share your thoughts and get the conversation going - whether about this or similar topics, we ask that you start your own thread instead of bumping an old one.

Please note that reviving old threads can cause confusion for members reading, so always check the dates of the most recent replies before posting. You can find this information on the top-left corner of each message, just below the member's username and profile picture.

Having said that, we are closing this thread as it is indeed a bit older, and the information contained here may be outdated.

Thank you!

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