Star Seller Message Return Rate is Unfair not incorrect

[KingstonsKreations]

I have one message that I did not reply to within 24 hours. That message was from another seller thanking me for purchasing from their shop and asking me to leave a review.  I do not feel that this should impact my star seller rating as she is not a customer of mine.  I was a customer of hers!  What can I do to fix this?  This is the only thing stopping me from star sellar status!

[DarcyQuilts]

Etsy has made it clear that ALL messages, even when you are the buyer or when someone sends you spam, will count towards the Star Seller stats.  You could mark it as spam and that should get you back on track for October.

[KingstonsKreations]

It wasn't clear to me LOL!  I will mark as spam.  

[WitticismsRus · Accepted solution]

"I have one message that I did not reply to within 24 hours." Ok so then the rating is correct since you failed to reply to the message. 

Etsy is pretty clear about how the message response rate is calculated in help center here https://help.etsy.com/hc/en-us/articles/4403058372503-How-to-Become-a-Star-Seller?segment=selling

There is a highlighted bit under message response rate info that says "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. "

That means ALL messages. It also means each individual message thread so if someone sends you 5 different messages with 5 questions instead of putting them in the same message chain you need to respond to all 5 of them. The system is completely automated and doesn't know if the message is from a buyer or another seller. It just sees a message and calculated the response time. That's just how it works.

The info is also right there on the Star Seller page in shop manager. Just go to shop manager > star seller. Once there scroll toward the bottom until you find "Questions? We've got answers." Then click messages. The very first question there says

"What messages count toward 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."

You can try marking the message as spam now and it should be removed from the calculation in a few days.

If the star is important to you then it may be a good idea to read or review all the info Etsy provides about the star seller program.

Bottom line...you have to either reply or mark as spam.

[KingstonsKreations]

I guess by "not correct" I meant that it does not seem fair that I am dinged for not responding to a fellow seller (I will edit my post if I can).  I was told to turn on auto-reply.  I think it is kind of sad that I can do that to make my stats instead of actually replying to customers.  

[UppNorthCo]

etsy micromanages us enough without reading our messages and deciding which ones require a response, so they all require a response or marked as spam.  Your message return rate is correct.

[SugarTaffySoap]

@KingstonsKreations  Many have done the same thing you did (not respond). Here is what Etsy Staff says: 

"The Message response rate counts initial messages from all Etsy members, both buyers, and other sellers. This is because fellow sellers could be potential buyers for your shop. If it's 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."

Here's what a 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. "

[KingstonsKreations]

Thank you for the reply.  Someone from support told me to turn on auto-reply.  It just makes me kind of sad that is a better solution than fixing the system to only customer messages.  

[SugarTaffySoap]

@KingstonsKreations  it's not a technical issue. Just mark the one message as spam. 

[KingstonsKreations]

Thank you... as I went through the help section it told me to click on technical issue.  If I could delete this I would.

[BagmakerSupply]

@KingstonsKreations:  Do you want some bot reading every one of your messages and guessing? Consider the fallout from the error rate of that. Didn't the message have the blue text warning / advisory that Etsy considered it to be a "new message" (but should semantically be called a "new thread") and that it needed a reply?

[KingstonsKreations]

No warning.  It was from a fellow Etsy seller about something I bought from her.  She thanked me and asked me to post a review and picture.  I didn't reply because it wasn't a customer of mine.  I didn't know that mattered, but now I do.  

[SugarTaffySoap · Accepted solution]

Your message rating will re-adjust after you mark it as spam.

[KingstonsKreations]

One last question....if I mark that message as spam, will it hurt the other seller's shop or messages in any way?  I wouldn't want to do that either.

[DesignzByBunz]

Nope, marking a messageas spam didn’t work either! My rating droppedand I missed the opportunity to be a star seller. What a scam Etsy!

[BagmakerSupply]

@DesignzByBunz: Perhaps Etsy fixed the "mark a message as spam after 24 hours" glitch that allowed Star Seller stats to change after a day or two, but it definitely works if you mark a message as spam within the 24 hour reply window.

[SugarTaffySoap · Accepted solution]

No it won't have any effect on the seller.

[StarLightsinaBottle]

My situation is exactly the same.  I didn’t reply to 2 seller’s auto messages when I made 2 purchases & irs effecting my reply star.  How do I fix that?!?! 

[BagmakerSupply · Accepted solution]

@StarLightsinaBottle: "How do I fix that?!?!" You reply to the message within 24 hours or mark it as spam. For better or worse those have been the rules from the very beginning.

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

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.

Cancellation requests in a new thread 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.