Star Seller - Message response rate

[AandM3DPrintsandMore]

First of all, I'm usually the first one to reach out to the buyer, therefore I receive very few response opportunities. During a conversation with a buyer, he choose to cancel an order and then order something different that I was selling https://www.etsy.com/messages/1231228149. All this was, was an automated "Help with order" message that I responded to with him on our actual thread.

There wasn't a response to be had to this and it is going to cost me star seller status.  Anyway to fix this?

[AandM3DPrintsandMore]

If you can't see the message, doesn't come up when you click it because it's my account, here is all it is

You need help with: I accidentally placed an order

Your ideal resolution: refund

Note for seller: As discussed. Cancelling the initial order and then updating with the new one.

[ChillwolfArt]

Sorry you got hit with this.  The Star Seller Metrics require that you Respond to every Message in which you are not the Initiator, or Mark as Spam.  I received a Help Request once.  A Buyer asked if I had another of something they purchased.  I responded, "Heading on over to your other Message."

You may also receive a Message from another Etsy Seller, either about an Order you placed.  Or a friendly "How's it going"? Message, hopefully from someone you know.  Again, because you did not Initiate the Message, you must Respond or Mark as Spam.  *(Personally I would only Mark a Message as Spam when it is true Spam.  Example, "Buy my gems 30% off").

Hope this helps.

[cutebutton]

@ChillwolfArt 

This one is a little confusing because if a person has sent you a message in the past, even if they send you a brand new message those get combined so you don't have to respond because you have responded sometime in the past.

So I'm assuming that the OP thought this would get combined with the other message since regular messages do.  I don't think that they didn't realize that they needed to respond to every message in general just that they thought that since they did respond to the person that they it was all was together. (if that makes sense.)

[ChillwolfArt]

@cutebutton   Yes, it does make sense.
________________

As a Buyer, I received something recently which I swear I've not seen in past purchases.
I Messaged the Seller, asking a question.  She responded, I made the purchase.

After her Response, I see the following underneath (it's still there, I just checked):

"Have a problem with your order?
Instead of messaging the seller, submit a help request here. You won't be able to open a case until you try this first."
(Tab) "Request help"

(I just completed a purchase.  If there were any issues, I would always Message the Seller first, not immediately consider opening a case.  Unless of course I was duped).

[cutebutton]

@ChillwolfArt 

That's not good.  But doesn't submitting a help request do that same thing which is contact the seller?  So either way they send a message they are contacting the seller right?

I REALLY hope etsy doesn't go the way of amazon.  Amazon is really bad about this type of thing. 

Also I don't like how etsy mentions opening a case.  A case should be last resort and that just puts it into a buyer's head.  It's not even in etsy's best interest for people to be filing cases so why do they want that?

[ChillwolfArt]

@cutebutton 
"But doesn't submitting a help request do that same thing which is contact the seller?  So either way they send a message they are contacting the seller right?"

I can see where it would be confusing to Buyers.  Because right underneath this light tan colored "prompt" re: Help Request, is the spot where I would normally Reply to the Seller if I needed to.  This tan prompt is above it though.  I can really see where Buyers aren't sure what to click.  As Sellers, we know about this and it's still confusing.  (I would just skip this prompt and respond below if I need to). 

[cutebutton]

@ChillwolfArt 

etsy likes to take things and make them super confusing and more complicated than they should be for sure.

[dippeldiundscribble]

Help requests are always separate, as they are part of the case system.

[LouiseLeder]

You could have just said: "Okay, thanks!" Or just leave a smiley face. 

But, unfortunately, you do need to leave something, even when no answer is needed.

[cutebutton]

Yeah, that one is confusing to a lot of people.  Etsy has said that all the messages from the same user are now combined and they are EXCEPT when they send a help request.  For whatever reason those are separate messages from the others.

What you can do is very quickly go and mark that message as spam and it should make your rating go back up.

What I do since I know this is the case is I make sure to respond in the help message also.  Usually I will say something like I am sending you more info in the previous convo thread or sometimes I even respond with just a "." if I have already replied in the other thread.

[AandM3DPrintsandMore]

Okay, I'm new to this. Noted for next time. It actually looks like I have to be a seller for 90 days before star seller anyway, so I'll have to wait until next quarter regardless. It is very good to know what I did wrong here to protect my status when I do first become eligible.

[cutebutton · Accepted solution]

the main thing to remember is respond to ALL messages or mark as spam no matter who they come from LOL.

Also that the help messages don't combine with the regular messages.

Once you realize that it's fairly simple to do.  But a lot of people just don't know so they get dinged. 

Also another one that trips people up is that if you get a help message and the person asks for a refund, Respond in the actual message.  Some people refund and send a note on the refund and assume that counts but it doesn't.

Basically just respond to messages HAHAHAHA. 

[LynnsLittleShop]

I did the very same thing about 3 months after the star seller program started. Sometimes I just have to learn the hard way. Now we know that a message sent with the cancel/refund page isn't the right message.

[BootifulLabels]

Help messages result in a prompt from Etsy that the buyer requires assistance, and also as a message in the general message system.  You need to answer both (or answer the Help system message and then mark the general message as spam).  Etsy ads a bluish banner message in the general message system for any message that requires a response, so it is hard to miss.

[LoriShaulCeramics]

I totally empathise.  I had star seller status from the beginning of its implementation and then lost it due to not responding to three messages three months ago, two of which were 'help requests' that I responded to almost immediately but as a message, rather than on the 'help request' chat (as a result of initially reading the message on the phone app and then switching to my laptop).  One of the messages was just a confirmation from another seller about an order I'd placed.  So, absolutely no change in my level of customer service.  The thing is that I now find myself in a conundrum whereby, my sales have dropped so much, and presumably my 'presence' as an Etsy seller too, that I'm not receiving enough messages to boost my response rate.  I was at over 95 percent then, after appearing to have not responded to the three messages,  my rate went down to 82 percent (for messages - everything else is on target).  I've had only a few sporadic messages that I've replied to almost immediately but it's not enough to make a dent in the new figure.  So, that's the conundrum - I need people to visit my shop to message me but I'm getting very low visitors to my shop due to losing the star seller status.

Perhaps those of us who are experiencing this could send messages to each other on our shops to raise our response rate.  In my eyes that would be fair and honest if we visit each other's shops and have valid questions! 

Currently feeling really deflated and let down by Etsy.

[dippeldiundscribble]

 @LoriShaulCeramics  Perhaps those of us who are experiencing this could send messages to each other on our shops to raise our response rate.  In my eyes that would be fair and honest if we visit each other's shops and have valid questions! 

No, it would not be fair and honest. 

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."

Questions? We’ve got answers. -> Messages -> What happens if I’m getting messages from the same user through multiple message threads?

"If messages are appearing in separate threads in your inbox, then as it stands today you’ll need to respond to the initial message of each thread. One idea to help mitigate this in the interim is to set up an auto-reply or to create a Saved Reply for multiple messages from the same user that don’t need individual responses."

Familiarize yourself with all the options provided by Etsy and use them to meet the criteria.

• Set up auto-reply
• Create and use saved replies
• Mark as spam 
• Set up a buyer account for your purchases
• Purchase as a Guest

*1: How to set an auto-reply for Messages

*2: How to Use Saved Replies in Messages