Star Seller Program and the Combined Customer/Seller Inbox Issue

[BEINGapothecary]

I received a message from a seller asking me to leave a review for something I purchased and since I had not used the item, and because it was for a purchase I did not respond immediately. The message auto-reply system also did not respond as again this message was not sent to my shop it was sent in response to an order I place with another seller. 

I reached out to support both chat and the phone to notify them that it dropped my response score from 100% to 88% and was told that I am not the only seller that have called with this concern but unfortunately there's nothing that they can do. 

It is unacceptable to hold a seller to a standard and I uphold that standard and I am penalized for making a purchase on the platform and receiving a request to leave a review for it.  Especially when auto-reply also did not respond to the message. This technical issue makes the Star Seller Program Illegitimate and Etsy's refusal to correct the issue calls in to question their integrity. This needs to be resolved. 

If any other sellers have dealt with this I am so sorry that this happened to you. It is unfair that you be depicted under the Star Seller program as less than the seller that you are. If Etsy is going to have a program that rates you as a Seller then only messages to and from customers should count towards that and auto-reply should reply to all messages in the inbox. This means that they need to build a better messaging system period. 

If you are going to respond with policy you can save yourself the trouble. I am clear on the policy. My problem is that the system auto-reply did not reply to this message like it is designed to do and that is a technical issue. 

NOTE: I am only looking for responses from other sellers that have been in this situation and Etsy Support.

Thanks for reading. 

[WantableDesigns]

It's not a technical issue. It was explained from the start that you need to respond to all messages or mark them as spam.

This comes up on the forums every day, multiple times. There's no resolution other than respond to all messages or mark them as spam. Or open an account for buying only.

[BEINGapothecary]

I have auto-response on and it responds to all of my messages so why did it not respond to this one? 

[Former_Member]

Mark it as spam.

Open a separate buyer account for future purchases.

[OwlAlwaysKnit · Accepted solution]

Sorry to say it's not a technical issue, it has always been this way, and it is stated in the Star Seller rules.

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

Extract

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. 

[BEINGapothecary]

I am clear on the policy. This is a two-fold problem because if this policy is going to be enforced then all messages should receive an auto-response and this one did not. So if this is going to the policy then auto-response should work for all message should it not? 

[ArtDollsbyJD]

Which auto reply set up used.  One version has to have a shop open at least 8 hours a day.  It cannot be used permanently as an option.  It is also possible that the other auto-reply needed to be renewed and so the message slipped in.  

If you noticed no auto-reply then within the 24 hours spam or reply simply.   Are you not visiting your shop daily?  Are you relying only on emails.  That is an issue because it is not sufficient to running an Etsy shop.  A shop needs to be looked at least once a day for updates and other reasons. 

It is not a problem.  The rules are clear on this.  I hear your frustration but I do not share it.  I know the rules and if I don't follow through I accept the consequences.   Personally, in my less than humble opinion, the star seller program is not enough to argue over or to lose sleep on.  I know that I am always at risk to lose it.

[BootifulLabels]

I am another seller who has had this happen, just once, I re-read the rules and realised that ALL new messages count, regardless of who they are from or what they are about.  Etsy does not read our messages, and personally I wouldn't want them to.  They simply compare the time stamps for receipt and response to determine compliance with the rule.  You can't pick and choose which messages you think require a response, any more that you can decide that it is okay for you to speed on the road just because there is no traffic in sight.  

If you don't want your purchases to affect your SS status, you have a couple of options.

1. You can use Auto reply to send a "thank you" or an "I'll get back to you shortly" message. This counts as a response for SS, but needs to be reset every five days.

2. You can create a few snippets with various messages and send quick responses that way in just 3 clicks, Snippets/Select/Send.

3. You can create a new, buyer only Etsy account and keep all your purchases separate from your shop.

[AAANativeArts]

Search the forum. There are several hundred posts similar to yours. It says right on the Star Seller page that you have to respond to ALL messages at least once, or mark them Spam. It always pays to read the rules thoroughly. If this was recent and you mark it Spam now, your rating may return in a few days.