Star Seller Score

[ScrapHappyPagesStore]

I sell on Etsy in my shop- Scrap Happy Pages. I ordered an order from another seller- Papers Attack on April 13th, and she sent me a message saying that her inventory was off and did not have the items to ship to me, which happens. But Etsy counted this against my Star Seller answering a question, because I did not respond back. But there was no need to respond, she didn't have the product and already refunded me. I WAS BUYING AN ORDER- THIS WAS NOT A CUSTOMER OF MINE ASKING ME A QUESTION ABOUT MY SHOP OR BUYING SOMETHING FROM ME. Had I know this would be counted against my own shops question answering, I would have responded with something, but this should NOT count against my Shops Star Seller Score- as it had nothing to do with MY STORE! Can this be fixed??????

[WitticismsRus · Accepted solution]

@ScrapHappyPagesStore 

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 isn't reading your messages and deciding if it's from a customer or a seller you purchased from. 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.

Edit to add- you should edit your post and remove the name of the other shop

[ScrapHappyPagesStore]

Thanks for the info and the heads up on that.

[Adorabilities]

We have to answer every message, no matter who it's from, or what it's about. That ding will fall off your star seller metrics in three months. 

There are posts here every day from other sellers who have made the same mistake. You're not alone. 

[ScrapHappyPagesStore]

It’s my first time on here, but good to know, I won’t make that mistake again. Thanks.

[ShimmyBoutique · Accepted solution]

@ScrapHappyPagesStore

If you mark it Spam, now retroactively, it will drop off in a day or two & restore Star Seller at the same time. You do not have to wait 3 months.

[ScrapHappyPagesStore]

Thanks for the info