Star Seller badge missing despite meeting all criteria

[StraumeWatercolor]

Hi Etsy Community,

I’m reaching out because my shop is currently meeting all the Star Seller criteria, but I haven’t received the badge for May — and it seems like a technical issue.

Here are my current stats for the review period (March 1 – May 31):

• Message response rate: 100%

• On-time dispatch & tracking: 100%

• Average review rating: 4.9

• Case rate: 0 out of 40 orders

Despite these numbers, I didn’t get the Star Seller badge.
Even more confusing — although my message response rate is 100%, the badge icon for communication is still grey, not colored, as if that criteria wasn’t met. But I’ve replied to every first message well within the required 24 hours.

I contacted Etsy Support a week ago. They confirmed it could be a technical issue and asked me to wait a few days. I’ve waited, but nothing has changed, and I’m starting to worry the issue won’t resolve itself.

Has anyone else seen this? Any updates or fixes from Etsy?
Would really appreciate some guidance or support

Thanks in advance,
Alina

UPDATE:

Just to clarify: I've reviewed not only the current review period, but also all previous ones, and everything has consistently been well within the Star Seller criteria. My stats have always been strong, and I’ve always received the badge every month — with at least €300 in sales each time.

This month, the Star Seller badge simply disappeared on May 1st, despite my stats remaining excellent across the board. So I’m quite sure this isn’t a threshold issue, but a technical problem — especially considering Etsy Support already acknowledged that and asked me to wait a few days (which unfortunately didn’t help).

Really hoping it gets resolved soon. Thanks again for your support!

[JJewellerySuppliesUK]

You need to look at the previous review tab as that is for this period and May is not over yet.  

How to Track Your Progress Towards Becoming a Star Seller – Etsy

[StraumeWatercolor]

Thank you for taking the time to reply! I’ve updated the original post with some extra context based on your feedback.

[CraftyCornishMaids]

When you look at your stats,

the CURRENT review period, is what you are currently working towards for end of this month - final calculation will be done midnight 31st May

for the badges displayed now, calculated at the end last month, 30th April, you have to look at PREVIOUS review period

you can download the csv, to see which ones etsy thinks you have missed

[StraumeWatercolor]

Thanks so much for your input! I’ve added an update to the original post to clarify.

[AutumnHollowStudio]

@StraumeWatercolor in your seller dashboard, click on the "customer service stats" on the left-hand side of the screen (use a computer web browser) and it will display the current period stats. There is an option to toggle that says "previous review period". May Star seller will go off of that data. If you feel that's an error, download the CSV file for the previous period and see what Etsy flagged as not compliant.

[StraumeWatercolor]

Thanks so much for your input! My "previous review period" are 100%. I’ve added an update to the original post to clarify.

[HueAndLather]

The $300 in sales minimum might not have been achieved within the review period. That has happened to me during slow sales, despite meeting all the other requirements for the Star Seller badge. 

[CraftyCornishMaids]

The OP has two of the badges, so they have met the min $300 and 5 sales

They do not have the messages badge, so no star seller

[StraumeWatercolor]

Thank you all so much for your responses — I really appreciate the insights!

Just to clarify: I've reviewed not only the current review period, but also all previous ones, and everything has consistently been well within the Star Seller criteria. My stats have always been strong, and I’ve always received the badge every month — with at least €300 in sales each time.

This month, the Star Seller badge simply disappeared on May 1st, despite my stats remaining excellent across the board. So I’m quite sure this isn’t a threshold issue, but a technical problem — especially considering Etsy Support already acknowledged that and asked me to wait a few days (which unfortunately didn’t help).

Really hoping it gets resolved soon. Thanks again for your support!

[SmadarsTreasure]

I have the same problem.

I didn't receive any *new* reviews from customers in the previous period (till April 30).  Message replies and shipping times were 100%, so  I guess there wasn't enough data to compare Reviews. 

I contacted Etsy and received only a laconic explanation about how the calculation is made... 

I find this unfair and harming to my business, because 'no data' is not a *real* reason for lowering customer service score... 
Actually, my services didn't change as I had earned the Star Seller badge for the past 16 months in a row.

That's so bad, because it will affect the next period as well 

A question please - is the $300 value in sales a real thing regarding Star Seller? I haven't seen anything official from Etsy about that, so I would very much appreciate any links on the subject that I can read.

Thanks,

Smadar

[BagmakerSupply]

@SmadarsTreasure: "... is the $300 value in sales a real thing ..." Yes, it is explained on https://help.etsy.com/hc/en-us/articles/29665255990039-How-to-Track-Your-Progress-Toward-Becoming-a-...

[StraumeWatercolor]

Hi Smadar,

I’m really sorry this happened to you — I completely understand how frustrating and unfair it feels, especially after 16 months of consistently being a Star Seller. You're right — the lack of new reviews shouldn't be treated as a negative. If everything else was perfect, why penalize?

In my case, it’s a bit different — I did receive reviews, and all my stats meet the criteria, but my badge simply disappeared on May 1st. I contacted support on May 2nd, and was told to wait 2–3 days… well, it’s now been 18 days, and still no resolution. I wrote back again today and got the exact same copy-paste response.

Were you able to make any progress with your case?

And just to clarify about the $300 sales requirement — yes, it’s real. When I first opened this shop, that line appeared at the bottom of the Star Seller stats panel. As soon as I reached €300 in sales, the line disappeared — but it was definitely there initially.

Let’s keep each other updated — clearly this is not an isolated issue

Warmly,
Alina

[CraftyCornishMaids]

you do not have the messages badge

when you go to customer service stats, you need to click on "PREVIOUS review period", to check the badge that was calculated on 1st May

current review stats are the ones you are currently working towards for 1st June

[SmadarsTreasure]

@StraumeWatercolor 
Yes, exactly! 0 new review ≠ less than 4.8 score. 0 new reviews should = no change.

Thanks for the $300 clarification. Luckily I qualify.

I contacted Etsy again, trying to explain the unfairness about this technical factor and asked if they could make manual changes accordingly, but unfortunately they said they cannot do anything and they hope I get new reviews this month.... 

I have been on Etsy since 2008. Now I have more than 12,200 sales and the reviews number stands on 1539, most of them are 5-star. You can see by that (for me at least) buyers don't come back to leave their reviews, so I don't expect this to change quickly.

To my understanding, the way it is evaluated, this month lack of badge will effect the next two months also.  I don't understand how Etsy cannot change the way the system calculate the score, if they were the ones who programmed it in the first place.  That's really sucks.

If I were you, after waiting so long and it didn't change, I would insist on getting a thourough explanation about the badge. Why don't they treat this like any other bug??

I hope you will get some answers... 

Smadar

[SmadarsTreasure]

@BagmakerSupply thank you. 

[SweetMollyJaynes]

Hi Smadars ~ Good Morning.  I'm having issues with getting no reviews for a month and a half now.  I know, for certain, that a couple of my friends left me reviews and they are not appearing in my shop.  I'm so frustrated while this, of course ... even though it's an Etsy glitch ... will affect my Star Seller Status.  My question to you is how did you get a hold of Etsy?  I have looked everywhere for some contact information, posted here, to no avail.  Thought I'd just try this avenue as well.  Thank you. 

[BagmakerSupply]

@SweetMollyJaynes: "My question to you is how did you get a hold of Etsy?" Try https://help.etsy.com/hc/en-us/requests/new?segment=selling or https://help.etsy.com/hc/en-us/requests/new?segment=selling#issue_sell_manage_listings-callback or you can open a support ticket through Dashboard > Community & Help > Contact Us

[SmadarsTreasure]

@SweetMollyJaynes I contacted them through this article:  https://help.etsy.com/hc/en-us/articles/29665255990039-How-to-Track-Your-Progress-Toward-Becoming-a-...
or any of the links posted above by BagmakerSupply 

The last review I got was on January 30, so it might as well be the same glitch for me. This is so frustrating... I hope they will check this already.

[StrokesofSunshineCo]

I'm sorry to hear that this happened to you I found your article on my search to figure out why this just happened to me as well. All of my stats are the exact same from my previous star seller months, but this month the "speedy replies" is greyed out even though it shows no change from my 100% response rate within 24 hours. I just checked your shop and saw "speedy replies" is still not showing. Is it safe to assume that Etsy was no help? I've gone back and forth as to whether star seller really means anything to anyone other than sellers - Does it really affect if a buyer buys from our shops? Either way, it's incredibly frustrating to be hitting all benchmarks and still be told that it wasn't good enough. Hope you are able to get it worked out.