Star Seller - high on the list of worst things Etsy has implemented

[oldbooksandsuch]

Would like to add my 2 cents about the Star Seller badge as well. As many folks have mentioned you can easily lose your Star Seller strictly based on how poorly Etsy is collecting data. I have been a star seller since the beginning but have now lost my Star Seller for 3 orders that clearly have tracking on the orders, but Etsy doesn't have that info, shows it is missing and I am no longer a Star Seller. Interestingly, I am not sure that I care because:

1) It is a really terrible way to treat sellers when you put a "badge" on their site for the world to see and which is really a public shaming. It seems like there is a much, much better, more positive method of encouraging the performance that Etsy wants from sellers. 

2) If you are going to publicly shame sellers then as a seller there should be the ability to input the order number and contest the data. That would give sellers the opportunity to prove they have met the criteria and equally importantly Etsy would be able to look at the data and analyze how well they are collecting data. Any seller that loses their badge because of poor data collection by Etsy is not going to be a happy seller.

3) All platforms (Amazon, eBay) measure a seller's performance but none of it is sharer publicly. Etsy could do the same. The best way to drive performance is with accurate metrics and Etsy doesn't have them or appear to want to improve what they are doing.

4) It isn't apparent to the world that also calculated into the Star seller badge is orders and revenue. That seems like a very harsh punishment for brand new sellers that are trying to grow their business. 

This is just one of the many, many things that Etsy does so much worse than the other platforms. And yes, I have invested time, effort, and money into my Etsy shop, and I do well, but if I had to do it over again, I am not sure Etsy would be my platform of choice because it is so "unfriendly" to sellers, and especially what are defined as new sellers whether they are or not.

[JDTotesnDolls]

Brand new sellers have to wait for 3 months before they can be a star seller.

Where is Etsy publicly shaming?  I don't see that.

I won't go further because you are just venting.

I am at peace with the program.  I decided my reactions to it long ago after my initial venting.

Etsy is simply telling buyers that a seller is doing well.  They do that even of a shop does not have any of the badges.   I have no problem with that.

I wish Amazon would do something similar because Amazon is one place where this program would help buyers but then again Amazon and eBay are not Etsy.  Can't relate apples to oranges.  Etys is unique (no matter what some may think.  Not willing to debate the issue)

But did you check why the tracking failed.  Was the item in transit before the end of the processing time frame?  Are you using Etsy labels or Pirateship whic adds the tracking? Inputting the tracking manually can put one at risk of making an error.

Obviously you do care or you wouldn't be venting and trying to convince yourself that it is such a bad program and so wrong. 

I think the choice is to make peace with it one way or the other.  For me I don't let it any longer dictate how I feel about it.  It's here to stay.  

[BagmakerSupply]

@oldbooksandsuch: But we all have to keep in mind that there is no evidence that being (or not being) a Star Seller has any effect on a shop's sales. Etsy is test and data driven and if they could prove that being a Star Seller increased your sales they would be shouting it from the proverbial rooftops.

[RamblinRoseSoaps]

I have been a star seller (I became one again this month after several months of not) and I have not been a star seller.  I have seen no difference in the way my shop performs with, or without the badge.  I admit when I received my first star seller badge last year, I puffed out my chest in pride, but I since have come to realize it's not the be-all and end-all that so many posters come to the forums to vent about.  I have never been upset over not getting the badge or losing the badge after having it for several months because my sales slipped below the required amount.  It is what it is.  I'll keep on truckin'.  

I have never been involved in the forums until recently.  But I wish to learn ways to make my shop grow and become more successful than it has been and I have been looking for ways to do so from all sorts of avenues. I thought the forums made up of Etsy sellers would be a great way to learn from those who have been successful on this platform.  But instead, all I find are disappointed people who want to moan and groan about big bad Etsy is ruining their chances of success,  and would rather wallow in their disappointment.  That, for me, is a huge disappointment. 

[MrsDsHandKnits]

Except maybe Etsy's response time to messages being a part of the criteria, I don't think eBay's star seller program is that much different nor that much better than that of Etsy:

IMHO, neither is anything special,n or anything worth the frustration, annoyance,stressing over...BOTH are over-rated.

• An active eBay account for at least 90 days;
• At least 100 transactions and 1000$ revenue with US buyers for the past 12 months;
• A defect rate of up to 0.5%, and a maximum of three defects from unique shoppers;
• A maximum of 0.3% of cases closed without seller resolution, and up to or fewer than two cases;
• A late shipment rate of up to 3%, and a maximum of five late shipments;
• Tracking updated within your stated handling time, and carrier validation for 95% of transactions to US buyers.

[HouseofWhisperingFir]

Star Seller?

I guess it really depends on you perspective. 

WORST thing Etsy has done to me is not putting the description of my listing right under the photo.

Just saying.................

[BootifulLabels]

1) It is a really terrible way to treat sellers when you put a "badge" on their site for the world to see and which is really a public shaming. It seems like there is a much, much better, more positive method of encouraging the performance that Etsy wants from sellers. 

If they put the badge on your shop, you are not being publicly shamed, you are being publicly applauded for reaching the spurious conditions they set for the badge.  If you don't get the badge, your shop looks perfectly normal and the public will not have a clue that there is anything different between your shop and one that has the badge.  For the most part, buyers don't even notice the badges or lack thereof.

2) If you are going to publicly shame sellers then as a seller there should be the ability to input the order number and contest the data. That would give sellers the opportunity to prove they have met the criteria and equally importantly Etsy would be able to look at the data and analyze how well they are collecting data. Any seller that loses their badge because of poor data collection by Etsy is not going to be a happy seller.

Etsy use AI programs to assess shop performance and determine whether they qualify.  With 8 million or so shops it would be impossible to have it all handled by actual staff.  AI looks for the presence of certain criteria, and is fact driven, not reason driven.  There may be reasons why we might believe the facts need correcting, but they simply use the facts at the time of assessment.  If we want the badge, it is up to us to check the data regularly and identify issues early on so that they can be avoided, or corrective action can be taken in time for the assessment period. 

3) All platforms (Amazon, eBay) measure a seller's performance but none of it is sharer publicly. Etsy could do the same. The best way to drive performance is with accurate metrics and Etsy doesn't have them or appear to want to improve what they are doing.

I can't speak for Amazon, but eBay's Top Seller program is much the same as Star Seller.  The badges appear on shops each month, and that is the only thing that is public about it.  The mere absence of a badge is hardly public shaming.

4) It isn't apparent to the world that also calculated into the Star seller badge is orders and revenue. That seems like a very harsh punishment for brand new sellers that are trying to grow their business. 

Nothing about Star Seller is "apparent to the world".  You either have a badge or your don't and it really means very little (if anything) to buyers.

The badge is not worth the time it took to type all this, you don't need it, it gives you nothing of value as a seller.  Ignore it, the sky will not fall, and you are not being publicly shamed for the lack of it.  Your buyers neither know nor care.

[catfluff]

i take it the OP didnt get SS this month?