Star Seller tag's unfair average score criteria

[Venemask]

In the evaluation of Star Seller between December 1, 2023 and February 29, 2024, I made 16 sales, which corresponds to almost 1/3 of my sales. I was able to get a review from 11 of these sales, which is a good rate with all my efforts, and in this period, 8 5 stars, 2 4 stars and 1 I received 3 stars, before this period my average was 4.9, but the 3 stars I received in this period brought my average down to 4.6 and in order to correct it to the criterion of 4.8, I needed to collect about 5 more 5-star reviews and this did not happen, I should point out that the total number of reviews is 16.

I could not reach this number of sales in a period covering 1/3 of my sales and I am losing my Star Seller tag because of only 1 3-star rating. If I had not sent thank you cards and thank you messages to the buyers, maybe I would not have received this star and I would have been able to protect my label. I have already been able to meet the requirement with 5 reviews for months and I do not ask for reviews from customers. It was not necessary, I think that the current evaluation conditions and rules make the sellers more reluctant to deal with the customers and ask their opinion after receiving the product, because I asked my customer for his opinion and after my message I received a 3-star evaluation and as you will appreciate, the sales of the stores that sell products at high values are not high in every period. And since it cannot be possible, I think that these evaluation criteria are not suitable for sellers like us and unfortunately their unfair aspects have emerged. Considering the development of different methods regarding this in the future will be very helpful to us.

[TheVintagePineapple]

There's a possibility you may lose the SS permanently if any the IP owners contact Etsy and ask them to deactivate one or more of your masks.  Several notifications and you could lose your shop.

[Venemask]

I'm sorry, what exactly are you saying this about? Did you mention such a possibility on the current topic, or are you stating another possibility?

[TheVintagePineapple]

The topic concerns the possible loss of SS stars and badges.  My reply above is regarding the listings that infringe on movie titles, their characters, musicians, etc., and how they relate to SS requirements.

[Venemask]

I am always aware of this risk and I take it by researching it when listing existing products. Thank you for the information. However, do you think me creating this topic and expressing my opinion will trigger this further?

[Vintorious]

We have the opportunity to thank customers in the automatic response in the order itself, so there is no need for further outreach unless the buyer reaches out to us with a question or concern about the order. Some buyers are not happy about unsolicited messages, even if they are "thank you" messages, and may signal their annoyance by giving a less than stellar review. I personally never ask for reviews, as I have seen it backfire with others.

[Venemask]

Yes, I am very hesitant to offend people on this issue, but that was not the reason for the comment. He made a general comment about the product and the score he gave did not match the comment he made. The slightly controversial issue here is that while Etsy encourages us to give customers thank you cards and coupons, etc., we encounter such situations when we comply with them. . When we do not touch anything, we meet the requirements without effort.

And from now on, I will correct my score and definitely comply with this and not contact anyone too much.

[Adorabilities]

The problem with asking for reviews is that some customers, who wouldn't have otherwise bothered to review, might not give you 5 stars. Better to allow reviews to come naturally. (Plus, Etsy sends enough review reminders already.)

[Venemask]

But unfortunately, sellers like me may not have been aware that Etsy was already reporting customers this way, and could have told us to approach it accordingly.

[VintageRescueSquad]

I agree. I do not want any further contact from any places I purchase from unless I contact them.

Some see it as pestering, and wouldn't have bothered leaving a review but think "now that you mention it..."

[Venemask]

Exactly the same, and unfortunately some of them are far from empathy and perhaps as we try to make our store look good, they forget that we are just a small business and we make our products ourselves and expect much more extreme things. I dont know.

[Adorabilities]

@Venemask 
Haven't you ever bought anything here? It would be a good idea, if only to see how things work as a customer.

[Venemask]

Yes, I bought something here. Before purchasing the product, I examined the images and descriptions presented. I became aware of what I was buying from what the store offered me, and I reviewed it in return. However, I don't know this because I've turned off notifications from Etsy as a customer, which makes more sense for us to be notified as a seller than to find out that way, right? 

[GroundZeroCreations]

We are all in the same boat when it comes to the way SS is calculated. I missed it last month because of a 1 star rating, although the written review indicated the buyer was very happy. Obviously, something weird occurred for the star rating to be so different from the written review.

The bottom line is that we are playing on Etsy's playground and it is sellers that must adapt and adjust to whatever changes Etsy makes. It isn't that I don't empathize with you, it's just that these concerns have been broached since the first days of the program. I don't worry about whether I get SS or not! It honestly makes zero difference in the amount of money I make here. 

And yes, sellers yet P__ssed off when you start soliciting reviews. 

[Venemask]

I am glad that we share the same ideas, but I do not think exactly like you. It is unfair to expect stores that can make 20-30 sales per month by selling their products in the 10-30 dollar range, and stores that can make 5-15 sales per month by selling their products in the 100-300 dollar range, to meet the same requirements.

[GroundZeroCreations]

Don't think anyone ever thought it was fair on Etsy. 🤷‍    🤦‍     

[ThePurplePuppy]

@Venemask 

Don't feel like the lone ranger. I am probably going to lose my SS  tonight simply because of 1 4 star review . While the "human" who bought it likes it really well her "dog" hates it!  So I got marked down because the dog did not like it as well as the owner!  Simply put--I just did not get enough other reviews to offset it.

While we might not feel it is "fair" nowhere does anyone say anything in life is "fair". That is about one of the first things my parents taught me.

You just roll with the punches--and laugh about it if you can. I actually think that review of mine is pretty funny!

[Venemask]

@ThePurplePuppy Hahah, yes, actually it is, but I try desperately to keep hope, I see people's thoughts on this issue, I confirm that I am not alone and I reinforce the thought that it will not work. This will probably continue to happen to me and many of us a few more times and the anger will be replaced by empty laughter

[bradgoodell]

"It is unfair to expect stores that can make 20-30 sales per month by selling their products in the 10-30 dollar range, and stores that can make 5-15 sales per month by selling their products in the 100-300 dollar range, to meet the same requirements."

The bar has to be set somewhere.  Etsy made Star Seller fairly simple and everyone has to meet the same metrics.  People would scream "unfair" if Etsy made exceptions, or adjustments, or had different rules for some sellers than for others.  You would likely be perfectly happy if your shop made the cut-off, but you are unhappy when it doesn't. Welcome to the club, lots of sellers have missed becoming Star Seller for 1 bad rating or missing 1 message or shipping 1 package late.  However, Star Seller would be meaningless if the bar was set so low that everyone could achieve it.

I'm sorry, I know that isn't what you want to hear.  

[Venemask]

yes I know that's the case when we look at it overall, but maybe changes can be added such as reducing or expanding the evaluation intervals, for example, as I mentioned above, the comment I got this 3 stars was a comment stating that the product was not bad, it just didn't meet his own expectation, and he associated it with 3 stars, even though this was not missing in the product I offered. I don't think it would be very unreasonable to offer these worst-case star conditions an option that we could discuss with Etsy.

[Adorabilities]

Believe it or not, the star metrics used to be worse. Even one of those 4-star reviews would have disqualified you when the program started.
It's become "fairer" since then. 
It's not a must to have the star seller badge. Try not to worry about it -- this program has been going on for a long time, and all of our complaints have done very little. You will have a chance again next month, or the month afterwards.

[Venemask]

Unfortunately, I have no idea about the past, my concern is that there are stores and products that have proven themselves in my category, and I think this label has an effect on their preference. In general, yes, these will not be big steps to get a reaction, but I think the more Etsy knows the thoughts of sellers and the problems they experience, the better it will be.

[ThriftyThinkers]

What if we sellers could post reviews of our experience with our buyer? The "system" could be balanced. Anyone else ask for some kind of balance such as this? Thanks!

[Vintorious]

@ThriftyThinkers sellers once could rate buyers, but that went away a while ago. Currently, we can share our experience in our reply to a review, when it's warranted.

[HouseofWhisperingFir]

After initiating the Star Seller program 2 1/2+ years ago , I think Etsy exactly knows the thoughts of the sellers regarding the requirements and their dismay.  You are kicking a dead horse........................(I love horses- please no offense intended)