Star Seller

[InstantPrintables]

I am so discouraged.  I have been a top seller in the past, having Best Sellers every Christmas Season for maybe three years.  I believe I had four best sellers last Christmas.  Anyway, I think there has been a mistake in my messages being counted toward becoming a Star Seller. I received two messages from a buyer on July 25, 2022, and I answered them both very quickly.  I did not realize that she had sent two messages in one day.  I didn't even see the second one, but I still answered the it by July 26, 2022.  I kept messaging her day after day, but she never responded.  So, I'm confused, especially since you were going to combine messages from buyers into one thread in June.  Please help.

Also, I got a one star rating from a customer months ago.  He tried to blow up the image far larger than I recommended, but he complained it was pixelated.  I explained to him what happened, but he never changed the review.  Is it possible for you to forgive one review when it's a little crazy?  I always get five star ratings.  And it has been months since that one review.  Please help me.  I want to be a Star Seller during the Christmas rush.  It does make a difference.  Buyers don't trust you.  My sales have been lower this spring and summer.

[BagmakerSupply · Accepted solution]

@InstantPrintables  :  This is a seller peer to peer forum, not a way to contact Etsy, if that is your hope (although Etsy does sometimes post here). Unfortunately, Etsy had made it clear that they will not manually adjust Star Seller data.

Have you checked the appropriate CSV file to see which messages Etsy thinks you have not replied to on time?

Etsy has been very clear and consistent about messages / convos from the very beginning of the Star Seller program. The Star Seller metric is that the FIRST message of a NEW thread must be replied to within 24 hours. It does not matter who sent it, the subject matter, if it is a duplicate or blank or anything else. If it is SPAM then it should be marked as such. Those have always been the rules. Subsequent messages from the same account (a buyer may have multiple accounts) are supposed to be combined into a single thread.

Help Requests always start a new thread. By the way, if you are creating a custom listing based on a new thread, you still need to reply to the message. Etsy is now putting a blue text warning / advisory on those messages they consider to be a "new message" but should semantically be called a "new thread".

At least for the time being, it appears that marking an unanswered message as SPAM (even after the 24 hour deadline has passed) will cause your reply percentage to change in a day or two if the original message was within the current star seller period.

Remember that for Star Seller only the previous three months count (for October star it is July, August, and September).

[CraftyCornishMaids]

Etsy puts together the ones they can

etsy does not put e-mailed messages into the same thread

and they don't mix the "contact" ones with the "purchase and reviews" - very important, as the "purchase and review" messages start the 48 hour clock before they can open a case

However, it's each new message THREAD - and etsy highlights it in blue.

Etsy works on a 24 hour clock not days, so if you answered it the next day, but 25 hours, it would be overdue

[GemstoneWorldUK]

I am sorry to hear about your troubles with star seller badge. However plenty of trusted and successful shops don't have one. We stopped caring about it long ago and we can't complain at lack of sales. Best of luck to you!

[SugarTaffySoap]

@InstantPrintables  for the messages check mark them and  move to spam > Click "Move to Spam" above (in bold) so your SS % rating will re-adjust.  You are allowed to do this  after a buyer message has been answered. Unfortunately, you won't be able to do anything with the one star rating. If you click on Report This Review (under the buyers review) you can read why. (The review doesn't contain private info, it's not objectionable language, does not contain advertising or spam and it is not about etsy or a 3rd party.) Also, your low sales have no effect on being being a star seller. Also you may want to think about putting your location on your page.  Hope this helps. Good luck.

[CraftyCornishMaids]

@InstantPrintables 

Be VERY careful marking as spam,

as you will not get any more messages from them in your inbox, so if they message you about a late delivery, and it goes to spam, then they open a case because you haven't replied, etsy will automatically refund from you.

You could also miss new messages requesting something about another item, and by not responding, lose the sale... and all future sales from them.

Is the group of blue pixels really worth it?

[audreytherese]

Maybe your sales are lower because all of your digital prints can be found in many other Etsy shops, as well as all over the internet. It's tougher competition when you have nothing original, and definitely doesn't make me trust a shop, star or no star. 

[JJewellerySuppliesUK]

@audreytherese  There is no need to put the shop down and besides you are not allowed to give a critique in the forum unless the poster asked for one. 

[JJewellerySuppliesUK]

These are the perils of selling online.  You can't expect to have a perfect track record all of the time.  Most of us have had what we consider to be unfair reviews so try not to worry about it and carry on. 

[BusyBooksByAaron]

I got a notification for 2 messages over 24hrs after they had ‘arrived’. The thing is that I check constantly and the messages were not there when they were supposed to be. When they arrived to inbox they were a day old. How am I supposed to reply to messages right away if they don’t show up in my inbox on time? Very discouraging. This didn’t happen until I switched to the new app and yes my notification settings are fine

[CraftyCornishMaids]

don't use the app for anything important with your account

use a browser

and use the messages section of your shop,

[ZiaDesignDungeon]

Star Seller is getting to the line of discrimination! I had to immediately close my bank account due to a fraud case that was being handle by US Federal Trade Commission. I was told to immediately close my bank account. After I opened a new account I was able to update all of my online venues accept for Etsy! I did everything that I was told to do on the Etsy page to update my account information but it continued to tell me over and over the information was not correct. I knew it was correct because it worked for everyone else. I email Etsy and after weeks no one responded but I was informed if I was a Star Seller I would have been able to have a phone conversation with Etsy right away! I waited weeks and finally had to file with the BBB so I could get someone to respond to me and fix the issue. This is not right and this Star Seller Program has gone too far! I should not have to wait weeks for Etsy to respond to something that needed to be immediately responded to by The Federal Trade Commission.

[AAANativeArts]

Star Seller and Best Seller are two different things. No, they won't forgive a "crazy" review unless it meets a few very specific criteria, such as naming the shipping carrier who caused a delay.

Star seller neither helps search engine placement or improves sales, according to the people who have it.

Best Selling products are based on what has sold the most within a category and has nothing to do with Star Seller. If it is still a Best Seller, you should still get that designation, unless it is showing some other Details. There is only room for so many of those notices on your listing.

ALL messages must either be answered or marked Spam within 24 hours, if it is the first message in a Convo series.