Star Seller

[YellowBanksDesigns]

Issue is that i should have gotten the Star seller badge this month. I got it on 2 of them but not the messages one. Anyways i respond to all my seller messages correctly within the time frame. But there where 2 message on july 1 that are from me ordering digital files on my reg act not seller act. That are auto messages from the seller asking for reviews. Why is this affecting my seller status? 

[NanaLetha]

Because you must reply to ALL messages or mark as spam. It's an automated program and does not read the messages.

[PersonalizeStation]

From the star seller dashboard....

"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."

To avoid this, you can open a buyer-only account. 

[Serrelynda]

Many messages that I have on record are not even listing on the CSV spreadsheet.  Their numbers are off this period.

[PersonalizeStation]

That issue could very well be due to the "improvements" Etsy made with combining messages (which I happen to be opposed to). It caused an array of issues with the messaging system. 

[Serrelynda]

There are many many messages that are in my convos/messages that are not on the spreadsheet.  It really skewed my numbers.  

[CraftyCornishMaids]

etsy is linking convos now, from the same buyer, so the total number will be less,

they did this by "popular request"

[WitticismsRus]

@YellowBanksDesigns 

"But there where 2 message on july 1 that are from me ordering digital files on my reg act not seller act..."

Just to clarify are you saying you have 2 different accounts? One for buying and one for selling? Meaning 2 different and separate log ins for 2 different and separate accounts? And you made a purchase on another account that's not linked to your shop and it's counting on this account you are posting from that is linked to your shop? If so then yes, that sounds like a glitch. 

Now if you mean that you purchased with the same account you are posting from, the same account your shop is linked to then no, it is not a glitch. Your shop is linked to your account, that's just how it works.

The only way to have "reg act " and a "seller act" is to have 2 different accounts, 2 different log ins, 2 different emails etc. 

[GothamBBC]

Sometimes a client will send you a message, you'll respond. Then they send you another one on a separate thread. If you respond on the first thread, ETSY will still count the second thread as a new message that has not been responded to in 24 hours. I got snagged on that one myself. 

[DealByTheSea]

This happened to me this month and meant that I have lost my star seller status! I contacted Etsy support a couple of weeks ago and they assured me that the threads were being merged and it wouldn’t affect my status but it has. I’m so disappointed as I work really hard in providing great customer service and I don’t feel this is reflected by Etsy! 

[GothamBBC]

I made the same merge request and they refused. Star Seller status is probably missed more often by ETSY's ineffective calculations rather than a Seller missing an actual objective. 

[CraftyCornishMaids]

Reply to each new thread once

If it's a combined thread, it's once for the combination

if it's separate threads, then it's reply to each thread

August star seller is based on May-July, which still has threads which are not combined....but you can see them in your messages

if it's a NEW THREAD, then reply

[HtoHdesign · Accepted solution]

Hey There!

The Message response rate counts only initial messages from all Etsy members, both buyers, and other sellers. This is because fellow sellers could be potential buyers for your shop. 

Starting June 30th, we combine messages from the same member into a single thread. To earn your Star Seller badge, you’ll still need to respond to initial messages from members within 24 hours—but you’ll see fewer message threads from the same members. Learn more about this and some other exciting changes here.

Thanks!

[UrbanVintageAffair]

Hi My star sellers badge was not awarded to my shop this month due to a message reply after 24hrs. Which i am unsure which you are referring too. i have no outstanding conversation with customers or enquires, i reply straight away or within an hour. I did have a customer contact me on two separate messages but continued the conversation on one thread, which was the initial one. Please can this be amended? Thank you Natasha 

[NicoleEstesStudio]

Yes!  I lost star seller because I was a buyer and purchased jewelry. The seller sent me a message that stated please do not respond to this message unless something needs to be corrected on your order. So I didn’t respond and now my message response is 50%. Wow! Way to punish sellers for purchasing from other sellers on Etsy. This is not right and I’m very unhappy about it. Fix the algorithm. 

[BootifulLabels]

There is nothing to fix.  Etsy has made it clear from the start that ALL new messages need to be answered or marked as spam within 24 hours.  Nobody reads your messages to determine who they are from or in what context they fit.  The AI filter simply counts all new messages and looks for a response for each.  If you don't want to formulate a response to a message you can create a snippet that says "no response required" or "no changes needed" or just plain "thanks".  It only needs three clicks to select and add the snippet and send it off.  Alternatively you can mark the message as spam and it won't count, or  better still, create a buyer only account and keep your purchasing activity separate from your selling and you won't have to worry.

We may not like the way the program works, but it is clearly defined and if you want the badge you have to meet the requirements as they stand.    

[BagmakerSupply]

Subsequent messages from the same account (a buyer may have multiple accounts) are supposed to be combined into a single thread but do not rely on that. We have had at least two cases where we sent a message to an existing buyer with an existing thread and the system inexplicably started a NEW thread.

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". If a new thread does not have that advisory, that thread should be reported to Etsy.

[CraftyCornishMaids]

if the message comes from clicking through on "purchases and reviews"
It starts a new thread, because that starts the 48 hour clock ticking, from when they can open a case

and I think ones that come from the "reply" button embedded in the e-mail start new ones too. 

[BagmakerSupply]

@CraftyCornishMaids: The situation we described was sending a message to a buyer from the order itself where the existing thread was clearly visible.

[GothamBBC]

You'll get no sense of satisfaction stating your thoughts regarding Star Seller. The process has massive faults and ETSY knows about it. All you will get back are folks restating the policies and nothing more. It's a poorly conceived process with shortfalls that sometimes makes a seller feel good and sometimes makes a seller feel badly. 

Just press the "Thumb Down" button if you don't like ETSY's answers to you. Oh, that's right, I forgot, there is no "Thumb Down" button, ETSY also does not want to hear anything about Star Seller, just stick to the rules and keep quiet.....

[mailordervintage]

As a Canadian shop, it is unlikely that I will ever be a Star Seller...when I ship within Canada and it fits through the required slot, I do not get tracking...with tracking Canada Post prices are ridiculous so it is not worth it to my customers.  That being said, I wonder if being a Star seller is over rated...I had a very busy February without the 'Star" and have just stopped worrying about it.  Other then giving good customer service I just accept things they way they are...not always fair tho.