Star Seller

[GeauxtoStitch]

Hi, I have responded to every message from my customers within the 24 hour time frame since I opened my shop three months ago, but my rating is 92%. The only thing I didn’t respond to was after  I left a five star review for something that I had purchased and that  seller thanked me for the review. I didn’t think I needed to respond with a thank you for a thank you. 

[UniqueGiftOrnaments]

The star seller is very clear that ALL new messages to be answered or put into spam. Bots don't know the difference between buyer and seller.

[Suniq]

You should respond to every messages or mark as spam.

[ChristmasIsLove]

"I didn’t think I needed to respond with a thank you for a thank you." 

You were mistaken. You need to respond to ALL initial messages, or mark it as spam. The rules are explained in detail on your Star Seller dashboard.

[CatsWhiskersCurios]

On the star seller dashboard:

"What messages count towards the message response rate?

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."

[BagmakerSupply]

@GeauxtoStitch: Probably almost everyone on this forum can sympathize with you but a quick search would show you innumerable threads about your exact issue. As it says right on your Star Seller page, you need to reply to the FIRST message of a NEW INCOMING THREAD.

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.

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. Note that subsequent messages from that account may go directly to the SPAM folder.

[WreathsByDonnaRose]

I had the same customer contact me about placing an order for the wrong size wreath. She contacted me through Etsy help with an order and also direct email to me.  I responded immediately.  Her issue was resolved and she placed a new order.  I lost my star seller badge because I responded to one of the messages but not both (same message).  Same customer, 2 ways of contacting.  Seems this should be able to be resolved and my star seller badge should be reactivated.  Please help.

[audreytherese]

Help requests are always separate from the regular messages and both messages required a response to qualify for SS, doesn't matter if they are exactly the same. 

[OmasFabricStash]

If you didn’t respond to the message from the seller then you didn’t respond to every message. Like the others have said when Etsy says all messages must be responded to they mean all of them. 

[SugarTaffySoap]

@GeauxtoStitch 

Many have done the same thing you did (not respond). Here is what Etsy Staff says: 

"The Message response rate counts initial messages from all Etsy members, both buyers, and other sellers. This is because fellow sellers could be potential buyers for your shop. If it's not a spam message it requires a response within 24 hours. If it is a spam message you can mark it as such and it won't count towards your score."

Here's what a Community Specialist has posted in several threads regarding Star Seller:

"We suggest using the Forums' Search function prior to posting (just be careful to not bump an old thread that hasn't seen any activity in the last months/years), as questions regarding the Star Seller Program have been extensively covered by our fellow members since its launch, as well as our official Star Seller Guide, which contains in-depth answers to some of the more common questions regarding Message Response Rate, Shipping, Local Pick-Up, Digital Orders, and other topics. You can check it out here: etsy.com/starseller. "