Star Stellar incorrectly calculated

[MichelleTreasurFinds]

I purchased an item from another ETSY seller.  She responded to my question.  It went into my messages.  It did not require a response from me.  I was dinged as not responding even though this was not from a customer.  It disallowed my Star Steller for February.  No way to contact anyone at ETSY for a response or correction on this.  Not happy.

[UniqueGiftOrnaments]

The star seller clearly states that every new message must be answered or put into spam. Bots can't tell the difference between buyer and seller. It's been this way for more than a year

[OmasFabricStash]

If you want the star seller then answering all messages is required. Etsy made it clear that ALL messages must be responded to. 

[BootifulLabels · Accepted solution]

Sorry, but right from the start Etsy has made it clear that ALL initial messages require a response (or to be marked as spam) within 24 hrs.  The system is automated, and is programmed to look at initial messages and compare the time received with the time answered.  It doesn't matter who the message is from, or what it is about, nobody reads your messages, and I daresay most of us would not want them to.

If you don't want your purchases to damage your SS rating, don't buy on your seller account.  Either open a buyer only account, or log out and purchase with guest checkout.  That way you won't get pinged on your seller account.

[TemplateSnap]

Clearly, personal purchases and messages should not affect anyone's score as a SELLER. Let's be honest here and admit that automation can sometimes be flawed. Which in this case it is!

[audreytherese]

Unless you have a separate account, there's no way to tell that the message was about a purchase. 

Being from someone you purchased from doesn't make a difference. I once make a purchase from a shop, who then saw I had a shop and made a purchase from me. We then both became both sellers and buyers. So whose messages should have been omitted from the metrics in that scenario? 

Yes, sometimes automation can be flawed. And at the same time, not everything can be automated. Can we just admit that sometimes we as sellers should take some responsibility for things well within out control? 

[MichelleTreasurFinds]

I didn't know to set up a separate buyer account.  Thank you!  If I had responded to her, we would have had to swap emoji's every day into perpetuity!

[audreytherese]

You don't have to answer every message (swapping emoji's into perpetuity), you only have to answer all first messages. They should show as blue, or have a blue banner (I can't remember), something that shows you they are new and require a response. 

[BagmakerSupply]

@MichelleTreasurFinds: 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. It will not adjust stats retroactively. Note that subsequent messages from that account may go directly to the SPAM folder.

[CherryTees]

I always make sure to get the last message in on any of my conversations that were started by either myself or a buyer.

[VINTAGEbytheMAGPIE]

You have misunderstood how the Star seller messaging metric works , you may wish to look at the criteria again

help.etsy.comHow-to-Become-a-Star-Seller 

[MichelleTreasurFinds]

Thanks everyone!  I'm always diligent to respond to EVERY customer and do it quickly.  But since I was the customer who received a response, I didn't realize it was still necessary.  I thought we would be swapping emoji's daily forever.  Now I understand to set up a separate buyer account for my future purchases and this should resolve this error. 

[LynnsLittleShop]

And even though you will use it as a buyer's account you will still have to disclose it. 

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