Star seller Response rate flawed

[Vivartcity]

Hello, I’m an Etsy seller but I also buy products on Etsy. I purchased a digital printable from an Etsy shop and received an automated message from the shop to download and review the product. Since I did not respond to this particular message, my response rate went down from 100% to 75%, which takes away my star seller badge. As a seller, I make a really big effort to respond to all my costumers messages, and it’s not fair that they’d take away my badge. Has this ever happen to anyone? Is there a way to dispute it? 

[CraftyCornishMaids]

It is exactly the way it works

You have to reply to each new message thread, 

etsy does not read the millions of messages a day, if it is highlighted in blue, you have to reply

The seller who messaged you, messaged you deliberately, it is not automated.

You either reply, or mark it as spam 

[dippeldiundscribble · Accepted solution]

@Vivartcity 

Go to your Star Seller page and scroll down to the Q&A section.

https://www.etsy.com/your/shops/me/star-seller

Questions? We’ve got answers. -> Messages -> 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.

[KimsVillageShoppe]

This very same thing happened to me. It is a flaw in this system because it does not have anything to do with my score as a seller. The stars are for Seller's evaluation, not the buyer's evaluation. The algorithm needs to be adjusted to exclude when a seller chooses to support Esty by buying from other sellers. 

[Vivartcity]

Thanks for the replies. I get it, Etsy won’t make distinctions between messages coming from buyers or sellers, and I will just have to do my best to answer all. I just don’t get how me (as a customer) replying to a message from a buyer within 24h will make me a better seller. Maybe one day Etsy will separate the two. 

Thanks again!

[ChillwolfArt]

@Vivartcity 

Exactly as CraftyCornish and dippeldiund stated.  Just wanted you to know; you may get a friendly Message from another Seller, "How's it going"?  That counts also.

Any time you are not the Initiator of the Message, it needs to be answered to Marked as Spam (I'd only do that if it were true Spam).

Hope that helps.

[dippeldiundscribble]

---

@Vivartcity  schrieb:

I just don’t get how me (as a customer) replying to a message from a buyer within 24h will make me a better seller.

---

Being a good seller also means understanding how Etsy works. 

Read the Seller Handbook, the Etsy Help Center and the info on your Star Seller page.

Familiarize yourself with all the options provided by Etsy and use them to meet the criteria  and to simplify your work flow:

• Set up auto-reply
• Create and use saved replies
• Mark as spam 
• Set up a buyer account for your purchases

*1: How to set an auto-reply for Messages

*2: How to Use Saved Replies in Messages

[StitchyFrood]

Etsy doesn't need to separate the two. You manage your messages. If you find it problematic, you separate the two through making purchases through a separate buyer account or purchasing as a guest. 

[FunkyJunkyVintage]

To avoid this affecting your seller account you might create a buyer account for future purchases 

[mommawhazelsquilts]

"Has this ever happened to anyone?"

Yes...it's happened to a lot of people that didn't bother to read the rules of the game."

[KimsVillageShoppe]

It is a flaw in this system because it does not have anything to do with my score as a seller. The stars are for Seller's evaluation, not the buyer's evaluation. The algorithm needs to be adjusted to exclude when a seller chooses to support Esty by buying from other sellers. 

[CraftyCornishMaids]

@KimsVillageShoppe 

sellers can be buyers, or potential buyers

unless etsy reads the actual message, they won't know if it's about the order you bought from them

or if they have seen your shop once you bought, they like something in your shop, and are asking about it.

So, given etsy won't read millions of messages a day, they say you have to answer each new message thread - they even highlight them in BLUE, so you can't miss them

[hopeandjoystudios]

Put it in spam now and it should come off your % in a day or 2, Either make a buyer account or buy as a guest, Don't buy via your shop and you won't get the messages.

[KimsVillageShoppe]

True, but the algorithm can be adjusted to exclude when a seller chooses to support Esty by buying from other sellers, without reading all of the messages sent through this system. 

[CraftyCornishMaids]

@KimsVillageShoppe 

that seller, could have looked at your shop, when you purchased, saw something nice, and messaged you about it,

unless etsy reads every message, they won't know if it was about the sale to you, or if they have seen something in your shop they would like to purchase

either reply, as etsy says to do, or set up a separate buying account

[BagmakerSupply]

@KimsVillageShoppe: Do you really want some bot reading every one of your messages and guessing if it is a seller message, a buyer message, or your best friend inviting you over for coffee? How many threads would there be in this forum that "some bot incorrectly classified my message"?

[KimsVillageShoppe]

@BagmakerSupply: I agree with you, bots are too limited to be able to read and understand messages. What I would like is an algorithm to exclude buyer activity from seller activity. Or to rewrite that portion of the star program. I hope was, that my comment would show that there is a need for a change within the star program. 

[CraftyCornishMaids]

@KimsVillageShoppe 

A bot can't do that,

only a person can actually read the message , to see if it was a message about what you bought,

or a message about what the person might want to buy

a bot, and an algorithm, are basically the same thing, in this context

,,,

the way to separate buyer activity, from seller activity,

is to create an account, that you only use to buy from, and to keep your shop, for selling only

[BagmakerSupply]

@KimsVillageShoppe: The "problem" is that Etsy does not have the concept of true separate seller accounts and buyer accounts.

[CraftyCornishMaids]

@BagmakerSupply 

you can set up two separate accounts, with separate e-mails, then they don't mix

on your buyer account, just have it as a buyer, not a shop.

[BagmakerSupply]

@CraftyCornishMaids: True, but you can still buy and sell on both accounts. For an algorithm to easily and accurately classify messages an account would have to be restricted as "buyer only" or "seller only".

[CraftyCornishMaids]

you can only sell, if you set up the bank account, and verify etc,

so you can have a buyer only account, if you don't go the whole seller verification rigmarole

or you can buy as guest