Star seller message rate

[ArtfullyWickedShop]

I answer ALL of my messages when it comes to my customers.  I was just dinged points because of a seller that messaged me with a SPAM message and I did not immediately reply.  I should not be penalized for not answering what is clearly an incoming spam message.  I'd like that fixed please.

[GieseDeseiGns]

If its clearly SPAM then don't ignore it,  put it in the spam folder where it belongs. If you always use the app you need to use a browser to do this, but do it even now and you should see your points come back.

[WitticismsRus]

Or you can use the orange etsy shopping app. That one has the 'mark as spam' option if you prefer to use apps.

[WitticismsRus · Accepted solution]

@ArtfullyWickedShop 

Did you mark that message as spam? If not then that is why it is being counted against you. You have to reply or mark as spam to ALL messages. 

Etsy is pretty clear about how the message response rate is calculated in help center here https://help.etsy.com/hc/en-us/articles/4403058372503-How-to-Become-a-Star-Seller?segment=selling

And it's also also on the Star Seller page in Shop Manager. Both clearly say messages from both buyer and seller accounts are counted.

That means ALL messages. It also means each individual message thread so if someone sends you 5 different messages with 5 questions instead of putting them in the same message chain you need to respond to all 5 of them.

The system is completely automated and doesn't know if the message is from a buyer or another seller. It isn't reading every message and making a decision if it's from a seller or a customer or what it's about. It's a computer program that calculates data. It just sees a message and calculated the response time. That's just how it works

If the star is important to you then it may be a good idea to read or review all the info Etsy provides about the star seller program.

Bottom line...you have to either reply or mark as spam.

It takes just a few seconds to mark spam as spam or send a quick thank you reply for non-spam messages. Or you can set up an auto-reply every 5 days.

Etsy provides tools for sellers to use , it's up to us to use them.

[ArtfullyWickedShop]

Thanks. I answered it later when I saw it.  Can it still be marked as spam?

[bradgoodell]

If it was this month, yes.  

[BagmakerSupply]

@ArtfullyWickedShop: "I should not be penalized for not answering what is clearly an incoming spam message." The Star Seller metric for messages is very simplistic and binary - either you replied to (or marked as SPAM) that first message of a new incoming thread within 24 hours or you did not.

If the unanswered new thread is not a Help Request, at least for the time being, it appears that marking an unanswered new thread as SPAM (even after the 24 hour deadline has passed) will cause your reply percentage to change in a day or two (but not retroactively) 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.

You may want to reread the Star Seller rules so that you are not surprised by anything else.

"I'd like that fixed please."  Even if Etsy Support or the Help Pages sent you here this is a seller peer to peer forum, and should not be considered a way to contact Etsy, if that is your hope (although Etsy does sometimes read and reply to posts).

[ArtfullyWickedShop]

Thanks for all of the help you guys.  I do appreciate it.