Star seller rating affected by non-seller messages

[GildedRubyNJ]

my star seller rating for message replies is at 33% because I received a few messages from sellers I purchased from. These were just thank-you follow up messages from the seller. I didn’t reply to them not realizing they would affect my seller rating. Is there any way to have these messages taken out of the calculation?

[CarnevalMefisto]

No, there is nothing you can do. Star Seller rating, from the very beginning, points out you have to reply to ANY message [Etsy doesn't divide if you're the seller or buyer - as in theory, even the shop owner you purchased from can write "Hey, thanks for purchase and btw your items are great, can you tell me more about item X, because I'm interested in buying!"].

You can set an auto reply.

[ChillwolfArt]

Hi, Sorry you were caught by this.  The S S Metrics require you to respond to ALL Messages (the first in a Message string), where you are not the Initiator (or Mark as Spam). You may receive a Message from another Seller whom you are friendly with; same rules apply.  Recently I received a Thank You Message from another Seller; I responded "Thank You". I've always used the same acct. for both buying and selling, so nothing really changed in regards to that.  Now should I receive a Message, "Buy my gems, 15% off", into Spam it goes. But I don't consider a Follow Up Message from another Seller, spam.

Hope this helps.

[HazelsSewingSupplies]

The rules are very clear that we have to respond to the first message in a thread within 24 hours - from BUYER or SELLER.  Since there are other rules that can trip a seller up, I recommend reading the rules, to prevent any other problems with the program, if it has not yet been done.

[thePaperFramer]

One of these days I am going to browse the forums and NOT see someone getting caught for not responding to a seller's message and posting about it here. RIGHT.....................

Then again maybe my listing for a certain bridge near Etsy's headquarters might gain some traction.

[HazelsSewingSupplies]

I sold that bridge a long time ago after someone pointed out that it was fairly close to Etsy Hdqtrs.  I think someone from Etsy bought it.

[BagmakerSupply]

@GildedRubyNJ: "Is there any way to have these messages taken out of the calculation?" 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 if the original message was within the current star seller period (but not retroactively). 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 something else. As it says right on your Star Seller page and elsewhere, you need to reply to the FIRST message of EVERY NEW INCOMING THREAD within 24 hours. 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.

[PrimFun]

Read the information on star seller.  It says that all new messages must be answered be it as seller or buyer.

It's a good idea to familiraze youself with Etsy's guidelines.  

[BootifulLabels]

There are two ways to have these messages removed from the count, but ONLY for the future, it won't work retroactively.  The first is to answer them as the rules stipulate you need to do.  The second is to create a separate buying account and use that for purchasing instead of your selling account.  This one makes the most sense, it is a quick and easy fix, and your badge will be safe.