Star seller response rate

[CustomThreads1]

I have not  received star seller for July because I failed to respond to two messages.  One was a request to cancel an order which I did the same day as the purchase & request to cancel, but didn't send a "reply."  The second was a message from a seller to which I didn't reply.  Do I have to actually send a reply to every message I receive?  Something is wrong with this picture.  Any help?  

[NanaLetha]

You must reply to all messages or mark as spam 

[vintageNCtreasures]

Yes you have to reply to all messages or mark as spam.
It's been the rules for around 3 years now.

If you got a message AND a help request, you needed to reply to "both" of them.

Etsy has no idea who a message is from.

How to Become a Star Seller – Etsy Help

The Message response rate only applies to the first message in a thread. Initial messages from both buyers and sellers on Etsy are counted towards the Message response rate. 

To help keep track of messages you should prioritize for Star Seller metrics, notification badges are displayed on messages which are: 

• A buyer’s first time contacting you
• A new help with order request

Both of these types of messages need to be responded to in 24 hours to be counted positively toward your Star Seller score.

[BagmakerSupply]

@CustomThreads1: "Do I have to actually send a reply to every message I receive?" No, the Star Seller metric is that only the FIRST message of EVERY NEW thread must be replied to (or marked as spam) within 24 hours and that includes Help Requests. It does not matter who sent it, the subject matter, if it is a duplicate or blank or anything else. The "message" that can be included on refund and cancellation forms does NOT count as a reply.

[SunnyShenille]

I just checked mine and it said I have 67% response rate. It says two messages were responded to in 24 hours but one message wasn’t. I only had two messages in June so how do I fix that one? There was no third message.

[JMOldeVintage]

@SunnyShenille  - I assume you are looking at your current CSV for star seller stats.
The next star seller badge to be awarded will be for July.
This July badge is based on your data (the %'s) for the months of April, May & this month, June. 

Is it possible that the message Etsy says was not replied to was received in April or May?
Since the stats based on percentages if you are receiving fewer messages this month that will quickly lower your overall response rate.

If however Etsy is indicating that it's a message received in June, first do check to be sure it wasn't a help request message. These messages can only be sent by a buyer & are kept separate from any other existing message threads.

Check your spam box. Etsy has been sending real messages to spam. Technically since it has been sent to spam this should not affect your stats. But if you took it out of spam & replied late then it will count against you. However, that wouldn't explain a "vanished message".

If you can't find this message anywhere, you can open a help ticket with Etsy. Then have the patience of a saint & reply to any generic replies that your issue is not resolved.

Note that Etsy seems reluctant to manually adjust star seller stats even if there truly has been a glitch. However if messages are literally disappearing, that is a concern. 

[Itsforyoujewelry]

Yes it happened to me and it was from a message I had bought from a seller nothing to do with my shop and I had sent the 1st message just asking when my order would ship then later they responded but I didn’t say anything because they just told me it shipped. Anyway takes about 3 to 4 months and they drop off.