Top Seller Badge

[BohoBeachFinds]

I have lost my Top Seller Badge this month as apparently I did not respond to all my messages within the specified time. When I checked on this the particular message that I did not respond to immediately was from someone I had purchased something from, not from one of my Etsy customers. The message was to inform me about tracking information regarding the item I had ordered therefore I did not respond to it immediately. I was not aware that I needed to respond to messages from people I purchase items from within a specific time frame to retain my Top Seller Badge. Could you please clarify whether this is the case? 

[AAANativeArts]

Read the rules on the Star Seller Page. It plainly states  you must answer ALL convos at least once, or else mark them as Spam. It does not matter what they are about.

[NanaLetha · Accepted solution]

The criteria is very clear. Respond to all messages or mark as spam.

[ImperfectlybyLinnie]

hope this helps @BohoBeachFinds 

https://community.etsy.com/t5/Managing-Your-Shop/Penalized-for-not-responding-to-message-from-seller...

[GieseDeseiGns]

Are you referring to top seller badge or star seller badge, two different things, the top seller comes and goes. The star seller is for messages, shipping,  stars, and income; it is based on 3 months of sales, for Nov. that is Aug. Sept. and Oct. 

[BagmakerSupply · Accepted solution]

@BohoBeachFinds: Probably almost everyone on this forum can sympathize with you but a quick search would show you innumerable threads about your exact issue.

The Star Seller metric is that the FIRST message of a NEW thread must be replied to (or marked as spam) within 24 hours. Subsequent messages from the same account (a buyer may have multiple accounts) are supposed to be combined into a single thread.

Help Requests always start a new thread. By the way, if you are creating a custom listing based on a new thread, you still need to reply to the message. Etsy is now putting a blue text warning / advisory on those messages they consider to be a "new message" but should semantically be called a "new thread".

Cancellation requests must be replied to in the actual message - replies using the cancellation form do not count as a response.

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. But be aware that doing so may cause other messages from that account to do directly to the spam folder.

[VinntageFindss]

I’ve been a Star Seller for the last three months and quite honestly, it’s not that serious. It’s not driving additional sales to your site, at least I don’t think it is. It’s good recognition to your efforts. But I think overall, you need to be consistent in how you deliver on your customer and potential customers experience with your shop. I respond to every message. I’ve even encouraged people to competitive price shop with other sellers I personally like that sell the same items I sell. You can’t get too caught up on the designations by Etsy. 

[BohoBeachFinds]

Hi, Thanks for your response. I too always try to respond almost immediately to any message that I receive from a buyer.  My issue here was that Etsy penalised me for not responding immediately to a message from someone I had purchased something from for myself. I was not aware that this would affect my status as a seller. Now that I realise this is the case I will make sure I respond to all messages as soon as possible in future.