message response rate

[TheThreadedSpool]

I received 10 messages in the last month.  This month I responded to 9 of them within 24 hours.  I had 1 message that came from someone I BOUGHT something from, not from someone who purchased from me.  I didn't respond to the message because it was an automatic message asking me to check out their facebook page.  ETSY counted that message against my star seller rating!  I've been a star seller in all categories since day one and now, I'm at 90% for the message responses!  Is there anyway to get that changed?  Seems very unfair. 

[UniqueGiftOrnaments]

If you read the star seller information on your dashboard, you will see we have to answer every new message or put into spam. Bots can't tell which is from buyer or seller.

[BagmakerSupply · Accepted solution]

@TheThreadedSpool: Probably everyone in this forum can sympathize with you but as you will see by the innumerable threads about the exact same issue in this forum it is not likely to change.

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. 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.

The CSV file appears to contain only the first messages of a new thread as that is all that is used for calculations.

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".

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.

[Anteeka]

Very frustrating and stupid really this whole star seller lark. So many flaws. You buy something from another shop and happen to be a seller. Why do you have to reply to an acknowledgment of an order note or a tracking number message within 24 hours to be considered as providing good customer service? Not happy with the increasing number of hurdles we have to jump over just to sell on this platform.

[audreytherese]

They have no way of knowing what the message is in regards to. I really don't want Etsy reading through my messages. 

The seller could have looked at your profile, realized you also have a shop, and bought something from you (has happened to me - I had a seller become my buyer). 

If it's really a problem, then create a second account that is only used for buying, thus no need to worry about responding to any messages. 

And you don't have to jump over this hurdle to sell on this platform - you only have to worry about this parameter if you care about this program (that I am far from seeing any benefits to having - some people said they get an easier way to contact support through a chat button, but I've never seen that feature). 

[BagmakerSupply]

@Anteeka: And how does replying to only the first message from a buyer show good customer service, because you could ignore all subsequent messages? The rules are relatively clear and not that hard to comply with. I don't think any seller will argue with you that there are flaws in the program, but it it is what it is and there is no point in stressing over it.

[FallenAngelBrass]

@TheThreadedSpool 

Many sellers have separate buying accounts.  That's always an option.