star seller and rating errors

[ByronsBarbies]

How does Etsy pick and choose what messages they are going to count and not count for the response rating? I understand that messages in the same thread count as 1 message, but Etsy is choosing not to count new messages for my shop from buyers. I sent Etsy the dates they did not include in my message log and all I got was a generic response to answer emails within 24 hours, which I do. Also, my rating dropped by 3 points overnight (Oct. 1-2) with no shop activity. Why? I have consistent 5-star reviews, but Etsy is showing a 4.8 for buyer reviews. I emailed them about this; they said I had 5-star reviews and asked me to send a screenshot showing the 4.8 rating; I did but didn’t receive a response. Etsy also deleted my listing for a Barbie skirt because they said it 'violated the intellectual property policy'. When I asked why, Etsy claimed it never happened. I sent them a copy of the email I received from them deleting the listing. No response. I'm getting the impression that Etsy is deliberately undermining sellers. What is going on with Etsy?

[dippeldiundscribble · Accepted solution]

All your questions about Star Seller are explained on your Star Seller Dashboard. Scroll down to the Q&A section and read everything carefully…

https://www.etsy.com/your/shops/me/star-seller

[ByronsBarbies]

I have not found the answers/explanation as to why a new thread of answered responses are not counted and how consistent 5-star reviews are averaged to a 4.8.

[TTGamingSolutions]

Once you respond to a thread, it counts as responded to, even if the customer was the last one to send a message in the thread.  The only ones that count against you are the threads that you don't respond in at all.  If you get spam messages, you can mark them as spam and they won't count against you either.

[ByronsBarbies]

But the problem is that Etsy simply is not counting everything to which I have responded.

[BagmakerSupply]

@ByronsBarbies: "But the problem is that Etsy simply is not counting everything to which I have responded." Keep in mind that the Star Seller metric is NOT all new messages but only the first message of all new incoming threads, and usually a new incoming thread is not included until after the 24 hour reply window has passed regardless of when you replied.

[mommawhazelsquilts]

Also, the Barbie question should be a no brainer.  You can't use her name to sell items - pure and simple.

[ByronsBarbies]

A no brainer? You clearly don't understand the issue-if Barbie's name is not allowed to be used, then ALL the sellers' listings for Barbie dolls, outfits and accessories should be deleted.

[BagmakerSupply]

@ByronsBarbies: You are correct - they should be. But the trademark owner just caught you before the others. And you don't know how many listings were taken down along with yours,

[SugarTaffySoap]

@ByronsBarbies They are only concerned about non-responsive messages. 

Your message response rate is based on just the first message in a conversation, not ongoing conversations. This means you just need to respond to the first message within 24 hours. This applies to messages both from buyer and seller accounts. Messages from Etsy staff do not count toward your response rate, and neither do messages that you mark as spam. You can also now find a breakdown of your message response rate score by downloading a CSV.

[ByronsBarbies]

I've downloaded my message response rate, but still do not understand why Etsy is choosing to not count the first message in each conversation from buyers that were replied to within hours. I've thoroughly reviewed the seller handbook and don't understand why Etsy is not following their own policies and standards that they have set up.