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[NanaLetha]

The star seller criteria is very clear. You must either reply to all messages or mark as spam. It's an automated program and no one is reading your messages.

[JJewellerySuppliesUK]

The bot doesn't know who the message is from, just that there is an unanswered one. 

[mommawhazelsquilts]

"they should be able to eliminate the ones that don't count"

The problem with that theory is that "they do count".

PS:  They are not mistakes (at least not on Etsy's part).

[JJewellerySuppliesUK]

Sorry but Etsy will not make any adjustments for you. 

[WitticismsRus]

@GoBeDigital 

The only way to separate them is for you to open a separate buyer only account and only make purchases with that account.

[GlassyFields]

now that you know you have to respond to the initial message from someone within 24 hours ... you can mark those messages as spam and they'll be dropped from counting against you in your star seller message stats. 

[mommawhazelsquilts]

We see these posts the first of every month and this program has been in effect for about 20-22 months?  

Etsy is very good about posting information in our dashboard area about everything they are doing - it's up to us to read and digest.

The information is put out there for us to use - if we don't use it, then we lose it...Star Seller Badge, that is.

It's hard to believe that after almost two years that seasoned sellers don't know the rules of this game.

[WitticismsRus · Accepted solution]

@GoBeDigital 

Etsy is pretty clear about how the message response rate is calculated in help center here https://help.etsy.com/hc/en-us/articles/4403058372503-How-to-Become-a-Star-Seller?segment=selling

There is a highlighted bit under message response rate info that says "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. "

That means ALL messages. It also means each individual message thread so if someone sends you 5 different messages with 5 questions instead of putting them in the same message chain you need to respond to all 5 of them. The system is completely automated and doesn't know if the message is from a buyer or another seller. It just sees a message and calculated the response time. That's just how it works.

The info is also right there on the Star Seller page in shop manager. Just go to shop manager > star seller. Once there scroll toward the bottom until you find "Questions? We've got answers." Then click messages. The very first question there says

"What messages count toward the message response rate?

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.

If the star is important to you then it may be a good idea to read or review all the info Etsy provides about the star seller program.

Bottom line...you have to either reply or mark as spam.

If you wish to reach Etsy support you will need to contact them through the support ticket system. It's just us sellers here as this is a peer to peer support forum. Keep in mind that Etsy support won't make any changes to star seller calculations.

[GlassyFields]

@WitticismsRus 

Very thorough description of how star seller messages are counted.

But unless they've changed this I had a message from Etsy - inviting me apply to participate in a test group with a link to the application. I clicked on the link and filled out the application and was accepted into the test group.

Later I noticed that my star seller message stats showed a message I did not respond to within 24 hours. I downloaded the little CSV file and lo and behold, it was the message from Etsy. And not only that, I was unable to mark that message as spam. And not only that, but I contacted Etsy to state that the instructions were to use the link provided ... Anyhow, that message did count against me until it fell off the radar.

So if you get a message from Etsy and you care about star seller ... respond to the message. 

[GieseDeseiGns]

An alternative would be to create a separate buyer only account for your purchases. Since it has been this way since inception, doubt they will do anything to change it. At lest it is one of the SS criteria, that we do have control over, we have the ability to answer with just a .. or send it to spam.

[CatsBeadKitsandMore]

@GoBeDigital  , Spam those 2 messages and see if things reset. It might take a day or two.