The Inside Scoop on the New Etsy “Star Seller” Feature

This past week (7/28/21), Etsy released a new “Star Seller” feature on their platform. Those of you who sell on Etsy probably know what I’m talking about. If you go to your shop dashboard, it’s the new tab under “Orders & Shipping.”

Even if you’re an Etsy buyer, it’s important to know what this means. This new “Star Seller” feature tells customers where they’re likely to have the best shopping experience. Etsy recognizes “Star Seller” shops with a badge, which they will start giving out in September. According to the Etsy seller handbook, shops will be reevaluated on the first of every month after that. So don’t worry, you have time to take your shop to the next level! It’s important to work towards this badge, because it could sway customers in your favor if they’re torn between shops.

There are 3 criteria Etsy considers when dubbing someone a “Star Seller”:

1. Message Response Rate

2. 5-Star Ratings

3. On-Time Shipping and Tracking

In each of these areas, you need to score a 95% or higher to get the “Star Seller” badge on your shop.

I’ve got two down. However, I need some major work in one area. Can you guess which one? It’s that pesky Message Response Rate.

Below is a screen shot from my shop:

 As you can see, I need substantial work in this area. Unsurprisingly, this is the criteria I’m most questioning, because I’m not sure if it aligns with my values. For many people, including myself, Etsy is a side hustle. I’m doing a lot of other things besides running my shop, so I can’t always respond quickly. I’m also big on disconnecting evenings and weekends. I don’t love being told I need to respond to a message within a certain time frame. While I always respond quickly to customer service issues or order comments, sometimes I get really complicated questions that I need time to think about.

Whether I agree or disagree, Etsy has me in a corner. I’m going to work really hard at improving my score in this area. In Etsy’s defense, I think 24 hours is doable. I just need to have a strategy in place, which is why I did some research.

If you struggle with the other two categories, I’m also going to talk about what I do in those areas to keep my scores up. Let’s all get that “Star Seller” badge this year!

1. Message Response Rate

Let’s begin with my Achilles heel. In theory, the way to get my score up in this area is fairly simple. I just need to respond to messages within the 24-hour time frame. But how do follow-up messages work? And do I get extra points for responding even faster?

Well, according to the seller handbook, only initial messages count and not follow-up messages. That’s good news for me. What I couldn’t find info on is whether you get rewarded for responding faster. I’m going to assume the answer is no. It seems like the “within the 24 hours” part is all that counts.

In doing my research, I stumbled upon Etsy auto-responder, which I didn’t even know existed. It’s in the top right corner of your messages page.

What a find! I intend to use this on weekends, or if I’m away from my computer for an extended period. I feel better knowing this feature exists, since I’m so big on disconnecting. Another thing people suggest is to use the app when on-the-go. I do have the app, but I’m usually responding on my computer. I’m going to turn on my app notifications and make a habit of using this more.

2. 5-Star Ratings

Fortunately, I’ve found success in this area. My shop usually has the “Buyers are raving!” badge proudly displayed. It’s the area I excel in. If you have a few bad ratings, don’t sweat it! There are many ways to increase your score, and I have lots of ideas for you.

The main thing customers seem to appreciate is shipping. They expect quality, but they are grateful for a good shipping experience. When I switched from USPS to FedEx, I started getting loads of positive reviews. I just increased my prices to cover the extra cost, and I didn’t see any drop in sales. If anything, sales spiked because of positive reviews. I also started adding extra cardboard to my packages to minimize damages to my prints.

That brings me to the next idea – up your customer service game. Usually, you have a chance to prevent a negative review and that’s when someone sends you a message saying they are unhappy. When you get that message, do anything you can to make it right and forget about money. For me, I love to offer free prints or full refunds as apologies. I even give partial refunds on the rare occasion FedEx delays a package. Oddly enough, these situations actually make up the majority of my positive reviews. When something goes wrong, and you go above and beyond to make it right, customers are surprised and will feel compelled to leave a positive review.

Another way to increase 5-star ratings are handwritten thank you notes. This isn’t always feasible given of the quantity of orders I’m shipping in a weekly basis. However, I used to do this in the beginning and it really helped get my shop off the ground. Even just handwriting “thank you so much!” on the package can make all the difference. Once in a while, I will still write a note to a loyal customer, or even include an extra print to say thanks for their business.

Lastly, you can simply ask for a review. In the beginning I would offer my customers a coupon for leaving my shop a review, and it actually worked. I attribute my first 100 sales to this strategy.

3. On-Time Shipping and Tracking

This criteria is easiest to improve upon, because you have the most control. If you’re always missing your order window, you probably need to increase processing times. While quicker processing times entice customers, it’s more important to set honest expectations. For many years, my processing time was 4-5 days. Now it’s 1-3 days. Sometimes, I even go back to 4-5 days if I get busy with client projects or if I’m going out of town. That’s the beauty, you can decide how much time you need and make adjustments.

The way I stay on track is by shipping 2 days a week – Monday and Thursday. Since my processing time is 1-3 days, this prevents me ever missing that window. As far as shipping goes, weekends don’t count in the Etsy-sphere. Thanks Etsy!

You can ship more quickly by streamlining your process. I package orders in assembly line fashion. I print all the labels at once, then put all the labels on the envelopes. Then, I print in one big batch. You get the idea. It saves a lot of time. Definitely buy a label printer, if you don’t have one! It’s worth every penny. Also, ditch the handwritten notes if you order quantity is too high. Just make the process as easy as possible.  

According to the Etsy seller handbook, printing a label counts as shipping. If you’re running behind on an order, just get that label printed and ship the next day. What a lot of sellers are upset about is that all orders must have tracking numbers in order to count as shipped on time. This is not an issue for me, since I use Fedex, but I feel their pain.

Lastly, in order to qualify as a “Star Seller,” you need at least 10 orders and $300 in sales during the three month review period. Clearly Etsy is trying to identify more seasoned shops by adding this criteria. I do feel for really great shops that just aren’t big enough yet. If this is what’s holding you back from the badge, hang in there. Advertising on Etsy or Pinterest could be helpful to drive traffic to your shop. Otherwise, your shop should grow organically as time goes on. The Etsy algorithm does a good job of supporting growth in new shops.