Three years ago, Etsy had changed its buyer-seller messaging system to be more like an instant-messaging system, and this summer, Etsy made another major change to the system. The company told sellers it was making it easier for them to keep track of messages from buyers (called “convos” on Etsy) by combining messages from the same buyer into one thread. “You’ll have fewer conversations to keep track of, and can easily track your relationships with buyers,” Etsy explained.
Sellers rely heavily on messages to help ensure their transactions run smoothly and to help them keep buyers happy. Etsy further upped the stakes by requiring sellers to respond to messages quickly in order to achieve Star Seller status.
Not everyone found the new system to be an improvement, and sellers have also experienced some issues with the new system.
Etsy acknowledged one such problem that impacts messages sent by customers signed in as “guest” buyers. “When browsing some conversations from customers, the order information (on the right side) is not visible, it’s just a blank space,” a seller reported.
An Etsy moderator replied, “After checking the screenshot you’ve provided, it appears that the conversation is from a guest buyer. As of the moment, the Messages side menu will not display if you’re conversing with a guest buyer. We will take this as feedback and will be sharing it with the team to consider for a future update. Please know we take comments from the community to heart, and we make many changes to the site based on what we hear.”
Some sellers reported yesterday they were unable to read their messages and were taken to a blank page. One said they had the same problem but only with older “convos” prior to July – “newer ones are fine,” they wrote. Etsy responded this morning, “Our technical team is aware of a potential issue affecting messages. This matter is being investigated as we speak, and it will be patched ASAP.”
Etsy published the following FAQs last week related to the new messaging system:
How does this new messaging experience work?
New incoming messages from buyers will be consolidated into an existing thread so that you have the full messaging history with a buyer all in one place, making it easier to keep track of communications. Please note that Help Request messages will remain distinctly separate threads.
Additionally, messages prior to June 30, 2022 are not combined—this only applies to messages received after June 30, 2022 and beyond.
Will buyers see messages in one thread as well?
Buyers will also see the same experience in their Inboxes, making communication with sellers like you easier.
What happens if I send a message to the buyer through the Orders tool and there’s an existing thread between us?
Your message will be appended to an existing thread between you and the buyer so that you both have full context of your conversation history. We will be pre-filling the message with the order link so that both seller and buyer know which order is being discussed. We recommend reviewing the context in the message history to decide whether you need to clarify which order or listing you are responding to.
How does this new messaging experience relate to Star Seller?
Now you can view all of a buyer’s messages in fewer threads. That means fewer responses are needed from you, putting you that much closer to earning Star Seller, because messages from buyers will not generate a new thread that would have required a 24-hour response.
We also recently launched notification badges on new threads showing if a message is a buyer’s first time contacting you, or a new help with order request, so you can better keep track of your messages and prioritize them for Star Seller metrics. Learn more about Star Seller labels here.
Lastly, we heard your feedback about “Sent” messages at the top of your inbox being confusing. Don’t worry, we put those back into your sent folder.
Check out the full post on the Etsy Announcement board, and let us know what you think of the latest changes to the Etsy messaging system.
All I want to see is :
“Etsy pleasantly shocks Artists by going back to 2006 Shop Layout.”
Forgot to mention :
Too bad they don’t have an “Artificial Intelligence” to weed out the stupid ignorant clueless.
I don’t even want to deal with communications anymore.
JEEZ ! (Napoleon Dynamite)