How to Become an Etsy Star Seller

Etsy is a global online marketplace, where people come together to make, sell, buy, and collect unique items.

It’s primarily associated with handmade goods such as toys, collectibles, art, jewelry, and holiday items, as well as vintage goods such as home goods, furniture, and clothing.

If you’re already an Etsy seller, you’ve probably noticed the new Star Seller section in the Shop Manager dashboard. This is where sellers can track their performance in key areas needed to acquire the Star Seller badge when the program comes into effect on September 1^st, 2021.

Why is Etsy Introducing the Star Seller Badge?

At the core of the program, Etsy wants to reward their top sellers by helping them stand out from the crowd with the Star Seller badge.

By letting customers know that a particular shop or seller has a proven record of consistently offering a great customer experience, the shop will appear more trustworthy and the product more appealing than the competitors. This makes the shopper more likely to follow through with the purchase.

Shops with the Star Seller badge can boost the confidence of shoppers.

That said, the news of Etsy introducing this new program has been met with backlash from various sellers. Many feel some of the requirements are unfair and unattainable, and fear this program will affect their sales and product listings quality score.

While it may be true that Star Sellers will likely have an advantage over their competitors on the marketplace, the intention is not to hurt quality sellers who may have trouble meeting the requirements.

There’s a bigger picture here. This move is more about Etsy buyers than it is about the sellers themselves. It’s about the customer experience.

The fact of the matter is, Star Sellers provide the best customer experience on the marketplace, and in doing so, help build more trust with buyers making purchases on Etsy.

It is key to remember that Etsy is competing with the likes of Amazon & Walmart to attract customers to their marketplace. With 59% of millennials selecting Amazon as their first choice for an online retailer[1], it’s certainly not an easy task. Ensuring more customers have the best possible experience when shopping on Etsy is in the best interest of the marketplace and all of its sellers.

So, it makes sense that Etsy would favor and want to reward sellers that can deliver on the kind of experience consumers expect in todays ultra-competitive ecommerce landscape.

Do Etsy Sellers Need the Star Seller Badge to be Successful? 

Many successful Etsy sellers utilize search engine optimization techniques to reach potential customers. They use unique usernames, themes, specific keywords, and high-quality images on their listings to make them stand out.

Etsy has stated that the Star Seller badge will not directly impact search rankings at this time, but sellers who have the Star Seller badge will more likely see a positive impact on their conversion rates verses those who do not.

Consumers will be more likely to buy from Star Sellers because they are more likely to trust the seller.

Having more conversions will help sellers rank better in search by improving their “listing quality score”. Therefore, pushing sellers up the search rankings and putting them in front of more potential buyers.

Further, it seems Star Sellers will eventually be given more opportunities to be featured on the marketplace in the future.

So, while the Star Seller badge is not necessary to be successful on the marketplace, it’s worth putting forth the effort, if possible, to acquire the badge for the good of both the individual seller and the marketplace itself.

What is Required to Earn Star Seller Status?

On the 1st of every month, the platform will determine if a seller has earned the Star Seller badge by looking back at the last three months of a shop's performance. Here’s what they consider:

Response Rate

To satisfy this requirement sellers need to respond to 95% of buyers' message within 24 hours of receiving them. (just the first message, not ongoing conversations).

Offering prompt turnover on messages builds a customer’s confidence in a shop and creates a better shopping experience that fuels higher conversion and return customers.

Delivery

To meet this requirement, 95% of orders need to be dispatched with tracking within the stated processing time. Digital orders will not require tracking information.

The cut-off time to process orders may vary based on your location and time zone, but buyers have come to not only want, but expect real-time tracking on their online orders.

5-Star Ratings

Sellers need to show that they are consistently providing optimal customer experiences and that buyers can trust them by acquiring 5-star reviews.

That means that sellers need 95% or more of their reviews to have 5-star ratings in order to satisfy this requirement.

Orders and Sales

This one can be tricky, especially for shops that generally sell smaller, low-cost items.

Nevertheless, sellers will need to make at least $300 USD in sales (before taxes and shipping) and have 10 orders every three months to continually satisfy this requirement.

Improve the Customer Experience & Become a Star Seller with Fast, Reliable, & Affordable Shipping

As you can see, the right shipping solution is key to satisfying the requirements needed to acquire Star Seller status on Etsy.

Unlike Amazon and Walmart, everything on the Etsy marketplace is generally made and sold by sellers who manage their own orders and inventory. This means that all Etsy shop owners are responsible for handling shipping too.

Processing shipments can be very time consuming depending on a seller’s shipping solution of choice. In fact, 53% of retailers admit that they find shipping challenging[2]. Sellers not only need a way to save time when processing orders to dispatch efficiently, but they also need a reliable solution that can provide real-time tracking to ensure they are meeting the Star Seller delivery requirements.

Providing fast & reliable shipping can help sellers acquire more 5-star reviews as well. Consider this, according to recent surveys 96% of customers say that a positive delivery experience would lead them to purchase from the same company again[3]. Delivering orders efficiently and getting them to your customers in one piece will result in more positive customer experiences, and therefore more 5-star reviews.

It is a reasonable concern for many Etsy sellers that the cost of shipping with tracking included may be too high to meet the conversion rate necessary to satisfy the Orders & Sales requirements. If sellers can find a way to lower their shipping costs, without sacrificing the quality of the shipping they provide customers, they will have a better chance of getting the conversions they need to be Star Sellers.

Thankfully, there is a simple solution for Etsy sellers to provide fast, reliable, and affordable shipping to all their potential customers. It’s called ClickShip!

ClickShip is used by sellers across North America to access the best shipping rates from trusted carriers. It can integrate directly with Etsy shops so sellers can sync orders, select rates, print labels, and schedule pickups from anywhere.

By using ClickShip, Etsy Sellers not only save time and money, they can:

• Schedule shipment pickups on the same-day or next day, ensuring the order is dispatched efficiently
• Provide end-to-end real-time tracking to your customers
• Convert more customers with affordable shipping options and faster transit times
• Provide an excellent customer experience by shipping with trusted carriers

Are you ready to take your first steps toward becoming an Etsy Star Seller? Contact one of our shipping experts today at 1-877-335-8740 or at sales@freightcom.com and see how better shipping can help make you a star!

[1] https://whatmillennialswant.inviqa.com/

[2] https://www.getconvey.com/resource/retail-touchpoints-last-mile-solutions/

[3] https://www.mycustomer.com/selling/ecommerce/ecommerce-delivery-trends-what-contributes-to-a-positive-experience