Understanding the Response Rate

[lordtalix]

I’m a Level 2 seller, but I’m still struggling to fully understand the Response Rate. I’ve read the official explanation over and over, but the way my response rate fluctuates in reality doesn’t seem to make a lot of sense.

I rarely if ever take longer than 24 hours to respond to a new request, and yet I still see my response rate decrease if I take longer than a few hours.

This begs some questions, for me:

How is the response rate used, internally? Does it affect your progress toward Top Seller?

What constitutes a “new request”? I have a lot of repeat buyers with whom I have extensive messaging histories. There must be some baseline time period after which Fiverr considers a new message a “new request”.

Does anyone know the answers to these questions?

[capitalquality]

No, nobody knows; it is a mystery.

Joking aside, you’ll find a lot of frustration on here about the response rate. Some people ignore it, some get it reset by Customer Support. If you’re worried about whether it influences progress to TRS, I’d get CS to reset it but I should think response rate is the least likely influence.

I’ve tried to work out the ‘this counts as a new message’ gap for repeat sellers too but without success. It never shows as a new message in my experience (i.e. doesn’t have the little timer icon). I wonder if using the app to answer some messages affects the response rate as the app doesn’t clear notifications if you switch between browser version/app?

In summary, I refer you to my first sentence.

[lordtalix]

No, nobody knows; it is a mystery.

Joking aside, you’ll find a lot of frustration on here about the response rate. Some people ignore it, some get it reset by Customer Support. If you’re worried about whether it influences progress to TRS, I’d get CS to reset it but I should think response rate is the least likely influence.

I’ve tried to work out the ‘this counts as a new message’ gap for repeat sellers too but without success. It never shows as a new message in my experience (i.e. doesn’t have the little timer icon). I wonder if using the app to answer some messages affects the response rate as the app doesn’t clear notifications if you switch between browser version/app?

In summary, I refer you to my first sentence.

Ha! Glad to hear I’m not the only one.

And I didn’t know (or rather, never paid close enough attention to realize) that the app didn’t clear notifications. I generally use the desktop app unless I’m away from my desk, but that’s good to be aware of.

[authoreva]

I think CS is tired of me asking them to reset my response rate back to 100%. XD

Plus I occasionally get a silly glitch where I respond to the client and the clock graphic is still stuck on the message saying I must answer within a certain amount of time to maintain my response rate.

The bugginess never ends! D:

[lordtalix]

Ah, so there are known bugs in the system?

[authoreva]

Ah, so there are known bugs in the system?

Pretty much! My response rate is down to 93% now… for no apparent reason. XD

[adsensewizard]

CS told me the response rate does nothing. So even if it’s 0%, it doesn’t affect anything. It’s only there for you to know how many messages you have not ignored. Though as it’s buggy as hell, it shouldn’t be trusted in the slightest 🙂

[robotgirl78]

CS told me the response rate does nothing. So even if it’s 0%, it doesn’t affect anything. It’s only there for you to know how many messages you have not ignored. Though as it’s buggy as hell, it shouldn’t be trusted in the slightest 🙂

Yes and no. Response Rate has been bugged forever, so CS is aware of it, but to further your point, the overall statistic has no “major” impact on your account. It’s good to maintain a high RR, because it will affect your average response time on your profile, which can show other users (aka potential customers) that you’re attentive and available, but in regards to your ranking, etc., havng a RR that’s a few percentage points off isn’t going to make or break you.

Also, RR only is affected by messages in the inbox. In the event that you’re talking to a buyer over the order page, and then they suddenly message you in the inbox, you do need to respond on the inbox as well within the 24 hour limit to avoid having the rate affected.

TL;DR - RR is mainly for your eyes only, but it’s a good habit to maintain good communication as it can only benefit you in the long run.