As a seller, customer reviews and testimonials are one of your greatest assets in promoting your shop. Unfortunately, they can also be your greatest downfall. Customers who find themselves dissatisfied with their product or your service can lower your shop’s rating and ward off potential new customers.
Luckily, there are ways to prevent these conflicts; let’s go over some of the most common complaints from Etsy customers and how to avoid receiving them.
How to avoid negative reviews on Etsy
Why do I get Negative Feedback and bad reviews on Etsy?
Shipping
Nothing is more frustrating than never receiving the product you paid for.
Nearly everyone has experienced a shipping nightmare. Products can get lost, stolen, or damaged in transit; customers can leave typos in their mailing addresses; and, of course, sellers can fail to send out their products on time.
One of the top customer complaints on Etsy is bad shipping service from the seller. Life happens and, though it isn’t always possible to hop over to the post office the moment you sell something, sellers should always aim to send their products out as soon as possible. Customers who feel they had to wait too long or babysit their order will not leave positive reviews.
Sending out orders on time is the clearest way to evade these complaints, but communication is also key in shipping mishaps. Simply letting a customer know there will be a delay can assuage their worry or anger, and they may even rave about how great you are at communicating in the reviews.
Poor product quality
This topic can be touchy. No one wants to hear that customers think their work is shoddy; it’s hurtful and discouraging. However, if multiple people are out there saying your products are falling apart, it might time to take a second look at your materials. Sometimes fixing the mistake is as simple as switching brands of glue to something sturdier or altering the settings on your photograph editor.
Being told your product needs work isn’t usually meant as an insult; sellers should take these constructive criticisms and use them to their advantage. Changing a product can lead to greater financial results and, as creators, we never stop growing, so why not constantly improve?
False advertisement
Just tell it like it is.
As a seller, it’s your job not only to provide a product but to upsell like crazy. Customers are naturally more drawn to fancier wording—a “handmade mahogany rocking chair” is far more likely to sell than just a “wooden chair.”
Embellishing too much, though, can be dangerous. Customers who believe they have received a product that doesn’t match or live up to its description are sure to let potential future buyers know.
Being honest about your product is paramount to your shop’s success. Don’t lie about what you’re selling, or it’ll come back to hit you where it counts. The product description you supply should upsell but still be truthful about the features, size, extra contents, and materials in your product.
Miscommunication between seller and buyer
One of technology’s major downfalls is how easy it is to miscommunicate with someone, which makes running an online shop even more difficult. Not talking face-to-face or even over the phone leaves a lot up to the imagination on both sides of a transaction. Assumptions can be made when neither party decides to voice their concerns or confusion.
As a result, both the customer and seller can leave out important details like shipping information, price changes, and product details. Buyers receiving custom orders might not be able to accurately describe what they want and sellers are often guilty of thinking the customer intrinsically understands everything they post.
The key to a good transaction is thorough communication. There truly is no such thing as a stupid question when it comes to customer satisfaction.
Bad customer service
The least pleasant interaction in running a business is one where the seller treats the buyer poorly. Sure, “the customer is always right” may not be the best rule to live by, but it doesn’t mean that they deserve bad service.
Whether accidental or purposeful, sellers shouldn’t insult, demean, or talk down to their customers. This applies whether the customer has been headstrong or not. The most likely offender when it comes to leaving bad reviews is a customer that feels they’ve been disrespected or targeted, and oftentimes, potential future buyers will only see their side of the story before choosing a different shop.
Being respectful doesn’t mean giving the customer everything they want—if they express dissatisfaction in some way, you can discuss options for fixing the problem instead of writing them off or fighting them.
Not everyone can be satisfied
Sometimes, there’s just nothing to be done.
Most of the time, customer satisfaction is the responsibility of the seller. Even after fixing all of these problems, however, some people just can’t be pleased; there’s always going to be someone wanting to have every whim catered to. Fear not, sellers—they do it to everyone. In the end, it’s their own fault that they’re not happy, and nothing will fix that.
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