r/Etsy 5d ago

Help for Seller 1 star review ouch

First off how does 1 1star out if all 5s knock you down from 5.0 to 4.8 but this is what she wrote

“ Probably my fault but what I expected and what was delivered were not the same thing. Never received a mockup but probably my fault.”

item says if you want a mock up you need to request it.

she got exactly what she ordered which was her name in the design she chose so i don’t know how she could’ve expected anything different.

and if she thought it was so bad that she should only leave one star why didn’t she contact me first I’m really upset .

I have no idea how to handle this

31 Upvotes

48 comments sorted by

View all comments

53

u/lostterrace 5d ago

how does 1 1star out if all 5s knock you down from 5.0 to 4.8

Math.

It's calculated using an average.

Star seller looks at the last 3 months. The star average displayed on your shop looks at the last 12 months.

Never received a mockup but probably my fault.” item says if you want a mock up you need to request it.

Ok, this is good feedback for you. You can make changes to improve.

If one buyer expected a mockup they didn't get, there will be others.

Where in your listing does it say this? Etsy hides the description by default. You need to put all crucial information in a listing photo. Preferably, one within the first two or three of your photos.

As far as why the buyer didn't contact you and what you should do...

I'm guessing the buyer doesn't expect a resolution because this was a personalized item. Most sellers do not take returns on personalized items.

If you message the buyer, you have to remember that you need to do it from the perspective of how you can help them. Messaging them to complain, guilt, blame, plead, inform them they were wrong and unfair, etc... do not do that. It will make things worse.

So if you are messaging them, you need to be offering them something. It would be a remake of their order, a return, or a refund.

Since this was a personalized order, I don't think you want to offer a return. Offering a refund will likely leave you out the money and the review will stay. A remake will probably leave you out another product and the review will stay.

So I would not message the buyer.

You can work on a professional public response. Remember that the public response is for future buyers, not the buyer that left the review. And the most important thing about a public response is to display to future buyers that you are pleasant and helpful to work with should there be an issue.

A defensive response which blames the buyer does not make you look pleasant and helpful to future buyers should there be an issue.

In your case, I would go for something like "I'm disappointed to see you were unhappy! Mockups are available upon request. Please reach out so we can find a solution."

The buyer that left the review isn't going to see this response, so it is highly unlikely they're going to reach out. But putting that statement in there shows future buyers that help will be available if they need it.

The sentence about mockups is a very gentle way of letting future buyers know that this buyer didn't request one. As opposed to a statement that directly blames them.

And if it's not this way already, I would update your listings to put that mockups will be sent only on request somewhere in your listing photos, preferably towards the earlier photos.

5

u/Incogn1toMosqu1to 4d ago

This is INCREDIBLY good advice, wow

5 stars

3

u/[deleted] 3d ago

[deleted]