Feedback on eBay means everything to companies or individuals who sell on that platform. Lots of positive reviews tell potential buyers that you sell quality products and that your brand is trustworthy. In fact, 90% of shoppers report using online reviews in order to decide whether to do business with a company.
Further data also shows that 94% of consumers report that negative online reviews have convinced them to avoid a business. But what should you do when you receive negative feedback? Is there any way to change or remove it? And what can you do to ensure it never happens again? Here are our top tips for sellers on how to change, remove and avoid negative feedback on eBay.
Ask the Customer to Remove Negative Feedback on eBay
Your first option for removing negative feedback on eBay is to ask the customer directly. However, keep in mind that eBay only allows sellers to do this 5 times for every 1,000 reviews received. So you’ll want to use this approach sparingly (or try to avoid negative reviews as much as possible so you don’t need to ask very often).
The process for asking a customer to change or remove their negative feedback is fairly simple. From either eBay’s “Feedback Forum” page or from your account’s “Feedback Profile,” click on “Request Feedback Revision.” Once there, select the instance of feedback you want removed or changed, add any note you’d like to include to the customer regarding why you are making the request and click “Send.” The customer will receive the request and can decide whether to alter their feedback.
You should also reserve this method for truly negative reviews only, not neutral reviews. And prior to sending an official feedback reversal request, make sure you speak with the customer to determine that they are, indeed, willing to alter their review. This will help you to avoid wasting any of your requests. The following circumstances are ones in which you might consider using the “Request Feedback Revision” option:
Ask eBay to Remove Negative Feedback
There are also instances in which you can report a negative review to eBay and ask them to remove it. This must be done within 90 days of the transaction date, and is reserved for occurrences of customer misconduct.
For example, you can report negative feedback to eBay for the following reasons:
In order to report a review to eBay, go to your Seller Hub to contact eBay directly and explain why you want them to investigate the situation. Upon investigation, eBay may remove the entire review, the comment only, the rating only or let you know why they are leaving the review as-is.
Respond Publicly to Negative Feedback
Even if you can’t get a piece of negative feedback removed or changed, you can still protect your brand’s reputation. One way to do this is to make sure you respond to each and every bad review you receive with a comment. But be careful, don’t respond in a defensive or aggressive manner, as this can reflect poorly on your business.
Instead, respond to negative reviews with a courteous, honest demeanor. Make it clear that you are willing to make things right (or, in some cases, already have), and that customer satisfaction is your top priority. This will show to other potential customers that you are dedicated to taking great care of shoppers, even when things may not have gone well at first.
Reach out to Unsatisfied Customers
It’s also important to reach out privately to any unsatisfied customers. Any time you receive negative feedback, contact the buyer to find out what the problem is and how you can help. Not only will this go a long way toward ensuring repeat business for your brand, it may also inspire the previously dissatisfied shopper to come back and amend their negative review (possibly even without you having to send a Feedback Revision Request).
Additionally, interacting with customers who had a negative experience with your brand can provide you with the information you need to make appropriate changes to your selling and customer service approach moving forward. That way, you can avoid negative feedback in the future. Which brings us to our last tip…
Avoid Negative Feedback in the Future
Finally, avoid negative feedback on eBay by providing excellent customer service at all times. This means responding quickly to inquiries, processing orders expediently, being honest in your product listings and taking good care of your customers throughout every stage of the buying process.
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In fact, we recently helped successful eBay seller ShopMonk to reduce their response times by a whopping 30%. Want to experience the Replyco difference for yourself? You can try us free for 7 days by starting your free trial today. Or, learn more about us by taking a tour of our features.
Have any questions for us? Reach out any time! We’re always happy to chat with busy online sellers about how we can help them save time while improving the customer experience and boosting sales.
