How to handle negative feedback on TradeMe (or any online auction site)
Keeping Buyers Happy
As a TradeMe seller, you work hard to satisfy buyers and keep your good feedback rating. Describing your items correctly, responding to buyer enquiries promptly and answering questions from potential buyers, packing items safely and shipping them quickly and securely. But there comes the day when you go to Trade Me and see the “Dreaded Red Face” staring unhappily back at you.
The fact is, no matter how much effort you put into pleasing buyers, you can’t please all of them all the time. If we’re honest we’ll all admit that yes from time to time we do make mistakes too! Maybe you committed postal charge sin #1 and charged for courier and accidentally sent the parcel in an envelope for 50 cents!
There’s always going to be someone who gives negative feedback first and asks questions later (if at all). How do you deal with these characters – and more importantly, what can be done about the dreaded red stain on your record, deserved or not?
Know TradeMe’s Stance on Feedback
At the end of every auction TradeMe encourage the buyer and seller to place feedback about each other. This feedback should represent how the person was to deal with. By reviewing a member’s feedback you can see what other traders thought of their trading behaviour. It will help you assess whether they are a reliable trader or not.
Trade Me’s feedback Policy states that Trade Me does not arbitrate in feedback. Although certain exceptional circumstances will result in feedback being removed – feedback will remain a permanent part of your Trade Me record. Keep your feedback factual. Trade Me will only remove feedback where it breaches their terms and conditions. Feedback will be edited or removed if:
- It contains swear words or vulgarities
- It contains defamatory statements as to the character of the individual
- It contains the trader’s contact details, phone number, surname, email address or other means to individually identify the trader
- The trader placing feedback has been permanently removed from Trade Me for misbehaving
- The feedback refers to any ongoing investigation by Trade Me, the police, or any other authorised party
- Trade Me is ordered by a valid court order to remove feedback
Trade Me reserves the right to determine what is considered swear words, vulgarities or defamatory statements. Placing feedback is an important (but optional) part of the Trade Me process. Feedback can only be edited once. If you delete your feedback you cannot place it again or have it re-instated.
The best way to avoid a repeat episode with a bad buyer is to blacklist the user from bidding on your items in the future. If you believe you’ve been scammed or are a victim of feedback extortion (when a buyer threatens to leave negative feedback unless you give them what they want) report the buyer immediately to TradeMe.
It’s the Putting It Right that Counts
If, despite your best efforts to be a good seller and provide a positive customer experience, you get a negative feedback, don’t get your feathers in a ruffle. You have the opportunity to reply once to any feedback left for you, which will be displayed in your feedback history directly below the buyer’s original comment. (The buyer can also reply once to your reply).
You have 500 characters to tell your side of the story. Use them wisely. Be concise and factual, and most of all, unemotional: “Customer should have contacted me for a full refund.” This is not the place to rant about what a rude, obnoxious ingrate the user is. Even if it’s true, you’ll end up looking like the bad guy.
Firstly, take a deep breath and take your time in composing an e-mail to the buyer. While your first instinct may be to give them a red face back and e-mail them a “strongly worded e-mail” remember the old saying – act in haste, repent at leisure. Write the e-mail, then re-read it – as angry as you might be stick to the facts of the matter and you will have a better chance of getting a positive outcome.
In the e-mail outline the following points:
- Politely say that you prefer direct contact and being given a chance to resolve any issues as negative feedback is a last resort for an unhappy trade. Many buyers (especially new ones) don’t know that they are able to contact a seller after the sale - no matter how many times you put ‘please contact us if there are any problems’ in all communications to them. If you have a customer service policy include a copy of this.
- Outline the buyers issue and clarify that you are on the same wavelength as to the exact nature of their complaint.
- If the issue is a case of ‘buyer remorse’ point this out to them by quoting the auction text. For example, selling 5mm earrings, 5mm is stated in the auction title and a description and a buyer leaves feedback ‘item smaller than it looked on the screen or smaller than expected’. State the item is as described, and that if they can point out anywhere the item is not as described for them to please let you know.
- If the feedback is due to your error, or another ‘valid’ buyer complaint outline some options to remedy the situation and give the buyer a ’choice’ of options. Make them feel like they have some input into the resolution and you’ll go a long way towards a happy outcome.
- Ask that in the event of matters being resolved to the buyers satisfaction that they will reconsider and remove/edit their feedback accordingly.
Clear communication resolves 80-90% of feedback disputes.
Post a reply to the feedback on your feedback page stating that you have contacted the trader and are hopeful of a resolution to the matter. This feedback response can be edited at anytime, so you can change it later if need be.
If you get no reply from the buyer after 2-3 days, e-mail them a copy of the mail again and ask them to reply within X days or the matter will be considered closed. If you no reply or response is forthcoming, update the response to your feedback and carefully consider the feedback you will place for the buyer. Remember to stick to the facts and keep emotions out of it.
The Financial cost of Negative Feedback
According to economics researchers at the Universities of Bonn and Aachen, an eBay seller’s favorable feedback is positively correlated to higher final sales prices. Oliver Gunter and Christian Grund concluded that a one percentage point increase in eBay feedback translates into an average final bid price increase of four percent. Although TradeMe isn’t e-bay, I would suspect that the same theory would apply.
VNU Network reports that the two professors analyzed DVD sales of six popular films last fall, including Madagascar, Star Wars, and War of the Worlds.
This is something most of us have suspected, however, now we have the data to back up the hunch. Interestingly, the study also found something that contradicts one many sellers maxims about selling on eBay… Always close your auctions in the evening. This will be the topic for next week’s article.
Further Reading
Filed under: Tips, Tricks & Strategies
Its good to see articles like this covering the bases for newbies but it would be a bit more gritty if you covered the issue of “if you give a red you get a red” I try to avoid going to my feedback as it disappointing to me don’t know why if i had the same record in a bricks and mortar store I would be real happy.
I can get 100s of positive feedback and I get one red !
I also notice that the majority of reds come from persons with a feedback less than 100.
I was interested in the Terms and condition clause
Trade Me is ordered by a valid court order to remove feedback
I wonder if any one has successfully got this applied? One of the things that really offends me is someone saying incorrect comments like I am a thief or a liar because their goods didnt turn up They assume and say the worse before they get the facts. Would love to have the time to sue them for whatever. The occasional i didn’t fulfill there needs i can handle
Thanks for the feedback Graham. There definitely is a large range of opinions and ideas on feedback, and I don’t think personally that any one system is fool proof as there are too many fools out there on both sides of the equation
Now you raise an interesting topic “If you give a red you get a red”. What reasons do you give a red face? What is the content of your red face? As a seller I’ve given out hundreds of red faces for no payment and I’ve only got 5 red faces out of over 9000 total feedbacks. I have found sticking to the irrefutable facts ‘buyer did not pay’ or ‘buyer promised to pay but did not’ leaves far less room for retaliatory. I am sure if I called the buyer all kinds of names I’d get a lot more back.
Having said that i have had a couple containing swear words which TM did remove promptly. I think some categories/areas of sales attract a higher likelihood of unresolved issues and bad feedback than others.
You are right it is often the newer members that dish out reds much quicker – but this can be used as a chance to help them along the ‘right way’ to do things.
It’s been proven that negative feedback has a direct impact on your bottom line/auction sale prices so it is a financial issue to do your best to put it right even if you personally feel put out by the red face.
While having time to sue people sounds an appealing idea, the cost of any litigation in NZ puts it out of reach to the ordinary business person unless you have a relative in the business
Often the response/your reaction can have more of a positive impact than a red face can have as a negative impact.
I agree that name calling should be banned from feedback – it serves no purpose at all.
Red faces that have opinions are a pet peeve of mine. FB should be factual, as Tracey said “Never paid after promising to” instead of being accusatory or giving the writers opinion of people who dont pay.
I am not a big user of the blacklist function, but I do blacklist those I redface, and I admit also to blacklisting a few traders who appear to make a point of posting accusatory feedback on a person with an otherwise good record.
Not long ago I have someone accuse me of being a cheat and a scammer when NZ post lost their package. After 14,000 feedbacks did they think I had changed profession
Another recently left me a bluey becasue NZ post lost his parcel and I made sure he had replacement free of charge the same day he confirmed his address…..But it was apparently not quick enough. Seems some traders require better service than that !!
Feedback…and excuses, I expect we could write a book about it, I have certainly had some doozies