Getting eBay Negative Feedback Will Ruin Your Business
One of the worst things that can happen on eBay is to receive negative feedback from the buyer. Because as you know, eBay applied a rule a few years ago that only buyers can leave negative feedback, leaving a seller with no chance to do the same.
This rule became a popular topic in many discussions and made many eBay sellers were disappointed.
But I think it is very easy to blame eBay, buyers and everything around. What I like to do is figure out how not to get eBay negative feedback at all and to not blame the system itself.
By saying that they are not right, you will not win.
Negative feedback can really ruin your eBay business and can stop your sales. You need to get hundreds of positive feedbacks if you want to cover just one negative feedback.
I would like to talk about a few scenarios I know and the easiest ways to resolve this issue.
The first and most common scenario is that you get eBay negative feedback and it is your fault.
A lot of negative feedbacks are left for eBay sellers every day; I have to be honest with you, I also had few times where I received negative feedback, I don’t remember how many exactly, but maybe 4-5. And most of them were left because the buyer was right.
Of course, you can always argue and blame the buyer, but let’s dig a little bit deeper. If you are the buyer and want to buy a product on eBay, you search eBay and discover different eBay sellers. You choose the one that you think is the best and fits your needs.
Stop and think this; the buyer choose you, that means you are the best choice for him and if something is wrong he will be disappointed and leave negative feedback because in this way he can say that the seller wouldn’t help him solve any problems.
So, is it the buyer’s fault? I don’t think so.
You know the phrase, “You will know who the real friends are when you have big problem.” The same applies with an eBay business.
Most of the time people, before leaving negative feedback in eBay, try to contact you or solve the problem but the sellers think that this is not their problem and don’t deal with it. If you are the seller, you are responsible for correcting any mistakes or problems, not just selling the product.
If something is wrong, put all of your effort into making the buyer happy.
To prevent misunderstanding and problems, use the tips below:
Take clear pictures, from different angles, zoom in and out, post 4-5 clear pictures of what you are selling.
Pack well; include papers or something to protect the product during shipping because you are responsible for that.
Communicate; if you get an email always answer it, check your email daily, if you can’t hire someone who can do this job, a lot of eBay negative feedbacks are left because the buyer can’t reach the seller.
Buyers are not stupid. They are real humans and have feelings. They don’t want to ruin your business; they just want your help solving the issue that happened during the transaction, that’s all.
Write a good description about product, everything they need to know. For example, is it used or new, what accessories come with, etc. Include terms & conditions.
These guidelines will definitely help you, but I can introduce another scenario. What happens when the eBay seller offers free shipping?
The seller thinks that if he offered it free, he can ship with the cheapest shipping service that can take even month to reach the buyer, and that it is not his problem.
Well I have news for you, from my personal experience I have found the buyer doesn’t care if they get free shipping. He still thinks that he must get the product fast. He also thinks that you are working with the mail and are personally going to bring this product to him. Yes, I am being sarcastic, but this is true.
For example, if you ship with a cheap company and it becomes delayed, the buyer always blames you and not the shipping company. But I like to solve the problem and not blame the buyer, because blaming someone will not make my eBay business better.
What I like to do if I offer free shipping is to use currier service such as DHL, UPS and similar places. You might pay higher and lose some money, but the buyer will get the product anywhere in the world in 5-7 days. You will get good eBay feedback, he will come back to buy more and more from you.
I have another trick I like to use: include a gift in you package. It can be anything candy, chocolate, but it should not be a commonly used product like a pen or something. It is better if the product is something that the buyer can take and use right now, taste it or something.
I have overcome so many problems by implementing this simple strategy.
If, for example, I have problems with the transaction, the buyer doesn’t blame me as much because he already saw that I am a good person and have included a gift that was not listed in listing description.
By spending only $1, you can get back more than that. You can’t imagine how excited people get about the gift.
If, for example, the shipping is delayed, the buyer will blame the shipping company, not you. It works like a charm.
But what to do if you already have eBay negative feedback?
I suggest calling this person by phone and talk to them about it, buyers won’t think that you’ll make this move. Call and try to resolve the problem, explain that this problem is important to you and you want to resolve it in the buyers favor.
Another way to think about it is it is better to lose all the money from the transaction, presuming the sum is not thousands of dollars of course, than getting negative feedback in eBay.
The worst scenario is called feedback abuse
This happens when the buyer leaves negative feedback just for fun or to hurt you. This happened to me one time and I think this method is used by competitors.
However, there are a couple of things you can do to prevent this from happening in the first place. First, create buyer requirements on the eBay site preferences page. Sometimes you can use an immediate payment option, but most of all buyers that abuse sellers with eBay negative feedback don’t pay, they just buy and leave negative feedback right away.
If this happened and you want to resolve this issue, first you have to open the unpaid item’s case and contact eBay for their help. I did that and eBay was happy to resolve this in just a week, and all negative feedbacks were removed.
Also, you can leave a reply on the negative feedback you received, write something that potential buyers will notice and so that they’ll know what’s happening. There is an eBay page called the feedback forum and you can find all the help there if you have any problems.
I also want to mention one tool I use to analyze my competitors. It is called Toolhaus. It is absolutely free and you can find it using Google search. It is the best tool for finding negative feedback on eBay users. Sometimes it is hard to search for negative feedbacks if the eBay user has more than 1,000 feedbacks. However, this tool will show only negative and neutral feedbacks from this one seller and all you have to do is insert an eBay id, that’s all. This is so simple.
I wish you good day and I hope you have a positive experience in eBay.
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