I still remember feeling my stomach drop the first time I got a bad review on Etsy. I was over a hundred 5-star reviews in, and then a 1-star review came out of nowhere and hit me like a ton of bricks. It felt like the world was ending and my business was doomed. Long story short, it wasn’t! Now my business has become my full-time job, and I have almost 20,000 sales and 2,000 5-star reviews on Etsy. I’ll admit that I still feel bad every time I get a bad review (it’s rare, but it happens!). If you’re anything like me, your shop could be flooded with a sea of 5-star reviews, but that one negative review will be the one that keeps you up at night, leaving you tossing and turning and driving you crazy!
As you start making more sales on Etsy, unfortunately it’s inevitable that you’re going to get at least one bad review. Not everyone is going to love you and your business. It’s a fact of life. So first of all, take a deep breath in… and then let it all out.
A bad review doesn’t mean that world is ending or that your business is going to fail. In fact, it’s quite the opposite. You’ve now jumped over one of the biggest and scariest hurdles to owning an online business. And you survived! You’re still breathing. The world is still spinning. Your business is till in tact. Your skin is thicker and now you can take on anything that comes your way!
But how do you deal with a customer who isn’t happy? How can you emotionally recover from negative feedback? How do you respond to a bad review, or should you respond at all? Read on for my top 7 tips for handling negative reviews on Etsy.
1. You’re Not Always Right
The first thing I do when I receive negative feedback from a customer is see if there is anything I can do to fix the issue (within reason), and then I try to fix it as soon as possible. I also gauge whether or not this was my fault.
Damaged or Lost Items
If a customer receives their item damaged, or it is lost in the mail (not marked as delivered), this is automatically your fault. No ifs, ands, or buts about it. It doesn’t matter how carefully you packaged the item or how much time and money you spent making it and shipping it. This is why I always, always, recommend purchasing insurance if you’re shipping an item that will bother you to replace.
For example, I don’t normally purchase insurance for my greeting cards. This is because my greeting cards are the most inexpensive items I sell, and the odds of a greeting card getting damaged or lost in transit is so low that I don’t think it’s worth it to purchase insurance for every card I ship out. I probably have to replace a card twice a year.
On the other hand, I always ship my coffee mugs with insurance. This is because coffee mugs are fragile items and more expensive to replace. The odds of a coffee mug being damaged in transit is much higher than a greeting card. I ship my coffee mugs via USPS Priority Mail, which includes insurance up to $50 (restrictions apply). On the rare occasion that a coffee mug is broken in transit, I always ship out a replacement to the customer free of charge. I also file a claim with USPS and they send me a check for the cost of the damaged product. Pretty nice, huh? USPS will also do this for items lost in transit, as long as you have insurance.
Remember the Golden Rule
Put yourself in your customer’s shoes, and always remember the golden rule. Treat others how you want to be treated. How would you feel if you spent your hard earned money on an item that arrived broken, or didn’t look like the listing photos at all? If the issue is your fault, apologize and own up to it. You should also do everything you can to prevent the issue from happening again. Do you need to add more bubble wrap when shipping your packages, or clarify sizing better in the product description? Chalk it up to a learning experience.
Once you fix the issue, your customer might end up changing their review, and sometimes they might not. The important thing is that you made things right. You protected the integrity of your business. You treated your customer with kindness and respect. And that alone should help you sleep at night.
2. The Customer Isn’t Always Right
In our dream world as small business owners, we would love nothing more than to make all our customers feel warm and fuzzy all the time. Unfortunately, we’re not living in a dream world. We’re living in a real world with real people who have real emotions, real flaws, and make real mistakes. Sometimes that mistake is on your end, and sometimes – dare I say – that mistake is on your customer’s end. That’s right – just like we aren’t perfect beings, our customers aren’t either. This is why I don’t believe in the old saying of “the customer is always right”. How controversial of me! Yes, sometimes the customer is wrong. Sometimes they made a mistake when ordering or didn’t read the product description. Sometimes they didn’t realize how long an item would take to ship. If this is the case, you can try to help them out as much as possible, but stand by your policies.
I’m also going to say this now to clear the air. Just because your customer isn’t always right, doesn’t mean that they don’t deserve to be treated with kindness and respect all of the time. Again, remember that golden rule! You are a business owner and the way you interact with customers will reflect either positively or poorly on not only yourself, but on your business. Your goal should always be to create a positive experience on your end with every customer interaction. You can’t control how your customer acts, or if they will be happy in the end, but you can control your own actions. I’m really into old sayings today, so I’m going to leave you with one more pearl of wisdom – kill ’em with kindness. Sometimes a bit of kindness goes a long way, and can really improve the mood and direction of a conversation! Sometimes all a customer wants it to be heard and understood.
3. You Deserve to Be Treated with Respect
Just like your customer deserves to be treated with respect, so do you. Now, this doesn’t mean that you will always be treated with respect. Believe me. I have had some customers treat me like I’m subhuman. With today’s technology and online presence, it can be easy to view sellers (or people online is general) as mere objects behind a screen. Not a real person with feelings. Sometimes customers can say some pretty hurtful things. I know it’s a lot harder than it sounds, but please don’t take it personally. Maybe that person was having a terrible day which caused them to lash out at a stranger. I’m not excusing their behavior, but please remember that it’s not your fault. Not everyone is going to like you or your business and that’s okay.
Sometimes you will have a customer that will never be satisfied, no matter what you do. These are the Negative Nancys of retail that expect you to serve them the world on a silver platter. And if it isn’t a silver platter they want it for free. Or they want a free silver platter. Anyways, you get the gist. My motto has always been to do all that I can (within reason) for a customer, and then let it go.
If a customer threatens to leave you a review if you don’t send them something for free, or if you don’t give them a refund, you can report them on Etsy for feedback extortion. Etsy protects their sellers and has a zero tolerance policy against feedback extortion. They also have a zero tolerance policy against harassment. You can report a customer for harassment. Don’t let anyone threaten you, take advantage of you, or treat you with disrespect. I refuse to be bullied by a customer and you should too. Those few extra stars aren’t worth your emotional well-being.
4. My Only Exception
My only exception to the above rules would be if you receive a negative review on your first or second order. If this is the case, I would do whatever is humanly possible to make this customer happy. If this involves sending a replacement product for free or issuing a refund when you normally wouldn’t, I would do it. Of course the choice is yours and you should do what feels right for you. However, your first review on Etsy is extremely important because Etsy gives your shop an average rating based on customer reviews. If all you have is a one-star review, then your shop’s average will be one-star. It also impacts your Order Dissatisfaction Rate (ODR), which is supposed to remain below 1% at all times. If you only have one review and it’s a negative one, your ODR will automatically be at 100%, which is really not good for you or your shop. Now I’m not trying to scare you. Sometimes there is absolutely nothing you can do to get that review changed. If that’s the case, odds are you will still get more sales and 5-star reviews coming in to even out your shop average!
5. Sometimes You Can Get a Review Removed
Did you know that Etsy can remove a negative review for you if it violates one of Etsy’s policies? According to Etsy, a review violates policy if it includes one of the following:
- Contains private information, like your name, email, address, or private messages
- Contains obscene, racist, or harassing language or imagery
- Violates Etsy’s Anti-Discrimination Policy
- Contain prohibited medical drug claims
- Contain advertising or spam
- Are only about things outside the seller’s control, such as a shipping carrier (mentioned by name), Etsy, or a third party
- Contain threats or extortion
- Include shilling or otherwise falsely inflate a shop’s review score
If you see a review that includes a policy violation, you can click on the little flag icon on the bottom of the review that says “Report this review”. Etsy will investigate the review and within a few days they will let you know (via email) whether or not they decided to remove the review.
6. Should You Respond to a Negative Review?
If you receive a negative review on Etsy, you do have the opportunity to publicly reply to the review. Honestly, I have never done this. I have never felt the need to argue back with a customer publicly. Sometimes, a review makes absolutely no sense, especially if it was written out of anger, and you can tell that a Negative Nancy is behind it. Future buyers will recognize this, which is why I personally choose to take the high road and not engage or respond to baseless angry reviews. Most of the time, I will respond to the customer privately to see if there is any way to fix the issue or improve their experience. Again, sometimes this results in the customer updating their review, and sometimes it doesn’t. Either way, I did my duty as a shop owner.
If you do choose to reply to a review, please remember to stay kind, courteous, and professional at all times. You really don’t want to come across as a catty or aggressive shop owner. If you are still feeling heated from the negative review, give yourself at least 24 hours to cool down before responding in a professional manner.
It is important to note that if you reply to a review, the customer won’t be able to change it in the future. This is why I would only recommend publicly responding after you have already reached out to the customer privately to try and remedy the issue.
7. Learn to Move On
I hate to burst your bubble, but if you’re starting to get higher sales volumes, this probably won’t be your last bad review. You will most likely get a few more negative reviews as your business continues to grow. I will say that from experience, each negative review starts to sting a little less. But they still sting. You can try to take each negative review as a learning experience. Could this review have been prevented on your end? If so, think of ways you can change your photos, your product description, customer communication, or processing times in the future. If the review couldn’t have been prevented, it’s time to move on. Try focusing on all of the 5-star reviews that you currently have, or all of the wonderful customers you’ve encountered so far. Don’t let one bad egg get you down or interfere with the goals that you have for your business. In the wise words of Aaliyah, dust yourself off and try again!