New seller, 2 feedback knocked me down to 90%. What would you do?

[foreverwool]

I am a new seller on eBay but I'm experienced with online marketplace selling (Etsy) and feedback.  I received 2 feedback, one neutral and one negative.  I directly messaged on eBay the buyer on the negative offering a free replacement (it was well packed but still broken in shipping), and they never replied to me.  I then noticed I received a neutral for a smaller bottle than expected.  I have pictures of the bottle by yarn for size reference and even have the ozs on the dropdown options menu, not to mention my price is 1/2 what other sellers are selling the product for.  

Anyway, would you recommend I reply to both feedbacks since my rating is now in the low 90s?  I am used to using 5 stars to judge whether I should reply to feedback (3 would be neutral, and I normally wouldn't reply).  I need to learn what feedback I really should reply to.

[whatmorefabric]

Reply to the feedback honestly and unemotionally.

Offer free returns  for a while.   You can always add to your listing price to cover the few you will get.    There is a certain fabric that I adjust by 1.00 because I can get the price and it covers my free returns.

Hang on and add to your inventory.

[benjahoo]

I always try to reply to anything that was said negatively. Feedback isn't what it used to be anymore, about 1 in every 30 people actually leave me feedback.

Something you may try, and I have had to resort to it, but buyers still do not get it right all the time, is to put a tape measure besides the item you are selling. I do not know how big the bottles are, but from working out what they would roughly be, I would assume small, but at my initial glance you make them appear to be large due to the photos, so unless I knew what I was buying, I would expect something larger than what it is.

HTH

[ckimodog]

@foreverwool 

Sorry for your experience.  You have a really lovely shop and I'm sure those two comments really aren't going to effect you that much.  The neutral one is just an opinion and to be honest it makes the buyer look like they didn't pay much attention to your listing or don't understand measurements.  As far as the negative, it appears the buyer is leaving the comment based on your shipping carrier and not so much on you.  I would just continue to list and perhaps be a little more hands on concerning packaging and details.  You have many singing your praises so that's a good thing.  Hang in there.

Happy Holidays and selling

[nobody*s_perfect]

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@foreverwool wrote:....  I directly messaged on eBay the buyer on the negative offering a free replacement (it was well packed but still broken in shipping), and they never replied to me.  ...  pictures of the bottle by yarn for size reference ... 

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Yarn comes in a million sizes, so it's useless as a comparison. Use a coin, ruler, or even a soda can.

IMHO you should try again to communicate with the buyer who left you a neg, because the best thing for your account would be to do whatever it takes to get them to revise that neg into a positive, or even a neutral.  After negotiating with them, you'd have to send a formal "Feedback revision request" within 30 days after the neg was left, then the buyer has 10 days ro respond.  If you can't get them to change it, THEN respond with the comment you showed here -- would have gladly sent a replacement or refund. If you're really motivated, you could issue a refund before sending your next message to this buyer.

[12345jamesstamps]

Cool store.

Neutral feedbacks mean nothing. Block these buyers of course.

Something damaged should be replaced immediately....like...sorry broken...I shipped out another one the next day. Possibly even refunding them and sending out a free one.

Have 30 days to try to get buyer to revise feedback. 

You are selling basically same items....so I assume you are looking for "repeat buyers"...that's my business plan. And I do anything to make these first time buyers happy even if I lose money sometimes.

Here's something to think about....your photos...are they yours or from a store. Some buyers can be a bit of a trouble....I see 5 needles in a photo...I am expecting 5 needles for the single price. You should not be showing multiple items in a photo. You will get that buyer who thought they were receiving all 5 needles and not 1.

You are dealing with all sorts of buyers...those who can't spell or write a sentence....those who only speak another language as will as write living in the USA. Use a ruler might help in a bottle size...some buyers are not the smartest. Protect your store of all costs. Make money and good luck. This is the knitting season of course.

[luckythewinner]

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@foreverwool wrote:

I have pictures of the bottle by yarn for size reference

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Yarn is not a unit of measure.

I would expect to see the capacity of the bottle in the title, description, and item specifics.

[gloryglorygifts · Accepted solution]

First, welcome to ebay! So sorry about your feedback. I know that can be upsetting, at least it is to me. "pathetically incompetent shipping protection" is such a mean girl thing to say! Ugh. Your neutral doesn't affect your rating. It's the one neg as a percent of all the feedback that you have received thus far. It will go up the more fb that you get. 

i respond to both neutrals and negs and then block them. I send a thank you to each and every customer that we have and tell them to contact us if there are any issues. To just leave a neg or neutral tells me they don't want to work with me to resolve the situation. Don't bother trying to sort it out with them. If they haven't replied yet, they aren't going to. Just politely respond to the fb and then let it go. In time, your fb percentage will go up. Use secure packaging to ship. Others have good suggestions on how to show size in the listings. 

Good luck selling on here. Your store is lovely! 

[soh.maryl]

Your suggestion to offer free returns makes sense in some situations; however, this was an item not as described case, so, free returns or not, if the buyer opened an NAD case, the seller would be sending a prepaid return label and refunding in full upon receipt of the returned item. 

[nobody*s_perfect]

But the buyer who left the neg apparently did not open a SNAD case. Perhaps they don't understand the SNAD claim process (despite their high feedback number) and only looked at the seller's policy of "Buyer pays" for returns.

[fern*wood]

Wonderful and beautiful yarn!  Sorry you had a couple issues, I've had my fair share and always try to learn from them.   Sometimes I think my photos/descriptions are clear, and then later on I read one and wonder what the heck was I thinking or see I left out something really important.  

Others have mentioned things you can do and I agree.   I looked at the bottle listing and it took me quite some time to find the ounces.  I've never seen it in the location it's in---even though it's near the top. It wasn't where I normally would look to find size.   I would expect that in the title, item specs & description so I'd revise that right away.  Hopefully the neg buyer will agree to revise.  I wouldn't bother except for the fact you don't have many feedbacks.

[foreverwool]

Interesting that you'd refund without proof of breakage.  It is drilled on Etsy forums that you never refund anything without at least a picture for proof.  I'm not going to lose my shirt on one crochet hook and I normally would send a replacement at no cost to the customer, but I thought it odd that they never even tried to reply to my message let alone send a pic (some don't have a cell so that I would have understood that).  The person who ordered is a frequent buyer, so I'm reasonably sure they've seen my message.

  I've crafted a reasonable, non-accusatory reply, but I didn't want to shoot myself in the foot by replying and locking the buyers' comments as they do on Etsy.

Thanks for your reply!

[foreverwool]

Great suggestions!  I knew buyers were different on eBay than on Etsy, but until I have trouble I don't know how to prevent the problems that are most likely to occur here.

[5594shelleys]

Purchase an item or two on eBay with good FB left by seller. That will increase your FB rating. 

[mam98031]

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@foreverwool wrote:

Interesting that you'd refund without proof of breakage.  It is drilled on Etsy forums that you never refund anything without at least a picture for proof.  I'm not going to lose my shirt on one crochet hook and I normally would send a replacement at no cost to the customer, but I thought it odd that they never even tried to reply to my message let alone send a pic (some don't have a cell so that I would have understood that).  The person who ordered is a frequent buyer, so I'm reasonably sure they've seen my message.

  I've crafted a reasonable, non-accusatory reply, but I didn't want to shoot myself in the foot by replying and locking the buyers' comments as they do on Etsy.

Thanks for your reply!

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When you comment to a FB left for you, it doesn't "lock" anything in.  If the FB broke a policy / rule, Ebay would still remove it.  However in your case, there is no policy that would allow for the negative or the neutral FB to be removed.

With that said, I'd reply to the neutral simply.  The bottle size was stated in the listing.

The negative, I would not respond to as it likely would bring more attention to it and really what are you going to say.  I did too package it well!!  Just learn from this one and if needed use a little extra care when packaging these items.

I agree with you on the refunds.  Did either of the buyers ask for one?  If so, what did they say?