
Etsy shared some advice for sellers in a post on Monday titled, "What to do when you receive a negative review," though it wasn't well received by some sellers who are sensitive about new Etsy policies.
The moderator advised sellers, "One of the most important things to remember is that you have a chance to potentially turn around bad reviews. This can take shape in a few ways, but we always first recommend trying to work with a buyer via Messages before posting a public review response."
Buyers can change or remove bad reviews, she said - "Either way, you'll always be able to post a review response for up to 100 days from the original review date or the last review edit." She provided some tips on communicating with buyers and things for sellers to keep in mind before posting a response to a bad review.
A seller told us that the problem was that the new "ODR" hangs over sellers' heads regardless of whether a buyer change a low review to a positive.
Etsy ODRs ("Order Dissatisfaction Rate") are part of its Seller Service Level Standards and are reminiscent of how eBay has dealt with seller performance standards - we wrote about the Etsy ODRs last week
on the AuctionBytes Blog.
In a comment on this week's Etsy post about dealing with low reviews, a seller wrote, "But I share concerns that, with the ODR information that's now available, attempting to help customers who leave poor reviews won't really benefit me in any way. If I am going to take a hit from Etsy even if I am able to turn the situation around, there isn't much incentive to work very hard to make the person happy."
The EcommerceBytes reader was offended by the Etsy moderator's suggestion that if buyers don't budge when it comes to changing their reviews, sellers should consider providing them a gift credit. "Unbelievable."
In another comment on the Etsy post, a seller recommended colleagues continue to strive to get negative reviews turned around, but also bemoaned the new ODR policy:
"Your incentive to make something right after getting a negative review is that FUTURE buyers will see how you respond to that review. I wouldn't let the new ODR guidelines keep you from responding professionally & taking care of an issue, whether it was technically your fault or not. But yeah, the ODR not acknowledging a negative review being changed to positive is awful... especially considering it will count accidental negative reviews."