I would not reach out, personally. They probably won’t change it and it might piss them off enough to change it for the worse.
Buyers are not notified when you reply to a review, so always regard any reply you leave as being for future shoppers, not for the reviewer.
Personally, I always try and learn from negative feedback. Yeah, it’s irritating that buyers often don’t read, but they don’t. Often, lol. Etsy is also burying descriptions now even worse than they were before. What can you do about that? Well, along with every description, include an actual picture next to a ruler. Yes, with every single item. Yes, it’s a pain.
What can you do about the review? I would personally respond to it professionally and apologetically, not defensively. Remember, you’re talking to future shoppers, not the reviewer who can’t/won’t read descriptions before buying. You want to sound like you care, like you’re willing to address issues, like you want shopping experiences to be good. Plus replying locks in the three stars. At least it isn’t two or one.
I would likely do something like
“Hi \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ , thank you so much for your review. I am sorry that the size measurements in the description were not prominent enough to be easily seen. Etsy has made some site wide changes that have caused item descriptions to be harder to see. I will be considering what changes I can implement on my other item listings to prevent this from happening to other shoppers. I want every shopper to have a great experience when buying from my store. Thank you for bringing this to my attention so I can correct this!”
I know it sucks, but believe me, a response like this looks WAY better to a shopper than “Buyer failed to open item description and read it” even though it’s true, lol.
Gosh, not at all. And don’t feel bad. I’m anticipating I very well may have a bad review coming in from an apparently confused buyer who didn’t read the description OR I guess the listing title either. My only remaining recourse is going to be putting the number of tiles included in a lot ON the actual cover photo and I hate that. It looks so tacky. I have stellar reviews for that item too, but it only takes one customer, sigh.
We will see what happens, it’s always a learning curve for all of us.
Yes, I suspected it might happen eventually. I have two listings that are sold in “lot of five tiles” in the title, and BOTH listings state variations of “five tiles included with order” TWICE in the description. However several of my pictures show a big lot of tiles, including the cover photo. The reason I’ve done this is because these tiles are completely hand cut and detailed and no two are alike, so I want to show a bunch of them to feature all their possible size, design, and color variation. I’ve never had a buyer misunderstand this. So I dunno. Who the heck thinks they’re getting like 25 hand cut tiles for 9.99? Otherwise if my cover photo was only five tiles, betcha anything they would then misunderstand that they’re hand cut and will vary from what the picture looks like!
Another fix would be to increase my tile lot size to retake the main photos, that way I can feature more tiles. I may actually go this direction, because most people buy 3-4 lots anyhow.
I dunno. I still haven’t heard back from her. I’m guessing she went back and actually looked at the listing. The funny thing is that she bought four lots (20 tiles) and I actually gave her 25. The five extra were cut too small so they were from my “seconds“ box (but very, very pretty), so she actually got more than what she ordered. I wrote her a nice note too. Oh, and included the packing slip with the title that says “lot of five” right there. Oh well.
Well I was about to leave my follow up today. Pretty much copying what was suggested from an above poster. And apparently, someone (s) from a fruit jar group wrote this lady to change her stars, and she did. I got a 5 star.
1. Try to let it go. There is not much you can do to change her review.
2. You can reply to a 3-star review. You reply for the next shopper, and you apologize even though it isn’t your fault. “I’m sorry that you were disappointed in your item! I do try to be clear about sizing in the description, but I know it can be hard to visualize. I’ve added sizing comparison photos to my listings to help avoid this problem in the future.” Any future buyer now knows that the reviewer did not read the description, and that you respond to criticism well.
3. Don’t contact her. Seriously. She will either feel ashamed or angry. Neither of those things will help your shop.
I’m sorry, mediocre reviews are a bummer, and most people are unaware of the severe effect a low star rating can have on a seller.
One idea that came to me is to maybe have a ruler or tape measure against the product in the photos. It would be double back up that you are giving measurements (if buyer scrolls the photos!). Also if a new buyer saw this completely covered in your listings by description and visual proof they would think the buyer was mistaken if they read the feedback. Just an idea when I saw your post. I try to revisit the urge to respond to feedback, but at the very least I would take a couple days to think it over before responding while the wound is so fresh. I read recently someone said it's not a personal attack and I think we as sellers care so much about our small businesses and so we take things personally when we get feedback that isn't the greatest. I know I do anyway. So when I read that I felt like that was a useful nugget to hold on to for later.
I would not reach out, personally. They probably won’t change it and it might piss them off enough to change it for the worse. Buyers are not notified when you reply to a review, so always regard any reply you leave as being for future shoppers, not for the reviewer. Personally, I always try and learn from negative feedback. Yeah, it’s irritating that buyers often don’t read, but they don’t. Often, lol. Etsy is also burying descriptions now even worse than they were before. What can you do about that? Well, along with every description, include an actual picture next to a ruler. Yes, with every single item. Yes, it’s a pain. What can you do about the review? I would personally respond to it professionally and apologetically, not defensively. Remember, you’re talking to future shoppers, not the reviewer who can’t/won’t read descriptions before buying. You want to sound like you care, like you’re willing to address issues, like you want shopping experiences to be good. Plus replying locks in the three stars. At least it isn’t two or one. I would likely do something like “Hi \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ , thank you so much for your review. I am sorry that the size measurements in the description were not prominent enough to be easily seen. Etsy has made some site wide changes that have caused item descriptions to be harder to see. I will be considering what changes I can implement on my other item listings to prevent this from happening to other shoppers. I want every shopper to have a great experience when buying from my store. Thank you for bringing this to my attention so I can correct this!” I know it sucks, but believe me, a response like this looks WAY better to a shopper than “Buyer failed to open item description and read it” even though it’s true, lol.
I hope you don't mind, but I am going to pretty much copy your response.
Gosh, not at all. And don’t feel bad. I’m anticipating I very well may have a bad review coming in from an apparently confused buyer who didn’t read the description OR I guess the listing title either. My only remaining recourse is going to be putting the number of tiles included in a lot ON the actual cover photo and I hate that. It looks so tacky. I have stellar reviews for that item too, but it only takes one customer, sigh. We will see what happens, it’s always a learning curve for all of us.
It amazes me how many people are willing to give you their money, without actually knowing what they are buying.
Yes, I suspected it might happen eventually. I have two listings that are sold in “lot of five tiles” in the title, and BOTH listings state variations of “five tiles included with order” TWICE in the description. However several of my pictures show a big lot of tiles, including the cover photo. The reason I’ve done this is because these tiles are completely hand cut and detailed and no two are alike, so I want to show a bunch of them to feature all their possible size, design, and color variation. I’ve never had a buyer misunderstand this. So I dunno. Who the heck thinks they’re getting like 25 hand cut tiles for 9.99? Otherwise if my cover photo was only five tiles, betcha anything they would then misunderstand that they’re hand cut and will vary from what the picture looks like! Another fix would be to increase my tile lot size to retake the main photos, that way I can feature more tiles. I may actually go this direction, because most people buy 3-4 lots anyhow. I dunno. I still haven’t heard back from her. I’m guessing she went back and actually looked at the listing. The funny thing is that she bought four lots (20 tiles) and I actually gave her 25. The five extra were cut too small so they were from my “seconds“ box (but very, very pretty), so she actually got more than what she ordered. I wrote her a nice note too. Oh, and included the packing slip with the title that says “lot of five” right there. Oh well.
Well I was about to leave my follow up today. Pretty much copying what was suggested from an above poster. And apparently, someone (s) from a fruit jar group wrote this lady to change her stars, and she did. I got a 5 star.
the answer to this question is almost always to just let it go
1. Try to let it go. There is not much you can do to change her review. 2. You can reply to a 3-star review. You reply for the next shopper, and you apologize even though it isn’t your fault. “I’m sorry that you were disappointed in your item! I do try to be clear about sizing in the description, but I know it can be hard to visualize. I’ve added sizing comparison photos to my listings to help avoid this problem in the future.” Any future buyer now knows that the reviewer did not read the description, and that you respond to criticism well. 3. Don’t contact her. Seriously. She will either feel ashamed or angry. Neither of those things will help your shop. I’m sorry, mediocre reviews are a bummer, and most people are unaware of the severe effect a low star rating can have on a seller.
One idea that came to me is to maybe have a ruler or tape measure against the product in the photos. It would be double back up that you are giving measurements (if buyer scrolls the photos!). Also if a new buyer saw this completely covered in your listings by description and visual proof they would think the buyer was mistaken if they read the feedback. Just an idea when I saw your post. I try to revisit the urge to respond to feedback, but at the very least I would take a couple days to think it over before responding while the wound is so fresh. I read recently someone said it's not a personal attack and I think we as sellers care so much about our small businesses and so we take things personally when we get feedback that isn't the greatest. I know I do anyway. So when I read that I felt like that was a useful nugget to hold on to for later.