When you sell handcrafted items online it's sometimes very hard to please people. Let's face it they are buying an item on faith, on the pictures we post, and the descriptions. More importantly, the reviews or feedback have an impact on future sales. What I have learned through almost 15 years is most people don't give praise - easily. I've actually had to close shops on Etsy and eBay due to nasty - I'm talking disgusting feedback. Neither company removes feedback unless there is something threatening. And yes, I have even received threats via email.
My policies are easy - 100% satisfaction guaranteed - if you don't like the item - return it. I'm also not Walmart so there will be a restocking fee and you pay for return shipping. If I made an error I will refund all costs just ship the item back and I'll pay the return shipping.
A few months ago I sold 3 lamps to someone in France, and he had a complaint about everything. The shipping charges were high - they were actual costs no markup but I decided to cut him a discount. I figure 3 lamps why not? I supplied tracking - and then he complained the post office was to slow. Then he didn't like the packing material I used. Standard bubble wrap. It didn't end there. He complained about the color of the lamps - I had 12 pictures of each lamp. He complained about the electrical cords, about the size on and on. I answered each email and tried to be helpful. Finally, after 3 months I said enough. Send the lamps back if you're that unhappy. Nope, not good enough! I refunded him half the cost - still not good enough. I had to contact Etsy because now the treats came. He was scamming me. Etsy provides no protection for sellers. I fully refunded him and took a big loss. Again, I contacted Etsy and this time they blocked him from contacting me.
I'm okay with people that don't leave feedback. People are angry about everything so I would expect that to reflect in feedback. I can't control shipping and I can't control the weather. Yup, back to back blizzards, road closures or even loss of electricity do not matter to most buyers.
When I received this positive feedback the other day - well it made my year!
When you leave negative feedback without trying to work things out with a seller - you are essentially killing future sales for that seller. I have found that most sellers are very willing to fix any problems. Give them that chance.
Be kind - it cost you nothing.
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