Rating buyers is WRONG!
~ a call out to all Etsy sellers ~
How can our customers feel safe buying on Etsy or from us when we have the ability to rate them as a buyer? Moreover, what if that buyer also has a shop where they try to sell their handmade goods?
I have 'virtually' met some fabulous people via Etsy, but I'm also come across some nasty, vindictive, competitive people as well. I would like to see an end to buyer feedback. As far as I'm concerned, a "good" buyer is one that pays. If they don't pay, then they are not really a customer now are they? A buyer has only ONE obligation to the seller. That is to pay the amount due. They do not have to be pleasant, they do not have to be chatty, fun or sweet. They don't have to be pretty or popular or easy going. A buyer does not have to like you or even be happy with their purchase. They don't have to post positive reviews when truly they were disappointed with the product or customer service. Buyers have only ONE job - that is to pay the seller. This is a buyers ONLY obligation. If they are sweet, nice, easy going and fun - that's just gravy.
There are too many sellers on Etsy that use the buyer feedback to post retaliatory feedback and negative commentary in hopes of damaging the buyers reputation or bullying them into a positive review. This is not right.
As I mentioned, I am a buyer AND a seller on Etsy and I had this happen to me. I was devastated that Etsy would not help me get rid of the retaliatory feedback on my buyer profile. Etsy did nothing to help fix my problem or put an end to the blackmail and retaliatory feedback that is happening on this site.
Sadly, only a few sellers post feedback immediately after payment. Only a very few... I would like to see this change. So long as buyer feedback is an option, I would like ALL sellers to post POSITIVE feedback on a client immediately upon receiving payment.
Help our buyers feel safe on Etsy.
Don't worry about what happens next. If you care about your clients and you are providing quality products with quality customer service - that will show in your reviews. If a buyer comes along and rates you in a way you don't like - see if you can help make them happy. If there is no way to resolve the situation, then suck it up and try to learn from the experience. Because, at the end of the day, a business is nothing without customers!
Our world - as sellers - revolves around our customers. NOT the other way around. If they are annoying, demanding, whatever - suck it up! Unless you are independently wealthy, you don't get to choose your clients - THEY CHOOSE YOU!
It's wonderful to have a fun, happy, positive client who makes you feel like you're work is the greatest thing since sliced bread. That's a terrific feeling. However, that doesn't mean that the demanding client is any less of a "good" buyer. They are just different. And take all that gravy on the wrong day - your wonderful client can become your biggest headache!
My point is this - rating buyers is wrong. We will ALL - at some point or another - come accross someone who is not 100% satisfied with either our product, the shipping time or our service. This is life. No one is perfect and we all have a bad day from time-to-time. But don't worry about that. If you do your best, make the customer your focus and be honest with them AND yourself - the positive reviews will outweigh the negative and your customers will understand.
I beg of you all - stop the retaliatory feedback and bring Honesty to Etsy!
Post POSITIVE feedback immediately upon payment.
Thank you.
TTD
http://www.etsy.com/teams/5002/etsy-success/discuss/6849658/
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