I had over 550 sales on Ebay last year. With that, I had a handful of negative feedback. I used to not care, but once you’re at the perfect 100%, you sorta want to keep it that way. Every time I’ve gotten a negative feedback that I don’t think is legitimate, I call up Ebay and if you get a US based rep and have a good excuse, they can remove it for you. Here are some of the recent reasons:
- “Untrustworthy”
- The buyer had made an offer on an item and I accepted the offer. Turns out I didn’t have the item, so I asked him if he wanted a replacement or a refund. He chose the refund, and so I cancelled the transaction and refunded him. Then weeks later, he left me that feedback. And he had 200+ feedback so he should know better. Just being an a-hole. I called up Ebay and since the transaction was cancelled, they removed the feedback.
- “Hat was too big for my daughter’s head”
- I didn’t overturn this one, but later I found out that I could have. Since it was a “one size fits all” hat, which is what was advertised, then it’s not my fault it didn’t fit her daughter’s head.
- “Jacket was too big and didn’t fit”
- Person was angry because the jacket was too big and they wanted to return it for a smaller size. I said, “Sorry I don’t accept returns.” That’s when they left the feedback. Called up Ebay and said they were just a bitter person because I wouldn’t take the item back. Removed.
- “Item didn’t work” or something to that effect
- The guy bought a Fire tablet from me and his wife wanted to watch some Asian dramas on it or so, but couldn’t and wanted to return it. I said, “Sorry no returns.” That’s when they left the feedback, and Ebay removed it.
There was another one, but I forgot what it was. As long as it’s a legitimate negative feedback – I had one where the person said the item was damaged in shipment and left that feedback. I contacted them and told them I’d just refund their money if they revised their feedback (it was a $15 item at $0 COGS.) They did so and all was right. I doubt that’s something I could have talked Ebay into overturning. Usually if the person is angry about the product or your returns policy, you can usually get it removed. If it’s about your service, then that’ll be harder for them to remove.