Feedback - How to get more of it!
So one of the biggest hurtles as a new reseller is feedback. If you are a new seller on eBay, not too many buyers are willing to purchase from 0 feedback account. Most eBay OGs will tell you the best way to up your feedback is to become a buyer first then, after about ten or so positive feedback, your selling will be easier. That’s genuinely good advice, but seller feedback and buyer feedback are different. Once you get that initial feedback, making the switch to primarily a seller account, many get frustrated that their feedback is reduced to a trickle.
There are a few reasons why receiving feedback as a buyer is easier than as a seller. Most large established sellers have feedback set to auto, meaning that as soon as you pay, they auto rate you. This is to save them time, because they are selling a lot of items everyday. In addition, you cannot leave buyers negative feedback, so many sellers just view this as something easily automated, since the them “it doens’t really matter”. As an established seller this mindset makes sense, but if you are new to eBay and trying to grow your resell business, I would actually recommend against this.
Picture of my Thank You card before wrapping and shipping out a Rae Dunn Mug.
My feedback return fluctuates between 42-48%. Since eBay doesn’t release these metrics, I’ll have to go off of a general consensus in the reselling community that typical feedback return is 20-25%. I attribute my higher than average return to consistently doing two things:
I put a Thank You business card in every item.
I wait until the item is delivered to leave the buyer feedback.
To be honest, the business cards are from my other side hustle and I had over 1000 of them, so this was a way to upcycle and show a person is behind the eBay account, and not a big company. I believe this adds a more personal touch that buyers appreciate. By waiting until the item is delivered, giving feedback is a gentle push, while the purchase is fresh in their mind, to return the feedback favor.
As far as my other selling platforms, I have a 89% on Mercari and a 43% on Etsy. On Mercari, in order to receive your funds you have to have the buyer review you. If they haven’t three days after receiving the item, Mercari will auto positive review you, which is how I calculated the 89%. Technically 100%, but I don’t count the auto feedback.
One of my summer seasonal polymailers.
If possible, I would also recommend upping your packaging game. All my clothes are put in a clear plastic polymailer with the Thank You card, and then in a seasonally relevant polymailer for final shipping. Careful packing for breakable items is a must, but instead of just wrapping in a blank paper before putting it in bubble wrap, put one piece of colorful tissue over the blank white for a bit of flare, while not having to worry about the color transferring on the item.
Note: Do not wrap things in newspaper. One, it’s cheap looking, and two, if your package gets wet at all or is transported to a humid area the new print can transfer onto the item, essentially ruining it.
I would recommend not messaging your buyers about leaving you feedback. No one likes a pushy salesperson. If you are selling quality items and take care in your packaging, buyers will leave you feedback. Try some of my recommendations, and let me know if they work for you!
