Ways you can give a personal touch: Use the person’s name in your message (Hi David).

Use personal pronouns like “I am” instead of “we are”. Use extra phrases like “I hope you enjoy your day”. Use your full name in the response.

Structure messages using the “Why, How, What” rule

When most people explain their reasons for something, they say what they’re doing it, followed by how they’re doing it and lastly why they’re doing it.

Example:

“I’m cancelling your order by refunding your money via PayPal because the item is defective”

The problem is, the way your brain makes decisions and creates impressions is by understanding the “why” first.

Therefore by explaining in the reverse order of “Why, How, What” you’ll instantly become more persuasive.

Here’s how we could change the example in this way:

“I noticed the item was defective and I wanted you to have the best product possible so I’ve refunded your payment via PayPal and cancelled your order.”

You can check out Simon Sinek’s TED Talk on this subject with the video below:

Give more – Get more

When you give more, you have a higher value to others. And when you provide a higher value to others, you’ll automatically get more back.

So if you can overdeliver in your messages and service to your buyers, you can expect to get more positive feedback back.

How: Create value in your offering and messages – give more than the buyer expected to get. It could be better pricing, amazing service, a surprise gift, a future discount that they didn’t expect.

An added benefit is that when your value seems higher, people will be willing to pay more in future.

Use emotions in your messages

People form opinions based on how they feel, rather than just the facts. In any business, it’s normal for things to go wrong, like when selling on eBay you could incur delays when shipping items.

But if you show real empathy and use emotions in your messages then it helps buyers to form a much more positive opinion of you and your store.

Ways you can add emotion to your messages: Thanking them sincerely for their business, explaining you understand how they feel, their frustration and are doing everything you can to put things right – even using emojis like smilies.

An example message that displays emotion

Hi [buyer name]

I’m really thankful that you visited my store and made a purchase.

I created my store because I want to help online buyers get the best possible buying experience and because I’m passionate about [item niche]

If there’s anything I can do for you, please don’t hesitate to let me know!

Your satisfaction is very important to me.

I hope you enjoy your day 🙂

Yours,

[Your name]

You can easily steal some sentences from this, or download all our best eBay positive feedback samples in our handy PDF here.

Never say “No”

Imagine you wake up to receive the following message from a buyer in your inbox:

Hi [Your name]

I’ve just bought this item and really need it for my wedding. Are you able to ship it with 1 day delivery for me?

Thanks

[Buyers name]

Now let’s add a twist and say you aren’t able to deliver the item in 1 day. How would you respond?

A very common mistake that sellers make is to instantly say “no” to requests (mostly without even explaining why they’ve even said “no”!).

It’s natural to try to answer people with very short, direct answers when you can’t find solutions but it doesn’t help the situation. 

Here’s an example of a bad way to reply to the message:

No, we can’t ship it in 1 day. You can pay extra and we’ll ship it in 3 days instead.

A better way to answer could be…

“Hi [Buyer], Congratulations on your wedding – I hope you’re excited. The manufacturer of the item is based abroad so I’m not sure it’ll be possible to ship it in 1 day, however, I’ll try my best for you, please allow me to check and I’ll get back to you. Thanks, [Your name]”

It’s very important that even if the answer in the end will be “I’m really sorry, I can’t do it”, you still show the customer you are really trying and working for them as well as buying you some time.

Notice how in the example answer, we also explained why it might not be possible and started to manage their expectation of this too.

Know that every situation is solvable

Whilst 99% of your transactions will go without a hitch, there will always be 1% where there’s you run into a snag like needing to process a return, exchange or cancel an item.

The key is working with the buyer, understanding what their ideal resolution is and being flexible in your approach.

Could you offer a different but similar item in exchange?

Would the buyer simply like a quick refund?

Can you offer them an extra discount on a future order as an apology?

Learn to think outside the box and every situation will become solvable.

How to handle returns whilst avoiding negative feedback

There’ll always be someone that orders a gift from your store for someone else, and then ends up wanting to return the item because the person didn’t like it.

When handling returns, always use eBay’s resolution centre to handle returns – never do it through eBay messages.

Simply tell the buyer to open a case, and that you’ll handle the rest. Once you have it open as a case, eBay have a set procedure and you’ll be protected as a seller.

The great thing about this is that even if the buyer gives you a negative feedback – if the case closes in your favour, you can ask to have the negative feedback removed!

Deliver a fast response

Turns out that it’s not just having lots of feedback that helps to drive your sales ranking on eBay. One of the ways eBay sees how dedicated you are is by tracking your activity.

To eBay, sending fast replies means great customer service and indicates a high levels of activity.

And high activity levels = a higher eBay ranking – not to mention as a customer wouldn’t you prefer a speedy response to your queries?

Bottom line: Always react fast to cases, messages, returns and cancellations.

Avoiding Negative Feedback

Even getting 1 negative feedback for every 99 people that leave you positive feedback is damaging to your feedback score – so mastering the art of avoiding negative feedback is just as important as getting positive feedback.

Here are the best ways to do it. 

Manage expectations of your buyers 

You buy an iPhone on eBay, and were never told that the shipping time is 3 weeks.

You buy a fur coat on eBay, and weren’t told the fur is fake.

You buy an MP4 player from eBay and aren’t told you’ll need to pay customs duty from China.

What’s the common problem?

You haven’t been properly informed, or in other words, you haven’t had your expectations properly. When buyers expectations don’t match the item or service they receive, then it’s a major cause of negative feedback.

As a seller, it’s your job to ensure buyers know what’s going on at every part of the process. Luckily we have some message templates that will help you do just that.

The 2 key messages to send after getting a sale: 

Message 1 – Send immediately after a purchase has been made

What’s the aim of this message?

• Thank the buyer for purchasing from your store
• Explain the process to them – how long the handling and shipping should take

Hi [Buyer name],

Thank you very much for your purchase! I appreciate your quick payment. I’ve left positive feedback for you. We are preparing your item for shipping and I will update you as soon as possible with the tracking number. We estimate it will take around X days before your item ships.

Thanks for shopping at [your store name], I appreciate your business and look forward to seeing you again soon. Have a nice day (:

Sincerely.

[Your name]

Message 2 – Send just after the item has shipped

What’s the aim of this message?

• Create a feeling of excitement by letting the buyer know how long it should take to arrive
• Tell the buyer we’d love to hear from them if they’re satisfied with the item and service and that if they’re not to let you know why so you can resolve it
• Ask the buyer to leave positive feedback if satisfied with their purchase

Good news,  [Buyer name]. Your order shipped on [Date].

Your shipment is on the way and it will get to you in [X] business days.

I’ve included tracking information, so you can easily follow its progress.

Please note that it may take up to 24 hours for your tracking data to appear on the carrier’s website.

We hope you enjoy your purchase and thank you again for shopping at [your store name].

Please leave us a 5 star rating and positive feedback on eBay if you enjoy the item or let us know if there’s an issue so we can quickly resolve it for you.

Sincerely,

[Your name]

“Don’t wake up the dead” – The #1 mistake that eBay sellers do to harm their feedback rating

If you’re in a zombie apocalypse, it probably wouldn’t be advisable to walk around a bunch of graveyards, knocking on the tombstones.

Similarly on eBay, you’re ill-advised to go around “waking the dead”.

What do we mean by this? Well, a lot of eBay sellers send a message after the customer has received their item, but by this time it’s too late.

You don’t want to “wake up” someone that isn’t happy with the item, and asking them for positive feedback at this stage will only make the situation worse.

Whilst sending reminders for feedback can increase the amount of positive feedback, it also increases the amount of negative feedback too – and eBay cares about the percentage of positive to negative feedback as an indicator of satisfaction. 

Your best bet is to stick to sending a message after the buyer makes an order, and immediately after the item ships to avoid this potential trap.

You may find yourself wondering  how do I sell on eBay with all of these rules. It isn’t as hard as it may seem at the start, just stick at it and you will get there!

What to do when your item is out of stock

If there’s something that eBay really hates, it’s when you sell an item that you don’t actually have. Unfortunately though, it happens.

With hundreds of items being sold at a time, sellers lose track of their inventory. And dropshippers often list items that later become unavailable. 

Handle the situation correctly, and you’ll face no problems from the buyer or from eBay.

But handle the situation wrongly, and you could lose your sales ranking pretty quickly.

So here’s our advice on how to handle everything as a seller when you sell an out of stock item.

First – here’s what not to do when your item is out of stock

On eBay you have 3 options when cancelling an order:

1. I don’t have this item in stock anymore
2. There was a problem with the buyers’ address
3. The buyer asked to cancel the order

You might be thinking, ah simple, I’ll just click the “I don’t have this item in stock anymore”.

Don’t do this! Don’t do this! Don’t do this!

Even if your item is out of stock, you should never cancel an order by choosing the option “I don’t have this item in stock anymore” because it’ll result in you getting a defect.

Getting defects can cause eBay to lower your ranking in the search results which means less sales for you.

So how should you handle it?

Communication is the key

The trick is to contact the buyer and ask them to cancel the order themselves or make them aware that you’re cancelling the order for a different reason. 

Let’s see an example of how this can be done: 

Hi [Name] 

Thank you for purchasing from my store. 

I’m sorry to let you know but when we were processing your order we found a defect in your product and we didn’t want to send you a defective item.

This is why I had to refund your payment. In the meantime, please don’t order this item again until I have all the answers from the manufacturer as it was sent for further inspection.

If you decide not to repurchase then I understand.

Again, I’m very sorry about this situation and I hope you accept my apology. As I consider your satisfaction as my top priority, the feedback you provide means a lot to me.

Please let me know if there are any other issues I can help you with. 

Thanks, 

[Sellers Name]

 Why this message is great:

• Instead of putting the blame on ourselves for listing an out of stock item, we shift the blame to the manufacturer so that buyers don’t get a negative impression of us

• It makes it look like we’re cancelling the order to protect their best interests (we don’t want them to have a defective product and we’re not looking to make any money from the situation) 

• This message makes us seem proactive rather than reactive 

• We apologise and make sure to follow the “Why, How, What” rule when explaining

Tactic #2 – Involve a personal story

Always remember that people make decisions based on emotions so if you can share a story with the buyer about yourself and the business then you’ll be more persuasive and buyers are likely to be a bit more forgiving.

Here’s an example in action:

Hi [Name]

I am truly sorry for the inconvenience. 

This is our family business and the main source of income to myself, my wife and our newborn son.

We did our best to deliver the item on time but due to some issues with the carrier, there will be a delay of 3 days.

Again, I’m very sorry about this issue and I hope you accept my apology. As I consider your satisfaction as my top priority, the feedback you provide means a lot to me. I hope you understand the situation. 

Please let me know if there are any other issues I can help you with.

Thanks, 

[Sellers Name]

Thanks for reading the article. To learn how to get positive feedback on ebay for free and increase your eBay ranking, please download all our message templates by clicking here