Implement an "Auto-Rating" System for Seller Feedback (like Vinted/eBay)
I would like to start a discussion about Amazon introducing an Auto-Rating system for Seller Feedback.
Currently, the vast majority of our buyers don't leave feedback unless they are upset. We all know that customers rarely go out of their way to leave a positive rating unless an incentive is offered (which is strictly against Amazon policy). Because the 99% of happy, silent customers don't count towards our metrics, unfair negative feedback hurts our accounts disproportionately.
Why not introduce an auto-rating system where sellers automatically receive a 5-star Seller Feedback rating if the buyer receives the item and raises no issues within 30 days?
Platforms like Vinted and eBay have already successfully implemented this type of strategy to reward sellers for smooth, problem-free transactions, but Amazon is lagging behind here. If a transaction goes perfectly and the customer is satisfied enough to keep the item without complaint, that is by definition a 5-star fulfillment experience.
Has anyone else thought about this? How can we get the Amazon forum moderators to pass this suggestion up to the leadership team?
Implement an "Auto-Rating" System for Seller Feedback (like Vinted/eBay)
I would like to start a discussion about Amazon introducing an Auto-Rating system for Seller Feedback.
Currently, the vast majority of our buyers don't leave feedback unless they are upset. We all know that customers rarely go out of their way to leave a positive rating unless an incentive is offered (which is strictly against Amazon policy). Because the 99% of happy, silent customers don't count towards our metrics, unfair negative feedback hurts our accounts disproportionately.
Why not introduce an auto-rating system where sellers automatically receive a 5-star Seller Feedback rating if the buyer receives the item and raises no issues within 30 days?
Platforms like Vinted and eBay have already successfully implemented this type of strategy to reward sellers for smooth, problem-free transactions, but Amazon is lagging behind here. If a transaction goes perfectly and the customer is satisfied enough to keep the item without complaint, that is by definition a 5-star fulfillment experience.
Has anyone else thought about this? How can we get the Amazon forum moderators to pass this suggestion up to the leadership team?
21 replies
Seller_0XWc3TbYeT9US
Firmly in agreement on this sort of system. The feedback visible to customers is now so out of whack with (certainly our) ODR figures as to be utterly meaningless, for exactly the reason you state - customer expectation is so geared towards things arriving swiftly and being great that it doesn't occur to them to leave feedback, and with Amazon swamping people with emails for orders, emails for offers, emails for Prime days, and emails about seller feedback and product reviews, it's no wonder they get binned. I see they've added some things about how long the seller has been trading and a guide on how many orders they've fulfilled, but I'm not even sure if that's visible on the mobile platform.
I think the only people who leave feedback these days are a) people who've had a bad experience and want to grumble or take revenge, and b) other people who sell on Amazon who know what it's like to sell hundreds of orders and get two feedback.
As the ODR takes orders with no "reaction" into account, it makes sense that front-facing feedback should as well.
Billy_Amazon
Hello @Seller_PSXDMQkDcXsof,
Thank you for posting on forums and for taking the time to share this suggestion with the community. We understand the challenge you're describing. When the majority of satisfied customers don't leave feedback, it can feel like your seller rating doesn't accurately reflect the quality of service you're providing.
Your feedback about how the current system works for sellers is noted, and we appreciate you bringing this to the discussion. The Seller Forums is a great place to share ideas like this, and it's clear from the responses that other sellers share similar thoughts on the topic. While I'm not able to confirm whether changes to the feedback system are being considered, I want you to know that discussions like these are valuable.
In the meantime, I'd encourage you to continue providing excellent service to your buyers. You can also check your Account Health dashboard for a broader view of your performance metrics, which takes into account the full picture of your customer interactions.
Regards,
Billy
Seller_WkGzXFR8EP6Iq
The Amazon Seller Feedback system definitely is no longer fit for purpose and needs an overhaul. Some of the main issues:
1. Seller Feedback is rarely posted by customers
Only 0.26% of our orders over the past year has led to a seller feedback (and that's based on a large sample size of 100,000+ orders). Such a small order to feedback rate leads to a seller feedback rating that isn’t truly representative.
2. Many customers get confused between Seller Feedback and Product Reviews
The way Amazon ask for seller feedback and product reviews isn't very clear - I think asking for both Seller Feedback AND Product Review on one single page could help avoid confusion. More than half of our Seller Feedbacks are actually Product Reviews. Examples of Seller Feedback we've received in the past 30 days:
- "great product"
- "Excellent product"
- "So great that i reordered more"
- "Good product"
3. Many customers think posting Seller Feedback is a customer service mechanism
Customers often ask questions when posting Seller Feedback. But now that Amazon has removed the ability for sellers to proactively reach out to customers there's no way to reach customers (we can post a public reply but buyers aren't notified of responses). Such ashame as so many issues can easily be resolved if we could communicate with buyers but seems like Amazon now prefer customers to have unresolved issues (very strange).
4. We regularly receive Seller Feedback for products which we haven't sold
Customers regularly get confused and post feedback in relation to products not purchased from us. Even more frustratingly, these are very difficult to get Amazon to remove because Amazon’s policies don’t reference to wrongly attributed seller feedback as breaching Amazon’s Seller Feedback rules (only after much back and forth with Seller Support Escalations, and only when making reference to the CMA's rules on misleading content, have we had success).
I would urge all sellers to email the CMA (Competition and Markets Authority) with their views/experiences (be sure to include screenshots) - they're actively working on Amazon's marketplace practices and the fair treatment of third-party sellers. Every submission strengthens the evidence base and increases the likelihood of meaningful regulatory intervention.
Seller_19xPhE8YgkmxW
Hi BazaarOnHai,
Although there are some challenges with the no fault feedback idea as pointed out by Dunsterville34, I think that a customer who places a repeat order is tacitly implying 5* for the previous order
All Best
Brian
Seller_81pQXpanRsm33
We mirror all these sentiments.. We only get about 1 in 250 orders leave a positive feedback, but you can bet if there's a problem they'll slap on a Neutral or Negative feedback immediately, often leading the feedback to seem highly inaccurate compared to our general turnover.
eBay recently implemented a auto positive feedback system and its been great - showing the positive shipping metrics we seem to get.
When will Amazon wake up and catch up to this auto feedback system - no news is good news, lets make it as such!
Seller_94SKZetB1dacs
I completely agree with the points raised here, and I think there is a bigger issue that Amazon should seriously consider.
As sellers, we can sell hundreds of orders every day and still receive very little seller feedback or product reviews. The problem isn't necessarily that customers are unhappy — in many cases, it appears that the vast majority of customers simply don't leave any feedback at all.
This creates a situation where a very small number of customers effectively represent the experience of hundreds or thousands of transactions.
For example, if 1,000 orders are completed successfully and only 2 or 3 customers leave seller feedback, those few responses are being used to represent the seller's overall performance. That doesn't seem like a statistically meaningful picture of customer satisfaction.
I also agree with the point about customers confusing Seller Feedback with Product Reviews. If Amazon itself recognises that this confusion happens regularly, then perhaps the solution should be to improve the process rather than simply asking sellers to request removal of incorrectly submitted feedback afterwards.
And while Amazon has explained that product-review comments posted as seller feedback can qualify for removal, the experience described above suggests that the actual removal process can still be inconsistent and require multiple cases and escalations. If something clearly violates the published feedback rules, sellers shouldn't have to repeatedly prove the same thing through several support cases.
I would also like to add one point to the original suggestion about an automatic 5-star rating.
I don't necessarily think Amazon has to automatically give every transaction 5 stars. However, Amazon could consider a system that records completed, issue-free transactions separately from voluntary feedback.
For example:
• Order successfully delivered
• No A-to-Z claim
• No return or customer-service issue
• No negative seller feedback
• No delivery problem
That transaction could count as a verified "successful transaction" even if the customer doesn't actively leave feedback.
This would give Amazon and sellers a much more representative picture of performance without asking customers to leave a positive review or allowing sellers to influence their rating.
The current system seems to measure the customers who choose to speak, rather than the much larger number of customers who simply complete their purchase and move on.
Amazon already has access to the transaction data needed to identify successful orders. The question is whether that information could be incorporated into seller performance in a fair and transparent way.
I'd be very interested to hear whether Amazon has any plans to address this, especially since Amazon representatives have acknowledged in this thread that the confusion and limitations of the current feedback system are issues they hear about regularly.
If Amazon is already aware that this is a recurring problem, what is being done to improve the system rather than simply asking sellers to work within the existing one?
