How to avoid Negative Feedback!

Negative Feedback, what a dirty word! As a season seller, I avoid Negative feeback at all cost. How can you avoid it, you ask? Well you can't! That's right you can't but YOU can avoid 99.99% them. Let's learn how.1. The number one job you have as a seller is to accurately describe your item in detail.Tell everything about your item, describe the features, make it sound good, but if there is something wrong with it at all, then you need to mention it. Be upfront with your customers, don't hide anything. I know your thinking well if I tell them there is a hole, hair line crack, rip, stain, rough edges, dirt ect. I wont get good money for that item.Well think of it this way, if you don't figure out how to write your description in a way where it is honest, upfront and appealing to the buyers, you will Not be making any money at all. Buyers will be returning items and giving you a negative!Go ahead and write a good description. Don't hold anything back. Be honest, upfront and make sure the customer likes what you are saying.Example: You are selling an old piece of sheet music. It is in good condition, but the edges our rough it has age stains (light brown spots all over it). You know that this perticular piece is highly sought after.You could describe like this.In this auction you are biding on an old piece of sheet music. Chicago By fred Fisher 1922 Signed by Fred Fisher. It is old, has tears and spots all over it.The description is accurate, honest and up front but, the buyer thinks its a piece of junk and not worth anything , so why bid? You should not expect to make much money on it.But what if you say it this way, will the buyers be more likely to purchase and expect that there are some issues?Note the difference.In this auction you are biding on a vintage piece of sheet music. Chicago by Fred Fisher 1922 Signed by Fred Fisher. This sheet music is extra special, highly sought after, hard to find. It looks great for it's age but, it does have some rough edges and light age spots, as expected, with any vintage piece. You will enjoy adding this piece of sheet music to your vintage collection. Thanks for looking and make sure you visit my other auctions. We would love to gebine shipping.Ok, which sounds better? The one that ends on a sour note or the one that tells you there are issues but ends on a positive note.When you write a description you want to tell it like it is, but in a way, that the buyer doesn't know what hit them. Every description should start positive, end positive and somewhere in between let them know what's wrong. Grab there attention, slap there hand, then pick the buyer back up and let them know they will love it. If you will start writing a good description like this you will get more bids, less gripes and better feedback.2. There must be gemunication between you and the buyer, be attentive to the questions asked and reply to every email, no matter if you like the question or not. When you have items for sale on okay, it is your job to provide good customer service.Answer all emails, no matter what! Even if you think the questions is stupid and you provided that answer in the description. You are the seller and we have the unique responsibility to entereact with many kinds of people. We need to respect that. Sometimes buyers ask questions, not to get answers, but to see if you will respond.Buyers want to know if they are going to get good customer service from you. If you do not respond to there emails, then you are not providing good customer service. As a seasoned seller on okay I tend to watch my emails and auctions through out the day, if not all day! Every second I get a chance to look as "My okay" I do. Every seller should take pride in there customer service. Do what it takes too provide excellant service, reply to emails immediately. Answer questions honestly! It is better to tell the truth and let them decide whether your item is what they are looking for. If you will do this, it will save you time, money and your feedback.3. Do not over charge on shipping.Yes, you can charge a handling fee to have as a buffer, but if an item weighs less than 1 pound don't charge a high shipping price for that item, unless they choose a shipping method that would call for a higher shipping price. You may be discrete, if you can ship an item for $3.85 priority mail then only add .50 cents to the total. Shipping a heavy item over 6 lbs then you can get away with adding $1.00. The only time you can get away with a higher handling fee is if the items weighs over 25 or more pounds or you are sending it a special way like express over night shipping. The the buyers will expect a higher shipping rate due to the packaging. This applies to all shipping carriers. I know UPS shipping rates are not on the packages and you could send the items for a bit more. But don't over do it. Buyers are smarter than you think. This is the day of the internet and people who are buying from you, will normally have some type of expereince with shipping rates. 4. Every Seller should be a pro at packaging and shipping any item they sale. Know how to ship your merchandise before you sale it. Package it tightly and give it enough padding so it won't get damaged during shipping no matter what the shipping carriers do to it. After you are done boxing your items, you should not be afraid to stand on a 10 foot ladder and drop it on the concrete. Your package should be tight and with stand the brutal shipping carriers ways of throwing your packages. If you do not feel safe dropping your own box off an ladder, then you did not package it safely.Sellers love leaving negative feedback because their merchandise got damage during shipment.I know you could say, well that is not my fault, In some regards you are correct, but if you would have taken extra care in your packaging you might have avoided this issue. Not all the time, but most of the time. I have sold everything from Heavy glass to plastic items in the last 8 years and only filed 2 claims for damages.This is how I ship every item I sell. Place your item in a box where there is enough room to add your packaging material under, over and around it safely, after packaging item shake the box, make sure you do not feel or hear anything moving. If you do, then your package needs more stuffng materials in the box. My favorite shipping material is unused newspaper. I go to my local Newspaper and they give away left over rolls of unused newspaper. This newspaper is thick and clean, it will not cause harm to any of your items. Plus it is stiff enouph to keep things safely in one place. (Great for moving too).DO not use a box that is to little. The item you are shipping should have at least 2-5 inches or more of space around it. You need room to keep the item off the sides of the box and be able to put your shipping material thickly around them. Do not ship items in a box too big either, it will be hard to keep the item secure. Items will shift in the box, even with lots of packaging, if the box is too big.The last thing you need to know about shipping off your item is too gemunicate with the buyer when item has shipped. If you have a tracking number provide it to the customer. This will avoid most emails after the sale. it will save you time.5. The customer recieves the package and is unhappy for one reason or another. You will need to gemunicate with them. Address the issue. Tell your customer you are sorry they are not happy and that you understand. Offer them a solution. If you do not know a solution ask them what they would like you to do? Take care of the customers issues quickly, don't take it personally, keep your focus on the issue at hand, don't retaliate back with threat or insults, look for solutions that will satisfy your customer. Keep it professional, don't get caught up with your emotions. Keep your perspective, you must provide good customer service above all else.Examples: If a customer say's something like this.This item is a piece of junk, it does not work, you said in your description it is in good working condition! You are a thief! If your description did not mention the issue they have with the item, then the customer has the right to return it and get there money back.Accept the item back, if that is what they want you to do. If the item is under warranty, then you warrant it out yourself, after you have taken care of your customer. In this situation, you really do not have much choice unless you have an identical one to replace it with, don't let your customer sit and stew that will agitate them more. Take care of them quickly.What if the customer say's it has tears and your descritption say's it has tears. If you DID mention the item had a tear in your description, then point that out. Copy paste what you said in your description. But, always start your email with something like this. I am sorry you did not realize this item had some light damage. Please read the description again and you will see that I did mention this. Then down play the issue and ask them whatthey would like you to do about it? A lot of times they will read what you wrote and forget about pursuing the issue. If they are persistent and they begin threatening you, then ask them "What would you like me to do for you? Use your own judgement and try to make them happy.At all cost try to avoid any Negative feedback. because there will be some customers no matter what you do or say, they will not be happy with there purchase and for one reason or another they will be leaving you a negative. If you go above and beyond to avoide 99.99% of potential problems, chances are you negative feedback will be few and far between. That is the key, avoide all negative feedback as best as you can, by following my steps, because some customers will never be satisfied. 6. If you do recieve a negative and you have done everything you could to avoid it, then contact the buyer once more and ask them what can we do to make you happy? If you gee to agreement ask the buyer to contact okay have the feedback removed and once the feedback has been removed, follow through with your agreement. If you follow my suggestions you will be on a success on okay, avoiding Negative feedback and earning customers trust and in return getting more bids on your items.Good luck and Happy selling.All information in this guide is My Auction Assistant property. No one should use any of my information in written form, without permission.