⭐ Product Review vs. Seller Feedback: Know Your Rights
Understanding the distinction between product reviews and seller feedback isn't just helpful—it's essential for your success on Amazon. Many sellers confuse these two types of feedback, which can lead to mishandled customer interactions and missed opportunities to improve their business. By clearly understanding these differences, you'll be better equipped to manage your store performance, protect your account health, and grow your sales effectively.
A product review is a customer's evaluation of the specific product you sell. It includes a star rating (1 to 5) and often a written comment detailing their experience with the product. Product reviews are centered on the product's attributes, such as quality, functionality, and overall user experience. They are visible on the product detail page and play a significant role in influencing potential buyers' purchasing decisions.
Seller feedback, on the other hand, is a public rating of your performance as a seller. It focuses on the customer's experience with your service, including aspects like shipping efficiency, packaging, professionalism, and customer support. Seller feedback is not about the product itself but rather how well you perform as a seller. It is displayed on your seller profile and can impact your eligibility for the Buy Box, search visibility, and overall account health.
Key Differences
- Focus: Product reviews are about the product, while seller feedback is about your service as a seller.
- Visibility: Product reviews are prominently displayed on the product detail page, while seller feedback is found on your seller profile.
- Impact: Both types of feedback influence your sales and reputation, but in different ways. Positive product reviews can boost your product's visibility and sales, while high seller feedback can improve your chances of winning the Buy Box and maintaining a healthy account.
- Management: You can request product reviews from customers who have purchased your product, but you should avoid soliciting seller feedback directly to comply with Amazon's guidelines.
Why Both Matter
Both product reviews and seller feedback are essential for your success on Amazon. Product reviews help build trust and credibility for your products, while seller feedback reflects your professionalism and customer service. Managing both effectively can enhance your reputation, drive sales, and ensure long-term success on the platform.
By understanding the differences between product reviews and seller feedback, you can better navigate Amazon's feedback systems and use them to your advantage. Focus on providing excellent products and customer service to earn positive feedback in both areas.
💬 What's your experience managing product reviews and seller feedback? Share your best practices and challenges below! And if you found this guide helpful, don't forget to upvote so other sellers can benefit too.
⭐ Product Review vs. Seller Feedback: Know Your Rights
Understanding the distinction between product reviews and seller feedback isn't just helpful—it's essential for your success on Amazon. Many sellers confuse these two types of feedback, which can lead to mishandled customer interactions and missed opportunities to improve their business. By clearly understanding these differences, you'll be better equipped to manage your store performance, protect your account health, and grow your sales effectively.
A product review is a customer's evaluation of the specific product you sell. It includes a star rating (1 to 5) and often a written comment detailing their experience with the product. Product reviews are centered on the product's attributes, such as quality, functionality, and overall user experience. They are visible on the product detail page and play a significant role in influencing potential buyers' purchasing decisions.
Seller feedback, on the other hand, is a public rating of your performance as a seller. It focuses on the customer's experience with your service, including aspects like shipping efficiency, packaging, professionalism, and customer support. Seller feedback is not about the product itself but rather how well you perform as a seller. It is displayed on your seller profile and can impact your eligibility for the Buy Box, search visibility, and overall account health.
Key Differences
- Focus: Product reviews are about the product, while seller feedback is about your service as a seller.
- Visibility: Product reviews are prominently displayed on the product detail page, while seller feedback is found on your seller profile.
- Impact: Both types of feedback influence your sales and reputation, but in different ways. Positive product reviews can boost your product's visibility and sales, while high seller feedback can improve your chances of winning the Buy Box and maintaining a healthy account.
- Management: You can request product reviews from customers who have purchased your product, but you should avoid soliciting seller feedback directly to comply with Amazon's guidelines.
Why Both Matter
Both product reviews and seller feedback are essential for your success on Amazon. Product reviews help build trust and credibility for your products, while seller feedback reflects your professionalism and customer service. Managing both effectively can enhance your reputation, drive sales, and ensure long-term success on the platform.
By understanding the differences between product reviews and seller feedback, you can better navigate Amazon's feedback systems and use them to your advantage. Focus on providing excellent products and customer service to earn positive feedback in both areas.
💬 What's your experience managing product reviews and seller feedback? Share your best practices and challenges below! And if you found this guide helpful, don't forget to upvote so other sellers can benefit too.
86 replies
Seller_3A5QP5C55qYLn
So why do so many customers get confused and leave Seller Feedback which are clearly Product Reviews as what they write often doesn't qualify as what you have stated are the key differences. I wish this was made more clear to customers as I see Seller Feedback as less valuable than Product Reviews
Seller_IOPdfWw4Pw5RH
I had a misleading review left. Customer said the product had a date best before date of 2020 which is impossible as I had only started trading last year and products are dated to that affect. I reported the review and Amazon found that indeed the review was inaccurate as they had checked the returned product with the FC. It is now coming to nearly two months and Amazon have not removed the review and i dont think they will.
Seller_SmIDARFPeTO3G
It's almost impossible to get seller feedback as most customers don't leave feedback. Then the only ones that do leave feedback, tend to leave negative feedback as they only say when something goes wrong.
You should implement the same as Vinted and now eBay, where positive feedback is automated after a certain amount of time when tracking shows it as delivered etc.
Joey_Amazon
Hey @Seller_SmIDARFPeTO3G,
Thank you for taking the time to post here on this thread.
I will be sure to share your suggestion with the Seller Feedback team.
Seller_AyZwFLu4Lu8DQ
totally agree - Amazon is not a feedback driven marketplace so over 90% of buyers do not leave feedback - when the people who have a problem do - it seriously disadvantages sellers by unfairly basing the feedback as a percentage of feedback left, rather than a percentage of sales etc .
Seller_sg54Fq7GfBZzn
The issue is the only people inventived to leave feedback are those with either amazingly good experiences or ones they deem to be bad.
Its that simple. So you get either 5 stars amazing or 1 star poor. You can sell 10,000 items and end up with 15 reviews, thats just the facts of the matter and arguably most will be bad.
We see it day after day, when we order items from Amazon, where sellers put inside cards offering free warranty for registering with them or money back. Completely violating all Amazon terms.
You report them, but then the same companies are still doing it, so what is happening to them ? as they are literally incentivising reviews against ToS.
So we rely on actual organic reviews. But you simply cannot compete with a seller offering an item for £5.99 and then a full refund for reviewing it and leaving 5 stars. I know Amazon view it dimly, but they are literally sending in items to your fulfilment centres with these leaflets in them !
From the 10,000 items sold, 9,900 are fine, you can tell that because they have not been returned and nobody has been incentivised to leave negative feedback. But that one customers, just that one who didnt like it, wham 1 star and a product selling thousands is now dead.
It doesnt reflect the accurate picture of the products. For me, the ebay idea is right for seller feedback, if there is no negative or positive within a period of time its deemed positive which is reasonable.
You can be sure if the customer didnt like it, then they would leave negative for sure.
Then there is the issue over product reviews on seller feedback. Why can you not request a transfer on it.
So if the customer puts down 5 stars
This is actual feedback on our profile from a customer and live now for anyone to see
"Bought these glasses as one of my twins felt left out as she doesn't need glasses like her siblings do, and she absolutely loves them and has taken them to school today!"
That is wonderful feedback and a nice review. Problem is, its on our seller profile and not on the product page and we have no way of asking for it to be put on there.
The customer clearly believes they have left the product a review and us, and instead the product doesnt get it.
Surely we should be able to say, hey cant you move this or replicate it to the product ?
Seller_SmIDARFPeTO3G
Hi Joey,
Do you have an update on this concern from sellers?
I have looked through our figures and can see 2000+ orders in the last 30 days, feedback in the last 30 days - 10. One of those feedback was a negative so now we are at 90% rating in the last 30 days. Can you explain to us sellers what Amazon are actively doing about this?
Seller_sg54Fq7GfBZzn
On another selling site, if someone does not leave feedback within a certain period of time its automatically changed to five stars. That would be a start.
As everyone knows if a customer is annoyed they will surely let you know.
Seller_sg54Fq7GfBZzn
I am sorry but the feedback system needs an overhaul and let me explain why.
People are incentivised to leave negative feedback when they are unhappy we all know this and all businesses want to avoid this. However, happy customers dont bother unless ecstatic or they are inventivised to do this, we have all seen the leaflets inside packages from some sellers which clearly breach amazon ToS, yet nothing seems to happen to these companies ? I have reported them time after time and its the same.
Even when your fulfilment centre have the products and can easily check ? they dont.
So it then ends up being a negative show, the only ones who are incentivised to leave feedback are bad.
So explain to me if I sell a product and sell 400 of them.
If one customer is unhappy and leaves a negative review how is that right ? as 399 have been fine, if they had not been I guarantee you we would know about it ?
eBay now after 90 days if someone has not left feedback marks it as 5 stars.
As they get it !!!!!
Amazon sadly dont seem too.
Then when you appeal feedback the system is wrong. I have a 3 star review on my seller profile.
Someone has bought an item and then left three stars because wait for it, "there was not a rubber seal with it"
So lets break it down. The images show the exact items for sale, there is NOT A RUBBER SEAL IN THE PACKAGE, its now shown there, its not expected (well apart from this customer !!)
Its like me buying a tv remote and leaving a 1 star review, "bought this tv remote, didnt get a tv with it, disapointed".
Well no, you wont get a tv as it was never included.
Will seller support remove it ? NO, apparently even though it was not included, it was not mentioned it was not pictured and not part of the sale, I should have magically included it.
Sadly its getting worse and worse for feedback on Amazon
Seller_YcVj3IObF7ZOZ
Product Reviews
The problem is that Buyers do not read the listings properly , make assumptions , and then mark you down through no fault of the Seller.
Seller Feedbackj
The Feedback system is not "FIT FOR PURPOSE "
When are Amazon going to adopt a feedback system , which gives automatic postive feedbacks to a Seller after say 30 days if no feedback is left (as other selling platforms have done) , the current feedback system gives no relation to the amount sold to the amount of feedback given.
Seller_76AUwmqvSyRIM
If it wasn't for customers leaving a product review in the seller feedback section, we would get even fewer seller feedbacks than now so 1 bad genuine feedback could lead to a suspension.
Seller_7tW7yNKxGkkOW
Product reviews on Amazon have become completely detached from fairness. The system is entirely one-sided in favour of the customer, and sellers are left with zero protection. If a serious competitor ever emerges with a more balanced approach, Amazon’s market share will evaporate because millions of sellers would move instantly.
Customers can write anything they want, even when it’s factually wrong, based on misunderstandings, or simply made up. They can leave a 1-star review because Evri or Royal Mail mishandled the parcel. They can claim a product is poor quality when they don’t understand the material. They can state outright false information, and we have no ability to respond, clarify, or add any context.
Our only “solution” is to refund the order or give away the product for free in the hope the review gets removed, which only rewards bad behaviour and encourages more of it. Good-faith customers get mixed into the same system, and sellers become defensive because of constant misuse.
Why can’t sellers post a straightforward comment under a review to correct false claims or explain the facts? That alone would transform the experience for buyers and sellers. Negative reviews would still be visible — but at least the truth could sit alongside them so customers get a complete picture.
As the system stands, sellers are expected to stay silent and hope someone out there leaves a positive review to counterbalance misinformation. It’s outdated, it’s imbalanced, and it’s holding back the marketplace experience for everyone.
Seller_mxez2L8QjE6WW
Why has Amazon made it so extraordinarily difficult to get feedback which is clearly wrong removed, if we are 'valued seller partners'? A quick chat with a human being could sort things out one way or the other simply & efficiently.
And, BTW - some 3 months or so ago @Sakura_Amazon_ seemed to state that buyers can amend their feedback as well as remove it. She was asked to confirm this but, despite several reminders she never bothered to get back & clarify the situation. A response would have been appreciated - and courteous
Seller_s7klKJei9fTZo
I am an FBM seller and have recently received negative feedback that has nothing to do with my performance as a seller. For example, the most recent feedback was regarding Royal Mail not collecting a return that the customer had booked directly with them. I was not even aware of the issue.
I contacted Seller Support and was informed that the feedback cannot be removed. I would understand if the feedback related to my fulfilment or dispatch process, but in this case the transaction itself was completely smooth.
Customers should be encouraged to contact sellers first, and only be able to leave a review based on the seller’s response and the final outcome. Quite often, customers leave negative feedback without ever reaching out, leaving us with no opportunity to resolve the issue. This puts sellers at a disadvantage, as we are unable to address problems we were never made aware of.
