Back in April, Etsy launched a seller survey aimed at collecting feedback from its community that it would go on to use to make changes to the site’s feedback system. This week, the company announced those changes.
In an effort to promote honesty and fairness, Etsy is doing away with the system that let a shop’s feedback score include ratings the owner received as a buyer, which the company says was misleading to shoppers.
A shop’s overall rating will now only reflect reviews left by buyers in the last year. To encourage authentic reviews, as Etsy says, the buyer’s profile name will be displayed publicly with their reviews, and item reviews will require text as well as a rating.
“These changes, as well as decline in non-payment issues, reduce the need for rating buyers,” says Etsy’s Heather Burkman. “Sellers who took our survey revealed that rating buyers was a tedious task — and in fact, buyer scores were rarely viewed. So, buyers will no longer be rated in the new system.”
“We heard from many sellers that negative feedback often resulted from a misunderstanding, whether feedback was left too early, or the buyer didn’t contact the seller to resolve an issue,” she adds. “Reviews can now be edited, providing a window for the buyer and seller to communicate and resolve issues directly. To prevent premature reviews, we’re tying in processing and shipment information, so that an item can only be reviewed once we believe it‘s arrived.”
Finally, Etsy reviews will be based on a new five-star rating system. More on the changes, which will be rolling out over the course of the coming weeks, can be found here.
It seems that the new system is not going over incredibly well with some sellers, and some are afraid the site is becoming too much like eBay.