The Right Way to Use Amazon Feedback

Amazon feedback is badly misunderstood. For buyers, learning how it works makes it easier to identify good and bad sellers. For good sellers, understanding feedback helps with earning the public’s trust—not to mention more money!

This article covers topics important to both buyers and sellers. Read on if you’re a buyer, or click here to skip straight to our section for sellers.

Last updated 5/28/2021.

For Buyers

What Is Amazon Feedback?

Click on the image to see it at full resolution, or visit this page on Amazon. 

Amazon feedback is made up of comments and 1- to 5-star ratings, like those shown in the image above.

You can only leave feedback if you buy something from a third-party seller. If you buy directly from Amazon, you won’t get the option to leave any.

Feedback is only for reviewing the seller’s performance. Don’t use feedback to review the item you bought—submit a review instead.

So, if the product shipped late and was banged up thanks to poor packaging, you should talk about that in feedback. If the product was poorly made and broke after two days thanks to its cheap parts, you should save that for a review instead.

In short:

• Reviews are for your thoughts on the product and the company that makes it.
• Feedback is for your thoughts on how good a job the seller did of getting that product to you.

Should I Do Anything before Leaving Feedback?

If you’re happy with the seller’s performance and want to leave positive feedback, go right ahead!

If you’re unhappy, contact the seller first. Most sellers will gladly give you a refund or replacement if something went wrong. However, if you write nasty things about them before asking them to fix the problem, they won’t be nearly as friendly.

You should leave the seller good feedback or no feedback at all if they fix the problem. It never hurts to build up some good karma!

If the seller makes a mistake and then either refuses to help or ignores you for days, leaving negative feedback is justified. You may also want to file an A-to-z Guarantee Claim if you feel like you’ve been totally ripped off.

What Can I Do When I Leave Feedback?

When you leave feedback, you get to do two things: write a comment and assign a 1- to 5-star rating.

The comment should focus entirely on how well the seller did at shipping you the item you asked for. Here are some good Amazon feedback examples:

“Package arrived two days ahead of schedule. The box looked like the delivery guy had driven a tank over it, but everything was packed so well that not one of my items was damaged. A+!”

“I was disappointed at first when the seller accidentally sent me a blue and black dress instead of the white and gold dress I’d ordered. But when I told them they’d made a mistake, they let me keep the blue one and sent me a white and gold one for free. Now I’ve got two dresses for the price of one. I’d definitely buy from this seller again.”

“The item never arrived. I contacted the seller three days ago, and they still haven’t responded, so I had to ask Amazon to get a refund for me. Avoid these guys.”

With the star rating, you should generally give the seller five stars if you’re happy with how they did. Anything less could hurt their ability to make sales.

If you’re unhappy, try to be fair with how many stars you give them. For example, you could take one star off if the package was late, but it still made it to your doorstep in one piece. You could take another star off if the seller also took forever to respond to your questions. Reserve one- and two-star ratings for sellers who provided a completely miserable experience.

How Do I Leave Feedback on Amazon?

Visit https://www.amazon.com/feedback and follow these instructions.

Can I Change or Remove Feedback I’ve Left?

You can’t change feedback you’ve left for a seller. However, you can remove it anytime within 60 days of when you posted it. Just follow these instructions.

Removing feedback is a good idea if you hastily posted a negative comment and the seller was nice enough to fix the problem afterwards. It can also be handy for taking back undeserved praise—for example, if you gave them a five-star rating after they said a replacement was on the way, and then it never showed up.

For Sellers

Few things should matter more to sellers than their Amazon seller rating. A high rating can set you apart from the competition and help you win the Amazon Buy Box. But how do you get good ratings and deal with unfair buyers?

How Do I Get Good Ratings?

Click on the image to see it at full resolution.

Informed customers (like the ones who’ve read this article) will base your rating off how well you lived up to your promises as a seller. If you want a good Amazon rating, you need to:

• Pack your products carefully so they won’t be damaged in transit.
• Describe your product accurately if you create your own listing.
• Respond to customer messages ASAP! Unhappy customers get more upset with every minute they go unanswered. Integrate Amazon with a helpdesk to speed up your replies.
• Keep careful tabs on your inventory, and update Amazon as soon as you run out of stock; canceling an order is an easy way to get negative feedback.
• Make sure you send the customer the item(s) they ordered—don’t mix up your inventory.
• Ship orders as quickly as possible.
• Send an awesome Amazon feedback request once the item is delivered. You can automate this entire process with tools like CR Feedback.

See “4 Ways to Improve Your Amazon Seller Rating” and “Winning the Amazon Buy Box with World-Class Support” for more tips on getting a five-star rating.

How Do I Remove Negative Amazon Feedback?

A customer can remove any feedback within 60 days of posting it. So, the best thing to do in most cases is contact the customer and try to make the situation right. Offer to accept a return or provide a refund if necessary.

Unfortunately, if the customer refuses to remove it, most feedback is permanent. Amazon generally won’t even remove clearly unfair feedback.

You can only get feedback removed for the following reasons:

• Including profanity/obscenities.
• Reviewing only the product with no description of your performance as a seller.
• Mentioning personally identifiable information about you.

If you used FBA or Buy Shipping for the order and the customer blames you for Amazon’s shipping or customer service mistakes, Amazon won't delete it. However, they will strike through the comments and take the blame for the buyer’s experience.

If you can’t get the customer to remove their feedback and they’ve done any of the above, contact Amazon and ask them to remove it or strike it out.

Summary

If you’re a buyer, give sellers a fair chance to correct mistakes before leaving negative Amazon feedback. If you’re a seller, provide exceptional customer service to prevent bad feedback and to get it removed when it appears. Amazon is at its best when buyers and sellers try to make each others' lives easy.