Now that we’ve covered why love notes are important but under your control, let’s talk about why ratings are (almost) useless on Poshmark. I think ratings more than anything else stress conscientious sellers out waaay more than they should. We all want to be the best, have happy buyers who want to visit our closet again, and generally be the most perfect at everything. Less than perfect ratings tell us we’ve failed to some degree, and that doesn’t feel good. But it doesn’t have to be that way… Let’s put ratings in their proper place today.
First, some facts. No one but you and the buyer can see your rating on a particular transaction. Only you can see your rating average from all your sales. The only time your average rating affects your closet in any way is when it comes to the Poshmark Ambassador* program, where your rating must remain above 4.5 out of 5. That is the sum total of how ratings impact you as a seller. (Also, to err is human, and you happen to be human.)
The fact that Posh offers a rating system at all is for the sake of its buyers, for whom rating is the only way they can express an emotion other than complete satisfaction relating to a purchase they made on Poshmark. The fact that no one but no one outside that transaction can even see those ratings is for the benefit of Poshmark. They make money with every single sale. Even if the buyer isn’t fully satisfied. Even when the buyer is completely dissatisfied! Posh doesn’t want to do anything except encourage sales, and they do so by hiding bad (as well as good) ratings from potential buyers. Just like you can hide love notes that aren’t loving. Buyers have nothing other than love notes (all 5 stars, mind you!) to decide if they should risk buying from your closet.
So what good can come of this ratings system? Feedback. Buyers who give 5 stars can leave a love note. Buyers who leave less than 5 stars can tell you where you can improve. And that… that tiny little bit of feedback… just might offer you some insight into how you can have happier buyers in the future.
Of course some people will be jerks on occasion. It happens. Sometimes the feedback they leave isn’t constructive at all, it might even be rude and abusive, and in those cases you should simply ignore it. Eat a piece of chocolate as a reward for not swearing in front of your impressionable children, and move on.
But if your not-completely-satisfied buyer has something meaningful to say… “item has an odor”, “there are markings that were not mentioned in the listing”, “poor packaging, item got wet”, etc… this is GOLD, people. This is the stuff you should be very glad to know. Feedback is a gift, and if someone leaves you less than 5 stars without saying why, you should comment on the bundle or item and ask them what could have been better. Don’t get mad that you didn’t get 5 stars, get curious. It does involve a little pride-swallowing and admitting that yes, you are human, but it will make a good impression on your buyer… you care that they were less than satisfied, and want to know why! Never leave feedback on the table… use it for good.
So don’t be scared of ratings. They are invisible, and (almost) meaningless. And when you get those occasional lower ratings, find out why. Getting feedback will help you succeed on Posh, and in the rest of your life as well.
*I do recommend becoming a Posh Ambassador since it confers certain advantages (or rather, it sets you on par with the bajillions of other Posh Ambassadors, and NOT doing it will essentially penalize you). More to come about being an ambassador in a future post.
