Feedback is vital on Amazon. As a seller, you’ll be rated on your review feedback rating. That affects how far up the search ratings you’ll come, and whether customers will see your product at all. Amazon’s algorithms work out how good your star rating is, as well as how well your product matches the search terms, before it decides where to put your results.

If you get a four or five star review, that’s a positive recommendation and will help to boost your rating. If you get just one or two stars, that’s considered a negative, and it will pull your rating down.

Now you probably think that three stars is neutral, right? And so, I’d guess, do many reviewers. But in fact, Amazon counts these as negative reviews, so they’ll pull your rating down.

First of all, try to catch problems before they become feedback. Put an insert in your product giving customers a direct number to call if they have a problem of any sort. If you don’t have the resource to provide 24/7 support, outsource it. It’s also a good idea to send an email when your customers get their delivery, simply to ask if everything is okay, or if there is something you can help to fix.

You can automate this, if you use some of the software packages available for FBA sellers. You can also use this email to ask your customers to leave some feedback – pushing up the likelihood of positive reviews.

However you may feel about negative feedback, and even if it’s not justified, apologize wholeheartedly and try to fix the situation. For instance, if someone ordered ‘green’ but says the color they have is ‘blue’ or ‘turquoise’, technically you may be within your rights to refuse a refund. But remember, their computer screen may show the color differently, and many people have difficulty distinguishing turquoise from teal. Offer an exchange or a refund.

If you can fix things, then just request a feedback update; remember, Amazon doesn’t let you ask for positive feedback specifically. Make it super easy for them to leave feedback; send them the right links within your email. The easier it is to do, the more likely they will be to do it.

Sometimes, when you pull all the stops out, a customer will be so impressed your rating will go right from one star to five stars! And when you’ve really helped them, and they know how much you’ve done for them, they will feel super-motivated to give you a good rating.

But you can also challenge feedback if it’s incorrect. However, you only have 90 days to do it, so you’ll need to keep on top of the job.

Amazon has certain rules about feedback, and if buyers break those rules the feedback can be removed. Sometimes you just need to click a button and everything will happen automatically; other times, Amazon may want to communicate quite a lot via Seller Central to get details of the transaction and the feedback.

There are quite a few rules about feedback in Amazon. For instance:

•      Reviewers are not allowed to include personal information,

•      they can’t use foul language or abuse you or your product,

•      they can’t review a competitor’s products,

•      and they can’t make multiple negative reviews for the same product.

If any of these are the case, you can start off in Seller Central by clicking the ‘request removal’  button against the feedback. This automatically opens a case and gives you a support ticket.

Sometimes, Amazon’s algorithms will spot there’s something wrong with the feedback. For instance, someone may have given feedback for the wrong product, or they may have written abusively. In these cases, the feedback will be removed totally from your product page, and your review score will be adjusted back upwards.

Sometimes the feedback won’t be removed from your page. If you are an FBA seller, as you know, Amazon takes responsibility for delivering the product. So if a buyer says the goods arrived damaged, or weren’t packed well enough, Amazon takes responsibility for the issue. In this case, the algorithm will adjust your score back upwards, but the feedback will appear on your page, but struck through, and with a note from Amazon that says they take responsibility for the problem.