A note about delivery time frames cited in this article: As of 8/14/20 we have extended the delivery time frames for orders in response to the ongoing issues with the USPS. In order to make this content useful for the future, within the article we are displaying our regular delivery time frames. Please check out our original announcement here for further details on our extended delivery time frames.

Some of the most common requests that our Customer Service team fields on a daily basis are feedback removal requests. Given that, we wanted to take some time today to go over our policies around feedback removal, some of the standard issues that lead buyers to apply negative feedback to a transaction, and even better: how to prevent negative feedback in the first place!

First of all, what is considered negative feedback on TCGplayer? Any rating lower than four stars will negatively affect your overall feedback rating. So for all of the perfectionists out there, I have some good news: a four star review, while not a “perfect” score, is still considered positive, and therefore not a review that you necessarily need to worry about in terms of how things appear to prospective buyers. The ratings that you really need to look at and address in a timely fashion are any that are rated three stars and below.

We do ask buyers on TCGplayer to first reach out to a seller with a message that explains the problem that they are experiencing, before applying negative feedback for the order. However, sometimes a buyer will use the feedback system to report an issue at the same time they are rating the transaction. This can be a shock for some sellers who feel like they weren’t given the chance to correct the issue, but worry not, our team understands this and is more than happy to guide you through the process of ensuring the problem is resolved. Once the issue is corrected for the buyer, our Customer Service team can then block the negative feedback for you (assuming the buyer doesn’t edit it themselves after getting helped).

A good jumping off point for how to handle negative feedback (or even to prevent it from happening in the first place) is our article Your Feedback Rating within our Help Center.

Now that you’ve read that, let’s talk about the more common reasons that a buyer would give negative feedback, and how you can handle each issue:

1. Late shipment
2. Missing package/late delivery
3. Card condition (either incorrect grading, or damage in transit)
4. Insufficient postage
5. Packaging that could lead to damage to the order in transit

Late shipment:

TCGplayer’s standard shipping window is 48 hours from the time that an order is placed (excluding presale orders that are eligible to ship on a specific date). The expectation is that any order will be sent out and confirmed as shipped within this 48 hour period. Some buyers pay close attention to this, so a good way to prevent a negative rating to begin with is to communicate any shipping delays directly to the buyer via the message center. 

If the order ends up making it to the buyer within our *eight business day delivery time frame, as long as they can confirm receipt and you have apologized for the initial delay, you can then message us to have that feedback removed.

Missing package/late delivery:

This can be one of the more frustrating issues for a seller – to get a negative review after you have shipped out an order in the correct time frame can be pretty shocking! But, we totally get it. We understand that once you place a package in the mail you have no control over how quickly it reaches the customer. As long as the buyer is given a refund for any order that does not arrive within our standard *eight business day time frame, we can then remove the negative feedback for you! For more information on resolving missing package claims, please check out our help article here.

Card condition (either incorrect grading, or damage in transit)

Whenever a buyer issues negative feedback due to the condition of their order, all you need to do is either work out a partial refund for the difference in condition (if the buyer is amenable to this), or issue a full refund upon the return of the discrepant parts of the order. Once the order has been refunded and the buyer is taken care of, we will then block the negative feedback for you. Just follow the steps outlined in our help article that covers our refund and return policy here.

Insufficient postage

Sometimes a package will be held at a post office, or delivered with postage due. In that event, most buyers can be taken care of with a partial refund that covers the amount of extra postage that they had to pay to receive their order. In the event that the postage due exceeds the cost of the order, just write to our Customer Service team with the order details and we will work out a store credit for that amount, give it to the buyer and adjust your payments accordingly. After the buyer has been refunded/credited, we will then block the feedback for you.

Packaging that could lead to damage to the order in transit

Some buyers will issue negative feedback for packaging that didn’t lead to damage to the items, but could have had the order been subjected to rough handling in the mail. All that you need to do in this case is check to ensure that there wasn’t any actual damage to the order and then give an apology and a “thank you” for an opportunity to improve your processes. If there was damage, then a refund will be necessary and you can contact our customer service team for further assistance here. If there wasn’t any damage, then you can thank your good luck and shoot us a message to have the feedback removed for you.

The bottom line is that we understand unforeseen things can happen with any order, and that sometimes the problem does not actually reside in anything that you the seller may have done incorrectly. We want to make sure that you feel supported and confident selling on the platform, so we are always happy to review any given order and provide advice on how to resolve it. 

As long as you’re able to address the buyer’s concerns and follow our recommendations, then you have recourse when it comes to receiving negative feedback. We don’t want unfair reviews, or ones that don’t consider all of the possible outside influences to tarnish the reputation that you’ve worked so hard to gain. If you have a specific order that you would like us to review, you can use the “Escalate This Thread” button within the message you have open with your buyer and fill in any relevant details. Once you’ve done that, a member of our Customer Service team will review the feedback and then message you with steps on how to resolve the issue. Alternatively, you can always fill out our help request form here.

*As of 8/14/20 we have extended the delivery time frames for orders in response to the ongoing issues with the USPS. In order to make this content useful for the future, within the article we are displaying our regular delivery time frames. Please check out our original announcement here for further details on our extended delivery time frames.