Opinions on our platform can be issued by the buyers in the sellers' profiles. Depending on their type and number, they can generate trust in your company and increase sales or deter your potential customers. How does the opinion system on Merkandi work? Below you will find some practical hints and tips.
How do comments on Merkandi work?
Each buyer has the right to make one comment per transaction, if no more than 2 months have passed since the date of the seller's invoice. A comment can be one of three types: positive, neutral or negative. In the case of the first two, the publication is immediate and the wholesaler receives a notification of a new opinion published on his/her profile. In the case of a negative one, it is sent to our team. If it is correctly formulated, we move it to the queue of pending publications, whereas the seller receives an automatic notification generated by our system. From this moment, the wholesaler receives 7 days to clarify the situation with the buyer or to report to us that the transaction did not take place. If within this time the buyer wishes to remove the negative review or it results that we have not been able to obtain evidence of the transaction after being informed that the transaction has never taken place, we remove it from the wholesaler's profile and inform both parties about it. Otherwise, after 7 days the opinion is published and the wholesaler receives a notification.
Another aspect of the comment system is the evaluation of the seller in 4 categories:
- conformity of the item with the description
- contact with the seller
- lead time of the contract
- shipping cost
Each of these categories can be rated from 1 to 5 stars. The average rating of all the categories is then averaged and displayed in the seller's profile.
Can I remove a negative opinion from my profile?
Any comment can be removed if the buyer reports to us that the dispute has been solved with the wholesaler. We may remove comments in justified cases, e.g. when the transaction has not taken place. In other cases, we do not mediate in the disputes about comments. Each buyer has the opportunity to issue a negative comment and the wholesaler, with the exceptions indicated, has no right to claim its removal.
Taking care of reputation and avoiding negative comments
Negative comments undoubtedly have a negative impact on sales and customer confidence. Therefore, we recommend that every wholesaler ask their clients for positive opinions from day one. There are several reasons for such advice:
- positive comments increase the credibility of the seller
- if a negative comment is received, positive comments reduce its strength and help to maintain the seller's reputation at a high level
- a large number of positive comments generate higher sales.
How to encourage buyers to make comments?
No one needs to be encouraged to publish negative opinions, but in the case of positive experiences, buyers are not so willing to share their opinions. Therefore, we recommend several methods of obtaining positive opinions, which are known and tested by our wholesalers:
- discount on the current order or another order
- bonus added to the contract as part of the publication of comments
- offering better quality goods as compensation for the opinion
What should I do if a buyer publishes a dishonest comment?
If for some reason a comment is unfair and untrue, every seller has the opportunity to respond to it. In this case, the opinion will also be followed by a response in the profile, which will allow potential buyers to know the opinion of both parties about the transaction and give them the opportunity to defend themselves against fraudulent buyers.
There is one more important thing that is worth mentioning. Merkandi is a platform operating in many different countries and languages. If you receive a comment regardless of the language of its publication, our specialists will translate it into all other available languages. In this way, while gaining a positive opinion in one version, the wholesaler receives positive comments in each available version. Of course, the same applies to negative and neutral comments.
We recommend that everyone use the opinion system to reward wholesalers for their professional transactions and to warn others about dishonest contractors. Both the comments and the sales evaluation in the case of customer care always bring positive effects for both parties to the transaction.
I have been cheated, can I do anything else apart from a negative comment?
Thanks to the fact that we verify our sellers, check the authenticity of the goods, and enable the users to publish comments, we significantly increase the security of transactions on our platform. Nevertheless, there are situations in which some sellers fail to comply with the terms of the contract for various reasons. In this case, the first step that the buyer should take is the publication of a negative opinion in the wholesaler's profile. This is usually sufficient for the transaction to be completed successfully.
If the comment has not brought the expected result, the buyer should report the issue to the local Police and to the Interpol. It is worth having a set of documents confirming all stages of the transaction. More information on this topic can be found in our guidelines on good practices in making transactions.
Due to the fact that we do not mediate in transactions between users, all actions on our part to help resolve the dispute can be taken only after receiving confirmation of reporting the case to the Police, which should be requested for when giving evidence.
