Leaving TpT Feedback {how and why}

As a seller on TpT, I thought it would be good to go over the reasons why feedback is so important in the TpT world.

Lately when I see this pop up on my phone, I'm hesitant to open it, because I never know what I'm going to see with the feedback left. As sellers we want to make our products better, but when poor feedback is left with no explanation why, it's hard for us to make anything better. Let me lay out how to leave good feedback as a buyer.

1.Leave feedback. First off, you earn credits towards other purchases of TpT. Why wouldn't you want to leave feedback? It's free money! Also, it allows other buyers to see how much you love the product you purchased. Most of my products only have a 1/3 of the buyers actually leave feedback for the item they purchase. Food for thought!

2. Leave constructive feedback. If you do not leave a 4.0 rating for an item, make sure to tell the seller why! I have seen so many buyers leave their feedback as "thank you", "great", "love it", but then leave less that perfect ratings. Sellers are totally fine with receiving less than 4.0 ratings (if warranted), but if we don't know how to fix it, then we are up a creek without a paddle.

3.Check it out. This happens before you even purchase an item. Look at it carefully. Read the description carefully. Look at the preview carefully. Get where I'm going? Do your research. Compare it to other items like it. If you buy something on a whim without really looking at it, you are possibly setting yourself up for disappointment.

4. When you are disappointed. I understand that sometimes you buy something expecting one thing, and when you download it, it isn't what you wanted. ALWAYS contact the seller before leaving negative feedback. We all want to help make your purchase the best it can be and most of us are willing to do that! But once the negative feedback is given, sellers are less likely to want to help.

5. Printing/downloading problems. When you have trouble with printing or downloading, don't leave negative feedback. The problem rarely lies in the sellers hands. Here is a great blogpost by Jamie at 2nd Grade Stuff to refer to whenever you come across an item that you are having technological problems with. If all else fails, contact TpT.

6. Feedback left for what it isn't. Don't leave negative feedback for something that the product never claimed to be. For example, if you wanted the product to be editable, but it isn't, and the seller never claimed that it was, do not buy it then leave feedback stating "I wish it were editable". Leave feedback for what the item claimed to be, not what you wanted it to be.

7. Think before you click. Once you click submit, you can't change that feedback. Feedback is very important to sellers and sometimes even if you rate it a 3.9, it weighs heavily on the overall score of the product. I've seen products that had lots of feedback left, and ONE rating of 3.9, brought the entire overall product score to 3.9/4.0. So make sure you are sure of your feedback before leaving it.

I hope you found this post useful as you continue leaving feedback from the amazing sellers you are buying from! Now, off you go! Go leave some amazing, constructive feedback and earn some TpT credits towards other purchases! :)