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Got a 2‑star review today… for “high quality.” I’m losing my mind.

★ signal-weak   r/etsysellers  ·  ↑ 159  ·  💬 127  ·  2025-12-19  ·  kw: buy box price  ·  open on reddit ↗
your rating:
Tool
none
Issue
Seller receives 2-star review citing high price and shipping costs ($13 UPS rate for tube/box packaging) despite product being high-quality and shipping cost being clearly disclosed pre-purchase, creating review visibility problem that discourages potential buyers despite accurate listing information.
Cost
unstated
Recommendation
none
Date context
2025-12-19 (holiday season recurring issue)
extracted with
anthropic/claude-haiku-4.5 · 2026-05-08

Body

So I run a small shop and sell a holiday item that ships in a tube and box so it doesn’t get damaged which means UPS charges around $13 to ship it. I don’t control that. It’s literally the carrier rate. The size, price, and shipping cost are all clearly listed, and buyers have to confirm and type YES they read it before checking out. Today I get a 2‑star review. Not because the product was bad. Not because anything was wrong. Nope. The review literally says: “High quality, but the price is high and shipping is crazy.” Then the buyer messages me to “advise” me to find cheaper shipping (???) and tells me if I only make little profit, I should “look into better ways to make money.” Like… thanks, random stranger, I’ll just go restructure the entire postal system real quick. And the best part? She insists it’s an “honest review.” Ma’am, if you think it’s too expensive, you can buy regular wrapping paper somewhere else except you can’t, because nowhere else sells my art elsewhere lol. Every year there’s always one person who doesn’t read the listing, buys anyway, and then leaves a dumbass review like it’s my fault they didn’t pay attention. I’m one person working multiple jobs trying to make fun holiday stuff, not Amazon with free shipping and magic elves. I’m burnt out, annoyed, and honestly just needed to scream into the void for a minute.

Top comments (7)

[score=82] Bear-Bacon
I've been here long enough to learn to ignore these people :) I accept the reality we are living in: literacy, critical thinking and even empathy is quite low today and it's getting worse. So I just read a negative review, do a "hehe" sound and then go on with my day. 
[score=55] UpstairsDirection955
Bad reviews are going to happen. If you do good business the good reviews should take care of it. Don't get too caught up on one specific one
[score=27] Ok-Pineapple5625
Meh, I have a 1 star review that says: Great customer service fast response fast shipping beautiful quality cards
[score=22] wafflehousefight
I recently got a 3 star that was “love it! Item is great!” Lol
[score=111] lostterrace
This isn't a terrible review to have. Buyers skim past 5 star reviews and look for lower reviews to actually read. When they read this one, they'll be encouraged to buy. The shipping price is clear when they buy, and it praises the quality. And it's clearly a real review since nobody fakes a 2 star review. It'll help you if anything. As long as you don't write an offputting public response displaying annoyance.
[score=11] greenleaves3
I would suggest taking an entire roll and wrapping a variety of empty boxes/packages, and add that to your photos. Add some text that highlights that everything in the photo was wrapped with one roll. That gives the buyer a good idea of what to expect.
[score=20] Few-Risk8406
She also said she could only wrap three small presents, which is an honest part of the review. It likely was really expensive for three small presents, which shocked her. People don’t relate inches to actual use case. Your art is your seller not your quantity.