Customer data has revealed Etsy is the best online marketplace for sellers and buyers, making the brand an example to be followed by other companies operating in this space.
Unified Customer Intelligence startup Chattermill has analysed feedback from over 42,000 responses to some of the most popular online marketplaces, with Etsy excelling in all aspects evaluated.
Chattermill analysed publicly available Trustpilot reviews, registered from 1 January 2022 to 27 January 2023, from sellers and buyers using Etsy, Wayfair, eBay, Zalando and Depop. While Etsy is beloved by its users for its helpful and knowledgeable staff, as well as the quality of products sold on the platform, Depop is the lowest in the rank — users are unhappy with the selling process, the communication processes in place and the overall quality of the app and website.
When looking at Customer Support data, the trends driving positive sentiment are knowledge and helpfulness of staff; speed and responsiveness; communication; attitude of staff; and problem resolution. When companies are not paying attention to these trends, customer trust in the brand tanks.
A customer of Depop commented: “Worst customer service ever. Depop is keeping my funds and there is no way to flag this problem on the app. Tried to reach customer service which in itself took me hours, and now they aren’t replying since about a month. They take 10% on your wardrobe offers but cannot afford to hire staff to solve their issues.”
Dmitry Isupov, Chief Strategy & Insights Officer and Co-Founder of Chattermill, explains: “For online marketplaces, customer experience is more crucial than ever, especially because you have to consider both buyers and sellers. The success of two-sided marketplaces depends on both of them having an experience so good they choose you over your competitors. This is why it’s so important to have your customer data unified and analysed so you can understand at scale where the friction lies in your buyer and seller experiences. This will lead to more intelligent CX decisions based on customers’ reality.”
The data also show sellers have more negative experiences on these platforms, in particular when selling on Depop and eBay — the top negative phrase mentioned by them is ‘charge fee’. In the negative reviews left by sellers, you can find many of them recommending people use Vinted instead as there are no fees — something that might be stopping users to return to the platforms.
Price and fees are the main concern for both buyers and sellers. Among buyers, some of the most common negative phrases linked to their experiences in these platforms are “price increase”, “charge fee” and “high price”; while for sellers, these are “charge fee”, “take fee” and “make money”.
“They hit you with a flat rate of 10% no matter the price which is rather annoying as it starts to become difficult to make any decent money on expensive items especially when you try their tips such as free shipping so they show your item more. After this, they will hit you with another transaction fee because why not — the first fee was just to show the item which may not happen if you don’t log on enough. Other sites may do the 10% fee as well but they won’t hit you with a second fee,” wrote a distressed Depop customer.
Delivery is also a source of frustration for customers using these marketplaces. Wayfair is the retailer that carries the most negative sentiment in logistics. Issues such as delivery speed, lost in transit/no delivery and returns are some of the main problem areas driving negativity for deliveries. When we look at the most problematic courier companies, Evri (formerly Hermes) leads the ranking, followed by UPS, PostNord, Royal Mail, Packlink, Yodel and FedEx.
