Reviews Policy

Taitaya Forge Reviews Policy

I really value honest feedback from our customers and I am grateful for the extra time taken to write our reviews. It really helps me to improve both our work and customer service. I would love to have the time to respond to each one of you to thank you individually. 

To ensure transparency and trust, and in line with new UK regulations, I've created this page to explain how I deal with reviews. The majority of the reviews you see here are imported from our Etsy shop (taitaya.etsy.com).  Etsy has a unique system when it comes to reviews, so I will do my best to explain how reviews on Etsy work.

Reviews on Etsy

Etsy reviews are always from verified buyers.  Though there are ways to game the system, for example by buying your own stuff, the vast majority of reviews are in general from genuine buyers. Two reviews in my case are from close friends or family, before I realized to tell them not to review!

One of the critisisms on Etsy reviews is that shops tend to have a disproportionate amount of really good reviews, compared to other online marketplaces. This I think is due to the personal connection customers have with their sellers. So if something is less than 5 stars, many buyers opt out of leaving a review in the first place. This is certainly true with the reviews I have left on my purchases. So a better metric on how pleased customer are might be to look at how many reviews a shop has in comparison to sales. 

There is also a lot of pressure from the platform to only get 5 star reviews, Even though a four star review is technically good it can impact the performance in search for small shops with slower sales. This might influence many buyers to not leave a review on the quality of the item, especially if they otherwise like the seller. 

When importing I have made sure not to remove any of the lower than 5 star reviews. I did remove some duplicates of 5 star reviews (no more than 5) when they where ones without comment or the comment was copy pasted, making it look like the review had been duplicated. This can happen with multiple item purchases. 

In the interest of privacy of my Etsy customers, their names are initials only. 

I have to import Etsy reviews manually, so newer reviews will not be visible on this site. For newer Etsy reviews you can vie them on our Etsy shop here. 

My policy on reviews on Taitaya Forge

1. Authenticity

   • Reviews must be genuine and submitted by customers who have purchased the product.
   • I do not accept reviews that are artificially created or submitted by bots.

2. Prohibited Content

   • Reviews must not contain offensive language, promote hate or ill will, false or misleading information, promotional content, or links.
   • Reviews with conflicts of interest, such as those from employees, family, friends, or competitors, are not permitted. 
     
   
   

3. Encouragement

   • I would love for all my customers to leave reviews, whether positive or negative, to help others make informed decisions and to inform me of any potential quality issues.
   • I do not and never have offered incentives, such as discounts or free products, in exchange for reviews.
     
     

4. Moderation

   • All reviews are screened to ensure they meet my guidelines.
   • Reviews that violate these policies may be removed.
     
     

5. Transparency

   • Each product can only receive one review per purchase.
   • Reviews must include a rating (1-5 stars) and an author display name or initials.