Answering a negative comment on a piece you recommended
"It runs small", "the colour is not the same", "delivered late": a negative comment under a piece you recommended is read by your whole community. Why not to delete it, what to answer in public, what to sort out in private, and what it changes for your commissions.
The comment lands one evening, under the story or the post that worked best: "received today, it runs small, disappointed". It is public, it is signed, and ten people who were hesitating read it before you do. The temptation is to delete it, or to answer fast and curtly. Both cost more than the comment itself. This article proposes a way of answering that fits in three steps, separates what is said in public from what is settled in private, and recalls something few creators keep in mind: a returned product is also a commission that disappears.
Why not delete
A deleted comment does not disappear: the person who wrote it knows, their friends know, and if they say it again elsewhere, they will say it with "and on top of that she deleted my comment". What disappears is your answer, that is, the only thing the ten people reading were waiting for. A community does not judge a creator on the absence of problems, it judges them on what they do when there is one. A negative comment followed by a precise answer reassures more than a page without any negative comment, because it proves that comments are not filtered. You only delete insults and off-topic messages, and you say so when you do.
The four comments you get
| The comment | What it really says | The answer in public |
|---|---|---|
| "It runs small" | Information useful to everyone, and a person who did not get the right size | Thank them, say the size you wear and your usual size, and point to the exchange or return |
| "The colour is not the same" | The light in your photos, or the person's screen | Say in which light the photo was taken, and offer to show the piece in daylight |
| "Delivered late" | A delivery problem, not a piece problem: it concerns the shop | Say you are passing it on, ask for the city and the date in private, come back to say what was done |
| "This is an ad" | A reproach about transparency, not about the piece | Confirm: yes, affiliate link, commission on the sale, discount for the community — it is written on every post |
The answer in three steps
- In public, within the hour if possible: one sentence that acknowledges the problem without minimising it ("thank you for saying it, it matters for the others"), one verifiable piece of information (the size worn, the light, the announced delay), and what comes next ("I am writing to you in private"). No general apology, no promise you will not keep.
- In private, right after: the concrete solution. In Morocco it is almost always WhatsApp — the person wants to know how to exchange, whom to pay, how long it takes. You are not the shop's customer service, but you are the person they know: you pass it on, you give the link to the returns page, you follow up.
- In public, one last time, once it is settled: "exchange done, thank you for your patience". That third sentence is the one the ten hesitating people were waiting for. Without it, the thread ends on the problem.
What it changes for your commissions
There is one more reason to answer well, and it is in the programme's rules: a commission is only validated once the order is delivered and the 14-day return window has passed, and a returned order leaves the pending balance. In other words, the person who received a dress that was too small and sends it back brings you nothing — and had they received the right size, they would have brought you a commission and come back. The comment "it runs small" is therefore not an attack: it is the information which, repeated in your next post ("I wear a 38, I took a 40"), avoids the next returns. Creators who give the size worn and their usual size with every piece do not do it out of scruple, they do it because their commissions hold.
Read also Why your followers don't click: the path between the story and the paymentWhen the comment is false
Sometimes a comment is false: a person who never ordered, an account created the day before, a competitor in hiding. The answer is the same, shorter: a factual question, in public, asked calmly — "which size did you order, and when?". A real problem answers; a false comment goes quiet or gets angry, and everyone sees it. You do not need to accuse: silence does it for you. Never answer a false comment by explaining that it is false, it is the only way to make it credible.
Read also The partnership contract: what to write down even when everything happens over messagesNever promise in public what depends on the shop: a refund, a delay, a commercial gesture. You pass it on, you do not decide, and a broken promise is the only negative comment you cannot recover from.
Nobody judges you on the comment. Everybody judges you on the answer.
In short
A negative comment under a recommended piece is handled in three steps: a short, factual public answer, a solution in private, a public follow-up once it is settled. You only delete insults. Every comment about size or colour is information to reuse in the next post, because a returned product erases a commission: answering well and informing well are the same thing. And faced with a false comment, a calm question is worth more than any defence.
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