Seller guide
Can you ask customers for product reviews? Yes, within strict rules.
Marketplaces generally allow a neutral review request and prohibit almost everything sellers are tempted to add to it: incentives, filtering happy customers first, and contact outside sanctioned channels.
A neutral ask is generally allowed
Major marketplaces let a seller ask a buyer for a review when the request is neutral: it asks for honest feedback on the product and order, not for a positive rating or a number of stars. The request cannot argue, promise, or pre-filter — it can only invite. Anything beyond the invitation is where policy risk starts.
Incentives and gating are the fast path to enforcement
Offering a refund, discount, replacement, gift card, or free product in exchange for a review — or for changing or removing one — is broadly prohibited, whether stated outright or implied. So is review gating: asking satisfied buyers for a public review while routing unhappy ones to private support. Both patterns are common enforcement triggers.
Use the marketplace's own channel
Send the request through the marketplace's sanctioned mechanism, such as its own review-request action or policy-compliant buyer messaging. Buyer contact details from an order generally cannot be used for off-marketplace outreach. A separately opted-in email list you own is a different channel with its own rules, but reviews it requests still belong to the marketplace's policies.
Timing and wording do the honest work
Ask once, after the delivery window has passed, with the order context stated plainly and no marketing attached. If the buyer has opted out of messages or already reviewed, do not ask again. A boring, neutral, correctly-timed request is both the compliant version and the one most likely to be answered.
Tools that help with this
- Review-Request Compliant Message Templater ($0.25) — Generate neutral, policy-aware review-request wording per marketplace
- Opt-In Customer Email Flow Pack ($1.00) — Draft opt-in customer email flows that stay clear of policy traps
- Marketplace Review Response Writer ($0.25) — Reply to the reviews that arrive, within the rules
Every paid output is a draft for your review before you publish, appeal, or activate anything. Friday does not access your seller account.