If you’ve ever opened your Teachers Pay Teachers dashboard, seen a new review, and felt your stomach drop… you are not alone.
Reviews can feel really personal – especially when you’ve poured hours into creating a resource that you absolutely love. I recently got a super harsh 1-star review from someone who clearly didn’t read the description, and even after years of selling, it still stung.
If you’re serious about having a TPT store, you want to make sure you have a plan for handling reviews like a pro, without letting one comment ruin your entire day.
How TPT Reviews Work (and Why 4 Stars Isn’t a “Bad” Review)
When a buyer logs into their TPT account and goes to My Purchases, they’ll see a button next to each product that says “Leave a Review”.
When a buyer goes to leave a review, TPT requires:
- A star rating from 1 – 5
- A short review title
- A written comment
After completing the required components, buyers can answer optional questions like whether the product met their expectations, if it was a good value for the price, grade levels used, and types of student populations served.
TPT also has a 24-hour wait period before someone can review a product. That means they need to at least have the resource for a day before leaving feedback, which (hopefully) leads to more thoughtful reviews.
Four Star TPT Reviews vs. Five Star TPT Reviews
Let’s talk about the elephant in the room…
In March 2020, TPT switched their reviews from a 4-star system to a 5-star system. When they did this:
- Old 4-star reviews were converted to 5-star reviews
- New reviews started coming in on a 5-star scale
If you started selling after 2020, you may notice you get a lot of 4-star reviews with glowing comments. That’s 100% normal.
Many buyers treat 5 stars as “absolutely perfect, best thing ever” and 4 stars as “really good, I liked it.” As teacher authors, we see 4/5 and think 80%… but that’s not how most buyers see it.
So if you’re getting tons of 4-star reviews with positive feedback, you’re doing great. Don’t let that discourage you.
Do TPT Reviews Affect Your TPT Search Ranking?
TPT has never officially come out and said, “Yes, reviews impact search,” but most of us have noticed some patterns:
- Products with strong conversion rates (people click → people buy) tend to show up higher.
- Resources with more positive reviews often rank well for their SEO keywords.
When you think about it, it does make sense. TPT wants buyers to find products that sell well and make them happy customers. Good reviews and healthy conversion rates are strong signals that a resource is doing its job.
That said, you can still rank without a ton of reviews – especially if you:
- Use strong SEO in your titles and descriptions
- Have clear, professional covers and thumbnails
- Create a resource teachers are actively searching for
The bottom line is that reviews help, but they’re not the only thing that matters when it comes to your TPT products ranking in search results.
What to Do When You Get a Negative TPT Review
A harsh review can completely derail your day if you let it. Before you do anything, pause. Close your laptop. Take a breath. Go for a walk. Text a friend.
You do not have to respond immediately.
Once you’ve had a minute, look at what kind of review it is to determine an appropriate response.
1. Tech-related issues
If a TPT product review mentions things like:
- “The file won’t open.”
- “The Google link doesn’t work.”
- “I can’t access the resource.”
Explain that the review is related to a technical issue and let the buyer know that they can reach out to TPT Support at support@teacherspayteachers.com. Often, TPT will:
- Contact the buyer on your behalf, and
- Remove the review if it’s clearly a user/tech issue and not a problem with your product
2. Rude or inappropriate reviews
If a review includes profanity, personal attacks, or seems like spam, screenshot it and email TPT. They’ll usually remove reviews that violate their guidelines.
3. Legitimate mistakes in your product
This one is a tough pill to swallow and can result from a multitude of things. Maybe:
- There’s a typo in the directions
- The answer key has errors
- The link really does go to the wrong file
- The resource wasn’t clearly described
While it’s discouraging to know something is legitimately wrong with your product, it is fixable. Here’s what to do:
- Fix the issue first. Correct the typo, update the answer key, repair the link, or clarify the description.
- Then write a calm, professional response. Don’t respond while you’re angry. When you’re ready, write something like:
- “Thank you for your feedback and for letting me know about this issue. I’ve updated the resource to fix the mistake. If you need further help, please email me at [your email]. I want this to work well for you and your students.”
- “Thank you for your feedback and for letting me know about this issue. I’ve updated the resource to fix the mistake. If you need further help, please email me at [your email]. I want this to work well for you and your students.”
- You can kindly ask if they’d consider updating their review. Some will, some won’t – but either way, future buyers will see that you care and you follow through.
One thing to remember is that other buyers can read your responses. Even if the original reviewer never comes back, your professionalism builds trust with everyone else.
How to Get More Reviews on Your TPT Products
Even with a popular store, the reality is that most buyers never leave a review. In my own store, less than 10% of customers leave a TPT review.
So if you’ve only made a handful of sales and have zero reviews, don’t panic. Reviews come with time – but there are ways to gently encourage more of them.
Make sure buyers know about TPT credits
TPT gives buyers credits when they leave reviews. Those credits can be applied to future purchases – almost like their own personal coupon.
As great as it is to have “free money,” many teachers have no idea this exists. When you remind them, they’re much more likely to take the time to review.
You can remind buyers about this incentive with a short note that sounds like:
“Did you know… When you leave a review on TPT, you earn credits you can use toward future purchases/ Just go to My Purchases and click ‘Leave a Review.’”
Now let’s talk about where to put that message.
Inside your products
You can politely ask for reviews within your resources in several places:
- First page of the resource – a small note at the bottom or a “Read me first” page
- Thank you or terms of use page – include instructions and a reminder about credits
- Within the actual directions – for example: “If this resource was helpful, consider leaving a review so other teachers can find it too.”
In your product description
At the end of your description, add a short call-to-action:
“If you enjoyed this resource, don’t forget to leave a review and earn TPT credits toward future purchases. Go to My Purchases, find this resource, and click ‘Leave a Review.’”
Through your email list or TPT Notes to Followers
If you have an email list, it’s a great place to:
- Remind buyers how to leave reviews
- Explain the credits system
- Ask them to review a specific resource they’ve purchased for something in return, like a freebie
You can do something similar in a Note to Followers on TPT, especially before a TPT site-wide sale. For example:
“The TPT sale is coming up! Don’t forget you can earn credits by leaving reviews on past purchases – those credits can help you save even more during the sale.”
What Not to Do for TPT Product Reviews
There are a few things to avoid when you’re trying to get reviews on TPT:
- Don’t mark a resource free just to farm reviews and then switch it back to paid. Changing pricing is fine when it makes sense, but doing it solely for reviews isn’t a great long-term strategy.
- Don’t obsessively refresh your reviews page. It’s easy to spiral. Check in, respond when needed, and then get back to creating more resources for your TPT store.
- Don’t fire back emotionally. Snarky replies might feel good for 5 seconds, but they can hurt your reputation with future buyers.
Want More Step-by-Step Help Growing Your TPT Store?
If you’re ready to stop guessing and start building a TPT store that actually earns consistent income, I’d love for you to try my free TPT training.
In it, I walk you through:
- How TPT works behind the scenes
- What to focus on first as a new (or stuck) seller
- How to create and list products so teachers can find and buy them
You don’t need fancy technology skills or a huge following – just a willingness to learn and share what you already know.
