If I accepted an answer, but later choose to un-accept it for whatever reason, will that person lose reputation points?
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$\begingroup$ Yes, I've seen it happen, a few months ago. I think the author of the unaccepted answer had like 25k reputation to begin with, so it really wasn't a big deal. $\endgroup$– Robert SoupeCommented Sep 2, 2015 at 12:34
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If you unaccept an answer, the author of the answer will lose 15 reputation points. Additionally, you yourself will lose 2 reputation points. However, if you select a new answer, then the new author gains the 15 reputation and you gain back your 2 reputation.
Note that if you accept an answer which you yourself have written, there is no reputation gain.
This amount of reputation is not very important. If you feel you want to unaccept an answer, you should do so regardless of reputation.
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1$\begingroup$ What happens if the author has in the moment of being unaccepted less than 15 reputation? $\endgroup$ Commented Aug 31, 2015 at 12:30
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$\begingroup$ @principal-ideal-domain The author will drop to 0. Reputation cannot be negative. $\endgroup$ Commented Aug 31, 2015 at 12:45
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3$\begingroup$ @SebastianNegraszus Actually the minimum is 1 $\endgroup$ Commented Aug 31, 2015 at 13:46
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1$\begingroup$ @principal-ideal-domain yeah, there are a couple edge cases. In the case you mention, the person would drop to 1 reputation (I think, but I'm not sure that if one then reaccepted the answer, the user would go up to 16 reputation). $\endgroup$ Commented Aug 31, 2015 at 13:49
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$\begingroup$ If the author has less than 15 reputation, that author must also have a significant number of negative points because they will have +15 for the accepted answer that you're taking away, but their remaining reputation will be negative. $\endgroup$ Commented Sep 3, 2015 at 14:07
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$\begingroup$ @MichaelBurr No one can have non-positive reputation (unless you count suspended accounts which sort of have 0 reputation). Reductions are made to a minimum of 1 rep remaining. $\endgroup$ Commented Sep 3, 2015 at 14:09
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$\begingroup$ @PeterWoolfitt Thanks for the clarification, I didn't mean to imply that they had negative reputation. I meant that without the +15 of the accepted answer, the net of the remaining reputation must be negative. (Which, I believe, is a very rare case). The actual reputation score would remain no less than 1. $\endgroup$ Commented Sep 3, 2015 at 14:22
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$\begingroup$ @MichaelBurr Oh, sorry, I see what you mean now. Yes, so I've never seen it happen with (un)accepting an answer, but I have seen it when someone posts their first question and gets a mixed reception. $\endgroup$ Commented Sep 3, 2015 at 14:27