On Line Purchase - Reviews and/or Feedback

[HI Bill]

I am an Amazon Vine reviewer. I get ‘free’ items that I choose from an ever-changing list. I pay taxes on the value of the items, as reported on a 1099-NEC. I give factual reviews with honest opinions. I give maybe 20% of items one or two star reviews. Some items arrive broken, break right away, or don’t work as intended. For those items, I ask to have them removed from my review list. Most Vine reviewers are honest, but some do seem to provide reviews without actually using the products.

 

[Amethyst]

Negative reviews tend to feel more honest. Sometimes, though, the honest ones can be laughable...you can see the fussy, easily-perturbed person in your mind's eye.

My fake-radar is pretty good, though hardly infallible. There's a sameness to fake good reviews.

 

[Amethyst]

Wow! I've left a few negative reviews, but nobody has contacted me.

I have seen seller responses to negative reviews, which usually made more determined than ever not to buy from them. Poorly written, critical of the buyer, clearly took the whole thing personally and didn't know how to craft a professional response.

Now, 2-3 times per week, I'm getting emails from the seller offering to pay me $50 to change my review. I blocked the sender's email, only to get more from new senders about the same product.


Now that I realize the reviews are effectively for sale, I do not trust them as much. If people are withdrawing or rewriting the negative reviews in return for money or merch, then they are decidedly skewed and no longer objective or useful.

 

[street]

I read other customers' Amazon reviews, because I sometimes find out interesting details about the item that I didn't know or hadn't thought about. I think it helps me to read them, as long as I maintain a reasonably skeptical eye.

Also I review about half the items I buy.

I do the same. Sometimes in product details it doesn't describe the product fully, you can read the reviews and pickup on the questions you had of the product.

Reviews have been very helpful info for me on making the purchase.

 

[athena53]

I rarely read Amazon reviews- don't trust them after all I've read about the fake review problems. I did look up waterproof cameras when I wanted to buy one- so many of the negative reviews were along the lines of "This camera worked great until I took it 10 feet underwater and then it stopped working". I bought a Canon Tough after seeing that most of the people on a snorkeling trip with me, including the guides, had one. It's served me well.

I have over 300 reviews on TripAdvisor.com- I must be a frustrated travel writer. Mine are honest and no one has ever offered to pay me for reviews or offered me an incentive to remove a negative one. I find TripAdvisor useful but I also look for the positive and the negative reviews and look for specifics- not just that "the food was fabulous".

I never bother with requests directly from hotels, etc. for reviews and sometimes they bug me multiple times. I don't trust them to provide a balanced view of their properties on their web site.

 

[finnski1]

Like others, the reviews can be helpful if you add a heavy dose of skeptic (comes natural to me! ).

A big problem I have with Amazon reviews is, they often have several related products on the same page (click a box to chose the variation), but the reviews are lumped together. And sometimes they are different models with big differences ( like portable/battery power vs AC plug in), not just colors or a bundle with an accessory. That makes the reviews near meaningless.

I rarely submit a review, but I have where I can add something that's not just repetition. Lately, I'm asked to review so many things - everything from Home Depot. "You recently bought Everbilt #10 x 1 in. Phillips Pan Head Zinc Plated Sheet Metal Screw (100-Pack). Tell us about it!" You recently bought 0.4 cu. ft. Washed Play Sand. Tell us about it!"

Really? It was gritty, and heavy. Sorry, not worthy of an "!".

-ERD50

Yeah I don't understand Home Depot wanting me to review the 2 screws I just purchased. I just delete those with the rest of my junk mail.

 

[Bamaman]

I often take what's been said with a grain of salt. I do look at the negatives, however.

But one thing I look at and compare are the numbers of that item's sales vs. the sales of other like items. Often those with substantially more internet sales will be an indication of popularity of the brand and/or model.

 

[target2019]

Many reviews are fake. A bunch more are contorted because the manufacturer is throwing offers at purchaser(s). I had this happen, where a manufacturer offered me a spot on the beta list, and I'd get discounted stuff. So I upped my rating because of the excellent tech support I was getting...later I set the the rating back. Nothing materialized out of this. I realized that their shtick was to entice you to buy more electronics from them, and if you gave them enough glowing reports that would result in a bone here and there. Maybe get an unchewed bone! Ruff ruff!

I tend to look just at the recent bad reviews.

 

[ERD50]

I am an Amazon Vine reviewer. I get ‘free’ items that I choose from an ever-changing list. I pay taxes on the value of the items, as reported on a 1099-NEC. I give factual reviews with honest opinions. I give maybe 20% of items one or two star reviews. Some items arrive broken, break right away, or don’t work as intended. For those items, I ask to have them removed from my review list. Most Vine reviewers are honest, but some do seem to provide reviews without actually using the products.

But if you choose not to review products that break right away, or don’t work as intended, that doesn't seem honest to me. This biases the reviews to the positive. Another reason I don't trust reviews.

I can see not reviewing it if it arrived broken (if clearly due to shipping damage), but if it was improperly packed, or shipped broken, I'd sure want to know.

-ERD50

 

[tmm99]

I have the fake spot extension installed and turned on on my chrome browser. This extension isn't perfect. They tend to think everyone is a liar, but it is better than some other extensions. I check reviews and if in doubt, check other reviews posted by those individuals to see if they have posted reviews for other items or if all their reviews have high ratings. I feel good when they have multiple posts and they have items with low ratings. Looking through some reviews, I sometimes find comments like "I am reviewing this product in exchange for..." This happens more often than not when the review ratings are really high uniformly, even if the sake spot doesn't catch it.

I also check very low ratings as well. They sometimes have very good information that makes me decide not to get the products...

 

[sengsational]

I use the review count when buying on Amazon; big numbers, in the thousands, are what I look for. Then I might read a few 1,2,and 3 star reviews, looking for patterns. I've dismissed a pattern, bought the product, and ended up writing a review that fit the dismissed pattern though

As mentioned above, I also don't bother reviewing with significant numbers of words if I don't have anything significant to say; no use in repeating what everyone else has already said.

My usual review is a 3 star, just to tell potential buyers about something they might not have thought about, and the product might not handle the situation well, but I'll pile-on with a 1 star if the product was complete trash.

I've been approached by a company that said, buy this thing, give it a 5 star, and we'll pay you what you paid for the product. I did it once. They did pay me, and I got a new blue tooth headset. I've barely used them, but my plan is to edit my review if they don't hold up; I care more about protecting future buyers than keeping that source of free junk flowing

 

[retire-early]

I am an Amazon Vine reviewer. I get ‘free’ items that I choose from an ever-changing list. I pay taxes on the value of the items, as reported on a 1099-NEC. I give factual reviews with honest opinions. I give maybe 20% of items one or two star reviews. Some items arrive broken, break right away, or don’t work as intended. For those items, I ask to have them removed from my review list. Most Vine reviewers are honest, but some do seem to provide reviews without actually using the products.

Then you are not being honest.
A product breaking right away is BAD.
A product don't working as intended is BAD.
That is what you are suppose to be reviewing and you are not doing your job!

 

[retire-early]

Yep, Amazon doesn't know about it. The sellers reach out to my friend (or actually I think the sellers reach out to a guy who reaches out to my friend), and he actually buys the item and then gets paid for the item plus a little extra once his 5 star review posts. He rarely even opens the items, just donates them or whatever. For the record, I disagree with him doing this, it only makes it worse for all of us. But it has definitely changed how I look at reviews!

Amazon is cutthroat.

I hope karma bites your friend in the butt, because what he is doing is immoral. I don't care even if he donates the proudct to charity.

 

[OldShooter]

... I hope karma bites your friend in the butt, because what he is doing is immoral. I don't care even if he donates the proudct to charity.

This.

What we have here is called an "agency problem" or a "moral hazard." The non-freebie product reviewers are "agents" for the potential buyers, offering their experiences without much of a conflict of interests.

Freebie reviewers however, are rewarded for reviews by getting more free products. It is inevitable that they will at least consider the risk that posting bad reviews will reduce or eliminate their flow of goodies. It may not even be a conscious consideration, maybe more of a positive feeling about the product vendor simply because of the gift.

Agency problems are everywhere. In the FIRE context the biggest agency problems involve "financial advisors" who are paid commissions on what they sell. Another is a dentist who makes more money if he sells crowns or other expensive treatments. Same-o a tied insurance agent who only sells for one company, so recommends insurance that might be bought more cheaply elsewhere.

 

[pacergal]

Yes, I read reviews on just about everything. Some are helpful in my decision making.
I have not done any reviews myself.

 

[Sue J]

I am an Amazon Vine reviewer. I get ‘free’ items that I choose from an ever-changing list. I pay taxes on the value of the items, as reported on a 1099-NEC. I give factual reviews with honest opinions. I give maybe 20% of items one or two star reviews. Some items arrive broken, break right away, or don’t work as intended. For those items, I ask to have them removed from my review list. Most Vine reviewers are honest, but some do seem to provide reviews without actually using the products.

Until I did that survey I never heard of Vine reviewers. Or maybe I just never noticed them. Can you explain what that is?

 

[Chuckanut]

I often look at the middle reviews. Too many people give 5 stars to just about anything that works when they first turn it on. And others give 1 star to a product because they opened the package with a machete and as a result the product is scratched, or the delivery gal tossed the package on their newly planted pansy bed. I find the 2, 3, and 4 star reviews seem to 'feel' better than the others - as in more real. Maybe it's a Fig Newton of my imagination.

I was just viewing hotel revues for a trip I am considering. They rate from 1 star to 5 stars/circles/points/whatever. The place is immaculate, kept up with a helpful staff, or it's a dirty junk heap with leaky faucets, dangerous electrical outlets, and the staff does nothing but smoke outside the one window in your room that opens. Same hotel, same month. Go figure.

I do not bother with all these ridiculous requests to review products. If I find a product that I was very curious about, I may do a review on my results.

 

[Kerfuffle]

Amazon is cutthroat.

I hope karma bites your friend in the butt, because what he is doing is immoral. I don't care even if he donates the proudct to charity.

Oh, I wasn't trying to say he's a good guy for donating his fake five star stuff to charity. It's probably all crap that they don't want anyway. I think people like him deserve a little karma. But I won't be the one to change him, that's for sure.

 

[kcowan]

I also check very low ratings as well. They sometimes have very good information that makes me decide not to get the products...

It was time for me to buy a new BBQ because the guts had rotted. On looking at the low reviews of brands available at HD and Lowes, I concluded that replacing the guts was the right decision for me. I have a renewed BBQ for a fraction of the costs of the current inferior ones promoted.

When we go south for 6 months, I always package up the guts and store them in a warm and dry place to extend their life.