Amazon Reviews for products?

[shh]

I wish Amazon would give a way to filter them out - the way they are today, they are actually causing me to NOT consider products I might otherwise.

I believe there is a way to screen for that - first click "all reviews". Then choose "verified purchasers only" choice from the category - I think that isolates just the folks that have actually purchased the item as a customer.

I always do that first before reading any of the reviews - sometimes that instantly whittles it down from hundreds of reviews to 25-50!

 

[SMD]

I've always voted those reviews as unhelpful. I tend to give more weight to reviews from people who have used the product for awhile. If something falls apart after a few months, I'd like to know. Someone who got the product for free is more likely to give an initial impression and not care so much about the value of something that they didn't have to pay for.

 

[Albort]

I believe there is a way to screen for that - first click "all reviews". Then choose "verified purchasers only" choice from the category - I think that isolates just the folks that have actually purchased the item as a customer.

I always do that first before reading any of the reviews - sometimes that instantly whittles it down from hundreds of reviews to 25-50!

that wouldnt work though. Most of my review items come from amazon. They give u a promo code that basically takes it down to pennies.

 

[MomToOne]

Amazon announced the ban of the incentivized reviews yesterday, except for Vine and books: https://www.amazon.com/p/feature/abpto3jt7fhb5oc

 

[shh]

that wouldnt work though. Most of my review items come from amazon. They give u a promo code that basically takes it down to pennies.

Ah. Didn't realize that. Always assumed this filter meant the review came from a regular Amazon customer - not someone given discounted product in exchange for a review.

 

[Albort]

Ah. Didn't realize that. Always assumed this filter meant the review came from a regular Amazon customer - not someone given discounted product in exchange for a review.

The only thing is that i have to say "I received this item for free" somewhere in my review. if not, amazon somehow knows and removes it. I had my first review removed because of that.

 

[Hikergirl]

Ah. Didn't realize that. Always assumed this filter meant the review came from a regular Amazon customer - not someone given discounted product in exchange for a review.

I have done reviews on Amazon for products I received for free, but I am also a regular Amazon customer with regular reviews. Like the pp said, the products are bought on Amazon with a code. I assume it counts as a verified purchase.

 

[Hikergirl]

I just got an email from the company I do reviews for. They have suspended reviews at this time and are revising their policy. It looks like they plan to continue offering products for review, and this is a quote from the email
"Since the “in exchange for a review” relationship has changed, you no longer need to add the disclosure statement should you choose to review a product you have received."

So, people are still going to receive discounted or free products and review them on their own, and not have to disclose anything. The only thing that will have changed is that now an Amazon customer may read a review and not know its from someone who got the item for free in exchange for their review.

 

[MomToOne]

I just got an email from the company I do reviews for. They have suspended reviews at this time and are revising their policy. It looks like they plan to continue offering products for review, and this is a quote from the email
"Since the “in exchange for a review” relationship has changed, you no longer need to add the disclosure statement should you choose to review a product you have received."

So, people are still going to receive discounted or free products and review them on their own, and not have to disclose anything. The only thing that will have changed is that now an Amazon customer may read a review and not know its from someone who got the item for free in exchange for their review.

I am sure Amazon has thought of that and has plans to thrwart that sort of thing. For example, Amazon has already gone after companies and sued them for engaging in activities that are designed to violate their terms of service. I suspect they will be putting out all sorts of cease and desist letters, followed by even more legal action than they were taking before.

I am also sure they will flag reviews and delete them where they can see you got an extreme discount. Or if there is suddenly a rush of reviews for an item, or a high number of reviews compared to it's sales - any of that could be used to flag a seller. And I'm sure Amazon has lots more metrics they could use too. This isn't a start up who doesn't consider these things.

By participating in that sort of activity, you as a user will also now risk being banned from Amazon for violating the policy. All Amazon needs is a whiff of any sense of this sort of thing, and they can ban you under their terms of service. That's the thing - really it's not the company you are going through that is violating the terms of service - they are just a middle man. It's YOU and the actual company selling the item who are now in violation. I'm sure that middle man company is perfectly happy to keep doing things as before since they aren't the ones taking on the risk! BTW: Amazon is known to ban not only userids, but IP addresses, credit cards and even your physical address, affecting everyone in your household.

This has become a significant issue for Amazon - more and more people were complaining about how reviews were becoming worthless, which presented a real risk to their business model. The numbers I've seen say over half of all reviews added this year on Amazon were incentivized - and buyers were getting tired of having to weed them all out. It hadn't necessarily impacted Amazon's profits yet, but a stink was starting to develop. So I am pretty sure they have plans in place to enforce the ban. Will people and companies try all sorts of things to get around them? Sure. But you have to ask yourself (1) is this the sort of person I want to be, and (2) is it worth my time to jump through all sorts of hoops to "outsmart" Amazon?

 

[Hikergirl]

I don't plan on doing any reviews, still haven't done that one for the snorkel tube I posted about when this thread was first started. I love Amazon, no way would I risk my accounts with them.

 

[Iowajes]

I use Snagshout.com for these. The products are generally not free- I actually pay for them; but sometimes I just pay a dollar or two for a twenty-dollar product. So I'm a "verified purchaser" because I really do pay for the product through amazon; but my review says I got the product at a discount for an honest review.

For them, it isn't true that low reviews get you fewer products. They don't track the number of stars you give. I don't give high stars to things, and I review items based on the full price, not the price I paid. (I once got a nasty reply when I said I didn't feel like it was good value- the company replied on amazon saying I had a discount, how is it not a good value. But most people reading don't get that discount, so it doesn't seem applicable to me. I just commented and said that. But that was from the seller, not from snagshout.)

Amazon has changed their terms of service though, so now companies can no longer REQUIRE you to review the products in exchange for the discount. However, since it is no longer required, it also means you no longer have to leave the disclaimer. Now you don't know who is incentivized to leave reviews.