When reading any reviews on any online site I do not necessarily believe everything I read. I have thought that the “Verified purchase” notation on Amazon reviews did possibly make that review a little more credible. After all, the reviewer must have actually purchased the item on Amazon to have that notation appear.
Sadly, that is not 100% true all the time.
A few days ago I was contacted by a company that would be recognized by everyone who has been on BLF for even a short time. I will not mention the company by their easily recognized name. I was asked if I would like to review a flashlight they sell. It would come complete with an 18650 cell and a charger. They named the light, said it would be free and mine to keep. I replied, sure, I would like to review the light.
The next message instructed me to purchase the light on their Amazon webpage, then send them the order number. They would then deposit the amount to my Paypal account. I thought that was a strange way of handling things. When I checked to verify that I understood the suggested process they affirmed I understood correctly. They added that they would be certain to deposit enough to my Paypal to cover transfer fees that Paypal would be charging.
After all this bounced around my brain over the weekend, I believe I finally saw the light. (pun intended).
If I bought the light and reviewed it on Amazon my review would include the Amazon announcement of it being a “verified purchase”. It seems that the Amazon “verified purchase” notation is a lot more meaningful, is more influential, than I believed for them to want to pay me the $35 selling price to review the flashlight.
What they proposed rubs me the wrong way. It is a form of cheating. It is deceitful. I am disappointed that this company feels this is a fine way to conduct themselves.
I told them I changed my mind and would not participate.