Amazon "Verified Purchase" Reviews

Flying_Luminosity · 2019-11-26T12:00:41.000Z

S. sent me a light that they reimbursed me for, and I wrote an honest Amazon review that included several photos. Definitely wasn’t hyping it and I also mentioned what I thought were its weaker points. The next day I got a message from Amazon saying they had declined my review. So I guess that they suddenly had tons of reviews for the same product, which must have raised alarm bells with them.

Not going to bother with this kind of arrangement in the future. If I really like a light and I feel like reviewing it, I’d much rather publish it in this forum.

Muto · 2019-11-26T14:02:09.000Z

Good story concerning this very subject;

BuzzFeed News

Her Amazon Purchases Are Real. The Reviews Are Fake.

One woman stumbled into a side hustle that’s resulted in hundreds of free Amazon products worth tens of thousands of dollars.

Best line to me ;

“I’m just a pawn in their marketing scheme,” she said.

Joshk · 2019-11-26T15:17:55.000Z

Bearbreeder:

I gave ultrafire bats a 5 star review in exchange for some fireworks

I bought an UltraFire and it burned down my house, garage, and both cars. “5-star: As advertised” Haha. jk

MtnDon · 2019-11-26T15:22:16.000Z

Muto:

Good story concerning this very subject;
This Amazon Customer Has Received Hundreds Of Free Products In Exchange For 5-Star Reviews

Best line to me ;

“I’m just a pawn in their marketing scheme,” she said.

Very good article, Muto. And this line caught my attention….
““I definitely feel like I have to keep [the reviewing] a secret from people who have strong morals,” Jessica added.”

Muto · 2019-11-26T15:40:33.000Z

Another thing that puzzles me, doesn’t paypal have to report you to IRS at some point for all these payments?
How is she hiding the income?
She “claims” she is losing money and giving most things away, yeah right. Most are resold under different name on epay or otherwise.

ZEUSFL · 2019-11-26T15:41:19.000Z

There is a website https://www.fakespot.com/ that allows you to check if the review is fake or not. Just copy and paste the URL from the product review on fakespot.com

lampliter · 2019-11-26T15:57:09.000Z

reviewmeta.com
Only does Amazon reviews.

Lightbringer · 2019-11-26T15:58:44.000Z

Lux-Perpetua:

Unheard:

[…] You know … that’s awesome :person_facepalming: .

Charles BridgTec?

Huh… never heard of him before a coupla days ago.

Some light I was looking up just out of curiosity, think it was the “glimmer mode” one?, that I wanted to see the “glimmer” in action.

Good God, I almost fell asleep. How much time was wasted in the Grand Unboxing, like pulling out a piece of paper, “Uhh, and this is the manual for it…”. Duh, ya think??

Lightbringer · 2019-11-26T16:02:46.000Z

Flying Luminosity:

S. sent me a light that they reimbursed me for, and I wrote an honest Amazon review that included several photos. Definitely wasn’t hyping it and I also mentioned what I thought were its weaker points. The next day I got a message from Amazon saying they had declined my review. So I guess that they suddenly had tons of reviews for the same product, which must have raised alarm bells with them.

A coupla times I was offered 3bux from Amazon to be an “early reviewer” or something. Once, it worked. Second time was for a light I already reviewed a coupla weeks(!) before. Edited it to add some text to the review, but never got that 3bux. Liars… :confounded:

Lightbringer · 2019-11-26T16:20:13.000Z

MtnDon:

Very good article, Muto. And this line caught my attention….

““I definitely feel like I have to keep [the reviewing] a secret from people who have strong morals,” Jessica added.“

I love the paragraph immediately before. She 5-stars some poisonous cosmetic, then gives the unused bottle to a cow-orker.

“Here ya go! Fingers crossed, hope ya don’t die…” :laughing:

xevious · 2019-11-26T17:43:38.000Z

Bearbreeder:

And its a free return on amazon within 30 days

So theres no way they can enforce the positive review as youll just return it with free return shipping

Not to mention the person will probably leave a negative review at that point (just claim defective or something similar)

Its not like the company can complain to amazon about it

That’s fine for the first time, but you won’t develop a review reputation to support future opportunities if you’re changing reviews from positive to negative.

That BuzzFeed article is pretty eye opening. Writing a convincing review is time consuming, in addition to taking good quality photos. It’s unsettling to think of how many people are doing this. Amazon is making a killing. Literally. They’ve killed the local markets. The road side store you can walk into & buy things that aren’t food… will become extinct in due time.

Btw, when the “teat” of inexpensive Chinese goods finally runs dry, and prices go up, it’ll be an economic shock wave. Amazon is becoming the defacto retail platform & makes so much money that it won’t feel the pain. But the end-consumer will.

Bearbreeder · 2019-11-26T17:49:47.000Z

Dont need a “review reputation” if u arent a “professional reviewer”

If a company tries to scam u just leave a negative review

LightObsession · 2019-11-26T18:57:28.000Z

Heck, I get excited when the review listed below a product is actually for that product and not a different flavor of that product or a completely different light all together.

Lightbringer · 2019-11-26T18:58:35.000Z

xevious:

That’s fine for the first time, but you won’t develop a review reputation to support future opportunities if you’re changing reviews from positive to negative.

“Aww, man, what crap! I barely used it for 15min total before the thing started smoking and died!”

TheIntruder · 2019-11-27T00:11:40.000Z

Lux-Perpetua:

Bearbreeder:

On amazon you can just return the light within 30 days so there is no way to “force” a good review there

I don’t know what it is like in other places but Amazon DE will watch your “return of goods rate”. If your score gets too high they will eventually ban you. This has even gone so far that customers could not get access to their purchased electronic items (Kindle library, MP3 files, etc.) anymore.

Amazon, as well as many other retailers tracks returns, and bans the accounts of abusers. Even Costco, which is very liberal and customer-friendly with its policies, does the same.

Both already have all the records of what has been purchased and returned to the account or membership.

Other B&M retailers rely on third-party data gathering companies to compile the information. If a retailer asks to see one’s driver’s license or other form of ID, it’s a big clue that they’re engaged in return tracking.

To a large extent, it’s a good thing, but the issue is that there is no transparency as to what the limits are, and some have claimed that they’ve been banned even though they have legitimate reasons and are not abusive.

It’s also important to remember that, for the most part, return privileges are just that, and not compulsory in most U.S. jurisdictions. Retailers offer them to remain competitive with others who do, but they are not compelled by law to take returns.

In the end, such abuse affects all customers.

Joshk · 2019-11-27T00:26:12.000Z

Over my years on Amazon I have had months were I returned a serious percentage of stuff I bought, that should have thrown some alarms. But I always had valid reasons, and took the time to write them out during the return process.
It would seem they don’t ban you without a human investigating the situation beforehand.

xevious · 2019-11-27T00:32:10.000Z

Bearbreeder:

Dont need a “review reputation” if u arent a “professional reviewer”

If a company tries to scam u just leave a negative review

OK
Whatever you say
So it goes
Onward and upward

Bearbreeder · 2019-11-27T03:23:33.000Z

xevious:

Bearbreeder:

Dont need a “review reputation” if u arent a “professional reviewer”

If a company tries to scam u just leave a negative review

OK
Whatever you say
So it goes
Onward and upward

Dont get snarky over an amazon return now …

or someone might leave a negative review

Muto · 2019-12-16T02:16:15.000Z

Dig this product.
Pay for play advertised right on the package.

https://www.amazon.com/product-reviews/B07VX7KLH3/ref=acr_dp_hist_1?ie=UTF8&filterByStar=one_star&reviewerType=all_reviews#reviews-filter-bar

Read the 1 star reviews you will see pic of come on on label of product.

nuts.

TheIntruder · 2019-12-16T08:24:00.000Z

Forget the Amazon reviews.

If you really want to laugh (and cry) about the state of the human race, read the dumpster fires that are the Q&A sections.

Many can’t even get simple facts straight, and reading comprehension, never mind critical thought, is a rarity.

The Great Amazon Q&A God Feedback Algorithm seemingly targets and solicits the stupidest buyers, often resulting in such brilliant answers as “I don’t know.”

Worse, there is no way to rebut, or flag answers (at least when not logged in; don’t recall if doing so reveals those options).