Live data from Hacker News

Amazon's Fake Review Problem

brianbien.com

81–90 of 336 posts

Re: Amazon's Fake Review Problem

#81
post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wish that Amazon could split the market place off. I disliked it from the first day they introduced it. I want to buy from Amazon not some company I've never heard of. It's if course never gonna happen. It's too convenient for Amazon and most users probably don't even understand that they aren't buying from Amazon.

If nothing else, they at least allow you to filter out non-amazon (or even non-prime fulfilled) items.

They do.

- Search - Pick a category - Select "Amazon.com" as the seller

Re: Amazon's Fake Review Problem

#82

Here's my anecdote: my wife is an author on Amazon and personally knows most of the people who review her books. FakeSpot gave her most popular book an F grade because people were "suspiciously positive". Most people leaving reviews only leave reviews for things they absolutely love, so saying that it's "suspiciously positive" is not an indicator of it being fake. In her case, she knows these people personally and th…

[deleted]

Re: Amazon's Fake Review Problem

#83
post #39

The fake review problem on Amazon is much bigger than people think. Here are my two anecdotes: 1. I got bluetooth headphones on amazon (~$65). They had great reviews, but were very disappointing. I returned them and gave 2 star review. Representative from the manufacturer contacted me and offered me a pair for free. After I got them, they asked for positive review. I refused. That manipulation technique wasn't enough…

I haven't used them for a couple of years, but https://www.monoprice.com used to be really cheap for quality cables and similar stuff.

Re: Amazon's Fake Review Problem

#84
post #31

I encountered this problem while trying to do Christmas shopping on Amazon. An example is this (parachute hammocks): https://smile.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_2?url=search-alias... I don't know anything about them, I'm not familiar with manufacturers, but this search result brings up very similar items from "different" companies. What's even more suspicious is that there are MULTIPLE results that have 1-2 thousand re…

Try this: https://www.fakespot.com/

This looks really cool.

Re: Amazon's Fake Review Problem

#85
post #39

The fake review problem on Amazon is much bigger than people think. Here are my two anecdotes: 1. I got bluetooth headphones on amazon (~$65). They had great reviews, but were very disappointing. I returned them and gave 2 star review. Representative from the manufacturer contacted me and offered me a pair for free. After I got them, they asked for positive review. I refused. That manipulation technique wasn't enough…

> When I need a cable or something similar,

I resorted to buy only Amazon Basic cables for the PC/monitor/TV and Anker cables/charger for the mobile phones. It is not the cheapest option but you still get high quality for a low price and you don't have to deal with any shady shops.

Re: Amazon's Fake Review Problem

#86

Well the situation does seem quite bad when you see people who leave fake reviews become brazen enough to actually advertise their services on Amazon itself [1]. I reported this review about 10 days ago and it's still up. The email address provided appears on hundreds of product listings [2]. When they can't even filter out nonsense like this I can only assume they put zero effort into tackling fake reviews. [1] http…

Holy smokes!

Re: Amazon's Fake Review Problem

#87
post #39

The fake review problem on Amazon is much bigger than people think. Here are my two anecdotes: 1. I got bluetooth headphones on amazon (~$65). They had great reviews, but were very disappointing. I returned them and gave 2 star review. Representative from the manufacturer contacted me and offered me a pair for free. After I got them, they asked for positive review. I refused. That manipulation technique wasn't enough…

Wow. Thanks for #2. Of course now I'm going to be using that website all the time for the junk items I buy. Fantastic.

Re: Amazon's Fake Review Problem

#88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wish that Amazon could split the market place off. I disliked it from the first day they introduced it. I want to buy from Amazon not some company I've never heard of. It's if course never gonna happen. It's too convenient for Amazon and most users probably don't even understand that they aren't buying from Amazon.

> It's if course never gonna happen. It's too convenient for Amazon and most users probably don't even understand that they aren't buying from Amazon. Out of curiosity, why do you assume people don't realize they aren't buying from Amazon?

Why would people think they're not buying from Amazon when they're on the Amazon web site and their credit card gets billed to Amazon?

(Can't remember, but do the parcels come in Amazon packaging too?)

Re: Amazon's Fake Review Problem

#89
post #39

The fake review problem on Amazon is much bigger than people think. Here are my two anecdotes: 1. I got bluetooth headphones on amazon (~$65). They had great reviews, but were very disappointing. I returned them and gave 2 star review. Representative from the manufacturer contacted me and offered me a pair for free. After I got them, they asked for positive review. I refused. That manipulation technique wasn't enough…

Plenty of genuine reviews are rubbish though. A good review explains what's good about the product or content. You can then judge according to that explanation and disregard the source.

Re: Amazon's Fake Review Problem

#90

I am much more wary about buying from Amazon than most of my peers, who easily click and buy on a whim or out of habit. I went to buy a toy at a brick and mortar, and compared the price to Amazon while there - $12.99 in the store and $27.xx at Amazon! I think they've marketed them to be the low price leaders but that's definitely not the case. I'm also concerned about counterfeit products - I don't care as much about…

This has been true for years. For many categories, Amazon pricing is awful. My wife heavily comparison shops, and Target/Walmart almost always comes out on top.

During Christmas shopping, I’ve seen more than a few folks buying stuff at Toys R Us to sell on Amazon.

Post reply on HN