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Some Amazon Reviews Are Too Good to Be Believed – They're Paid For

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Re: Some Amazon Reviews Are Too Good to Be Believed – They're Paid For

#191

Post by TangoTrotFox »

I think this issue is most interesting to look at from the other side. Imagine your goal was to create fake reviews for a product you created. How difficult do you think it would be to achieve given you expect a substantial economic reward for success?

This is why I find it difficult to blame Amazon for things like this - though that is not to say they shouldn't try, but I don't think anybody is saying they're not. It's just that this is something you might call a game of cat and mouse, but I think it may be borderline impossible to detect fake reviews if done well. Imagine I somehow get 500 confederates from geographically diverse regions, and pay them each a substantial amount of money to purchase a product and give a positive review. How do you prove those reviews are fake?

Re: Some Amazon Reviews Are Too Good to Be Believed – They're Paid For

#192

Post by TorKlingberg »

ashelmire wrote: post #88

"Our approximation is that less than 1 percent of reviews are inauthentic" Get the hell outta here. Look at literally any product and you'll see a plethora of obviously fake reviews. The worst I've noticed? Check out headphones. 500+ 5 star reviews for cheap Chinese products all over the place. In fact, anything that's around 500 5 star reviews is probably mostly fake reviews.

Lots of people hand out 5 star reviews too easily. They buy the cheapest headphones on Amazon, and if they make any sound at all it's five stars.

Re: Some Amazon Reviews Are Too Good to Be Believed – They're Paid For

#193

Post by carlmr »

misja111 wrote: post #179
1024core wrote: post #154

Anecdata, sample size 1. I bought some toy for a toddler. Upon receiving it, I realized that the description was misleading; many of the "pieces" they had listed boldly were just cheap plastic pieces of crap that had no useful functionality. So I returned it, and wrote a 1-star review. A few weeks later, I got an email from them: they were offering $30 if I took down the review. I ignored the email. Several weeks lat…

>> Basically, Amazon has no interest in making sure that the reviews are not being gamed I don't agree. First of all, these fake reviews are bad for Amazon's reputation and thus for their business. Second, these frauds lead to people returning their items to Amazon. I do not know how Amazon settles this with the original seller but I'd imagine that in the end Amazon will not make any profit on the whole transaction,…

I still haven't found a feedback mechanism where you can say "I suspect it is fake".

I'm not buying on marketplace anymore, except if I can't find the product anywhere else.

Re: Some Amazon Reviews Are Too Good to Be Believed – They're Paid For

#194

Post by muro »

felix_nagaand wrote: post #153
dmitriy_ko wrote: post #152

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Amazon accepts returns for 30 days and pays for shipping if you select "Item defective or doesn't work" for your return reason. However, that kind of con may still be very profitable for merchant since many buyers won't bother returning. 1. Pay for couple hundred 5-star reviews before Christmas 2. Get tens of thousands of orders 3. Send people cheap defective items that costs 1/10 of price to manufacture 4. Profit! E…

The seller can also just hit and run leaving Amazon with the losses.

Not if they only get the money after the return period is over.

Re: Some Amazon Reviews Are Too Good to Be Believed – They're Paid For

#195

Post by carlmr »

esolyt wrote: post #189
lucb1e wrote: post #156

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> it would take hours to sort through the choices and find a decent [bathroom scale] Maybe it's different in the USA, but when I needed a bathroom scale for our new apartment I went over to the store and bought the first one they had. If I would have come home and it wouldn't have worked, I'd have gone back and had either gotten repair under warranty or cash back (if they don't want to repair it, you can rescind the…

> I just can't imagine staying home for packages all the time I'm not sure why you think people in the USA do that. You certainly don't have to stay home to get package. Nobody does that. If it's a valuable package, there are ways to make sure it's not stolen, including using an Amazon Locker.

In Germany DHL has lockers that you can use as an address. The next one is closer to me than any store.

Although I agree I have a certain reluctance to return stuff, because now I need to wrap the package, get it to the post office (which is far away) and pay shipping.

Re: Some Amazon Reviews Are Too Good to Be Believed – They're Paid For

#196

Post by KozmoNau7 »

1024core wrote: post #154

Anecdata, sample size 1. I bought some toy for a toddler. Upon receiving it, I realized that the description was misleading; many of the "pieces" they had listed boldly were just cheap plastic pieces of crap that had no useful functionality. So I returned it, and wrote a 1-star review. A few weeks later, I got an email from them: they were offering $30 if I took down the review. I ignored the email. Several weeks lat…

I've had vendors on Ebay selling obviously fake products[1] refuse to refund my payments until I removed negative reviews and/or made positive full 5-star reviews. I've also received products where there was a note included, offering either free stuff or 10/20/30% off my next purchase, if I made a full 5-star review and sent them a screenshot.

When you're just one of thousands and thousands of vendors on a platform, I guess any trick is considered fair game.

[1]Such as flashlights that looked only vaguely similar to the pictures in the listings, and were blatantly just cheaply-made knockoffs.

Re: Some Amazon Reviews Are Too Good to Be Believed – They're Paid For

#197

Post by marcodave »

lucb1e wrote: post #156
cstejerean wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Fakes I’m not too worried about, I can usually spot those. The problem is that many categories are flooded with garbage products with inflated reviews. Try to find a bathroom scale. Tons of choices with 4.5 stars and above, but most of the reviews are fake, so it would take hours to sort through the choices and find a decent product. Same for most things I’ve wanted to buy recently (hiking poles and a daypack are two…

> it would take hours to sort through the choices and find a decent [bathroom scale] Maybe it's different in the USA, but when I needed a bathroom scale for our new apartment I went over to the store and bought the first one they had. If I would have come home and it wouldn't have worked, I'd have gone back and had either gotten repair under warranty or cash back (if they don't want to repair it, you can rescind the…

> Maybe it's different in the USA ... I went over to the store

Disclaimer: I don't live in the USA

Maybe it has something to do with the fact that many cities in the US have residential neighborhoods separated and far from commercial ones? If I had to grab the car and make a 20min drive, and find parking, just to buy a 10$ scale, no thanks, better to order online

Re: Some Amazon Reviews Are Too Good to Be Believed – They're Paid For

#198

Post by michaelt »

lucb1e wrote: post #156
cstejerean wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Fakes I’m not too worried about, I can usually spot those. The problem is that many categories are flooded with garbage products with inflated reviews. Try to find a bathroom scale. Tons of choices with 4.5 stars and above, but most of the reviews are fake, so it would take hours to sort through the choices and find a decent product. Same for most things I’ve wanted to buy recently (hiking poles and a daypack are two…

> it would take hours to sort through the choices and find a decent [bathroom scale] Maybe it's different in the USA, but when I needed a bathroom scale for our new apartment I went over to the store and bought the first one they had. If I would have come home and it wouldn't have worked, I'd have gone back and had either gotten repair under warranty or cash back (if they don't want to repair it, you can rescind the…

  I do hear that in the USA, people order everything from
  Amazon instead of walking over to the store. I just can't
  imagine staying home for packages all the time
It depends on your life situation.

Personally, it's hard for me to get to stores on work days - whereas my workplace will accept my personal parcels.

On the other hand, I know people whose workplaces won't accept parcels for them, but who walk past loads of stores on their way to work.

So for me, ordering online is a convenience - but for them, it's an inconvenience.

Re: Some Amazon Reviews Are Too Good to Be Believed – They're Paid For

#199

Post by chx »

nfoz wrote: post #161

I'm not really sure why there are any real reviews on sites like Amazon, Yelp etc. Why do people leave reviews; what's in it for them? Is it some strange form of altruism where they're helping their fellow anonymous shopper while also helping out one of the world's most successful megacorporations? Writing this comment has made me re-think why I'm writing this comment.

Why do people contribute to open source?

Some of that applies here as well: the feeling of doing good, the hope of "paying forward" works (just the culture of leaving reviews might one day lead to a review for me) etc

Re: Some Amazon Reviews Are Too Good to Be Believed – They're Paid For

#200

Post by Lio »

kurthr wrote: post #157
Waterluvian wrote: post #140

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They seem to be strong here in Canada. I hope that lasts. Walmart is the only other option and it's not really an enjoyable experience.

Hilariously, ToysRUs are still big in China. Lots of kids and parents shopping. How did the vultures only get the US stores?

They got the UK stores too. :(
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