Some Amazon Reviews Are Too Good to Be Believed – They're Paid For • Hacker News Board

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

#261

Post by akuji1993 » Wed, Aug 01, 2018, 7:49 AM UTC

majewsky wrote: post #212

akuji1993 wrote: post #190

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The thing is, you really can't buy from anyone but Amazon directly anymore. The marketplace is flooded by chinese off brands that break the moment you touch them. At least that's the situation here in Europe.

Don't know which European country and which product category you're thinking of, but e.g. for tech that's not true. There are plenty of reputable tech online stores in Germany (e.g. Mindfactory, Alternate, Reichelt, Cyberport, Arlt in no particular order). I expect all of these to be able to ship to at least all of the continental EU.

What I meant with "can only buy from Amazon directly" is that I don't use Amazon's marketplace features. Of course, OUTSIDE of Amazon there is competition especially in the electronics category. I actually usually order my electronics at Alternate, if their prices aren't way above market which sometimes seems to happen with them.

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

#262

Post by akuji1993 » Wed, Aug 01, 2018, 7:50 AM UTC

tim333 wrote: post #221

akuji1993 wrote: post #190

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The thing is, you really can't buy from anyone but Amazon directly anymore. The marketplace is flooded by chinese off brands that break the moment you touch them. At least that's the situation here in Europe.

Is there a way to actually do that for most stuff? I actually want to buy some real Apple EarPods and the first 30 results seem to say supplied by some random outlet for about 25% the regular price. Dunno if there's a only show direct from Amazon button somewhere?

Of course there isn't, they would lose a lot of sales that way. For the Apple EarPods, they've been out of stock for months now, since everyone wants to get their hands on them and Apple seems to be not be up for the demand, dunno why.

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

#263

Post by thirdsun » Wed, Aug 01, 2018, 9:54 AM UTC

cstejerean wrote: post #37

IAmGraydon wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You really should never be shopping on Amazon for high margin products that are easy to fake. This means perfume, cosmetics, sunglasses and name brand clothing. These items are cheap to manufacture (even the real ones), but get their high perceived value from brand. Those Raybans you love? A $250 pair costs Luxotica around $5 to manufacture. So items like these are common to fake because the fakers can often get a pr…

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…

Recently it became clear to me that my Amazon shopping has been limited to stuff I don't really care about that much.

These are product categories (and european sources) I frequently buy from, yet Amazon hardly serves any of them competently:

- studio equipment (Thomann)

- audio equipment (countless niche, yet competent HIFI shops)

- computer hardware / technology (Really, where to start? Alternate, Mindfactory, Apple)

- bike components (Rose, Mantel, ...)

- tea (Teekontor Kiel)

- clothing (Rapha, Uniqlo, Zara)

For most of these categories Amazon is completely useless. Discovery is abysmal. Selection is mediocre. Product data / listings are a mess and show repeated results with slightly different, often incomplete variations from multiple sellers. Alternatively you get one single product page that features countless, sometimes unrelated product variations that may or may not be Prime-eligible. Maybe Amazon is fine with me buying cheap stuff from them and I still value their Prime-powered, reliable next-day delivery, but for important, expensive stuff I expect some degree of curation and will use other stores. At this point Amazon is slightly better than eBay.

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

#264

Post by thirdsun » Wed, Aug 01, 2018, 10:16 AM UTC

Broken_Hippo wrote: post #185

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.

I tend to leave a review when something is better than expected or if I'm disappointed enough to do so. I'll also occasionally leave a review of something if I'm prompted, but that more depends on whim. I also am likely to leave a review on products that are occasional purchases - small kitchen appliances. This is because I personally find these helpful when sourced from multiple places. I rarely leave a review for a…

> I tend to leave a review when something is better than expected or if I'm disappointed enough to do so.

And that's the problem with user reviews. They emphasize the extreme ends of the spectrum. There's little incentive to leave a review for the potentially silent majority of moderate users that are simply satisfied with the product.

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

#265

Post by dspillett » Wed, Aug 01, 2018, 10:45 AM UTC

https://text.npr.org/s.php?sId=629800775 - plain text article (sans tracking etc.)

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

#266

Post by astura » Wed, Aug 01, 2018, 12:17 PM UTC

sdoering wrote: post #183

danjayh wrote: post #145

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Worse still, Amazon will delete authentic reviews that contain information they don't like. For instance, I started working my way through all of the batteries on Amazon (top review on this product, for instance: https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B009PPR5OU/ ), and Amazon deleted them from multiple products because of the table with cost/battery data (which is extremely relevant when reviewing a commodity product like Alka…

Additionally they delete reviews of the same product if distinct people are deemed to be somewhat connected or deemed to be in one household. So if you and your spouse like to keep their own opinions and review separately never connect your accounts in any way.

Unless you both have different billing and shipping addreses, your accounts are already "connected" in their system.

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

#267

Post by Broken_Hippo » Wed, Aug 01, 2018, 12:50 PM UTC

thirdsun wrote: post #264

Broken_Hippo wrote: post #185

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I tend to leave a review when something is better than expected or if I'm disappointed enough to do so. I'll also occasionally leave a review of something if I'm prompted, but that more depends on whim. I also am likely to leave a review on products that are occasional purchases - small kitchen appliances. This is because I personally find these helpful when sourced from multiple places. I rarely leave a review for a…

> I tend to leave a review when something is better than expected or if I'm disappointed enough to do so. And that's the problem with user reviews. They emphasize the extreme ends of the spectrum. There's little incentive to leave a review for the potentially silent majority of moderate users that are simply satisfied with the product.

It is, and it is something that could be solved simply by asking the right questions instead of the overall review on a number (or star) scale. I hardly think simple satisfaction warrants a 5-star review, but I think if I just put 3-star, it might hurt the company... or waitress, or whatever. It isn't sane, and I'd almost argue that there is a disincentive to leave a moderate review. It is the same for store satisfaction surveys and many more - I know folks get penalized for not having overly good results.

But if they simply asked if it was what I was expecting and had reasonable options - along with not punishing folks for simply delivering what I expect - I'd answer yes.

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

#268

Post by tibarion » Wed, Aug 01, 2018, 1:38 PM UTC

13of40 wrote: post #73

whitepoplar wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Name and shame!

The Art of the Deal has an F, with 57% low quality reviews. "Our engine has profiled the reviewer patterns and has determined that there is high deception involved."

If you are solely posting just to make a political jab then there are more appropriate places to make such comments that are not Hacker News

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

#269

Post by 1024core » Wed, Aug 01, 2018, 3:08 PM UTC

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 don't agree. First of all, these fake reviews are bad for Amazon's reputation and thus for their business.

If that were the case, then Amazon would provide a way to flag fake reviews. But they don't.

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

#270

Post by esolyt » Wed, Aug 01, 2018, 7:12 PM UTC

carlmr wrote: post #195

esolyt wrote: post #189

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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.

In the US, you can just put the package in an Amazon Locker with the return label printed on it. You don't have to pay for shipping.

I don't know if Amazon Lockers exist in Germany, but I'm sure they would reimburse your for the shipping cost if you ask.