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Amazon disallows pointing out paid reviews

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Re: Amazon disallows pointing out paid reviews

#81

Post by hbosch »

ilamont wrote: post #16

I purchased the same webcam for my high school sophomore in September 2020, as school restarted (all online for him). The box contained a $20 "gift card" if I emailed proof of my 5-star review. It looks identical to the one I received (including the email address). Only the reward is different. I didn't try to write a review, I notified customer service in an attempt to report the seller. I documented everything incl…

I have to assume you meant the Amazon product with the url suffix "dp/B087NN41JH/". This seems to be the highest reviewed result for search term "webcam", at least on my page.

Here on HN, we have a savvy audience that understands the problem on Amazon with counterfeits, fakes, and low-quality items. I don't usually have this problem myself, because I go out of my way to buy things from sellers that I recognize, such as Logitech for instance, which owns the top results for "webcam" even though they have fewer reviews and higher prices.

In your case, I think there are warning signs for the product in question. An unknown seller hawking a cheap knock-off looking webcam with a fake sale price... I really do not enjoy being the devil's advocate but, come on.

Amazon might reprimand the seller. They might even ban them. But if so, they will just pop back up over night with a new name. Their cheapo products are unlabelled, unbranded and modestly packaged for exactly this benefit.

Re: Amazon disallows pointing out paid reviews

#82

Post by donmcronald »

csnover wrote: post #69
tomerico wrote: post #11

If you want to read more about how shady sellers abuse the system, and why it's so hard to deal with it, I recommend this well written medium article: https://medium.com/swlh/unaccountable-chinese-retailers-thre...

Why does Amazon even allow FBA sellers to be registered in another country like this? Forget about counterfeiting and taxes, what about basic issues of safety and liability? A family member of mine recently bought a wearable electronic device from Amazon.com. I got a phone call from them asking what charger to use because it came with a USB cable and a note saying to use only a 1A charger. (Hang on, that’s not how US…

I think I'm actually paying MORE for chargers and cables now than before Amazon existed because the market is so flooded with garbage that it's hard to find a brand that isn't there just to mug you.

It's hilarious (or terribly sad) how we used to laugh at the the garbage house brands at stores like BestBuy, but now those are the "good quality" products on the market.

Re: Amazon disallows pointing out paid reviews

#83

Post by pmiller2 »

joombaga wrote: post #55
pmiller2 wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The problem is that product reviews are right up front on the product page. Seller reviews are 2 more clicks past that, effectively hidden.

They'll remove product ratings for a particular seller if enough people complain.

So? That doesn't address the issue I pointed out.

Re: Amazon disallows pointing out paid reviews

#84

Post by Buttons840 »

dheera wrote: post #67
Buttons840 wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Leave a 5-star review, get your $20. Resell the item on Amazon for $10 less than what the original seller was selling for. Earn $10 dollars profit. Repeat for other such products. Earn more profit. Make a blog about your antics; earn more profit, and help others profit the same way. Exploit the system until Amazon has to fix it. EDIT: I guess at no point is Amazon actually harmed by this scheme. However, the companie…

Someone I know made easier money by listing Amazon-available products on eBay and selling them there for higher prices. They didn't even need inventory, they just got them with Prime shipping after a purchase on eBay. People are stupid. On eBay before buying stuff I always ask the seller if they can beat the Amazon price - 5% cashback that I get on Amazon, or deduct CA sales tax in their price if the product is avail…

Eww. Meanwhile someone is out there saying "I refuse to support Amazon, I buy stuff on ebay even if it costs a little more."

Re: Amazon disallows pointing out paid reviews

#85

Post by csnover »

Buttons840 wrote: post #39
ilamont wrote: post #16

I purchased the same webcam for my high school sophomore in September 2020, as school restarted (all online for him). The box contained a $20 "gift card" if I emailed proof of my 5-star review. It looks identical to the one I received (including the email address). Only the reward is different. I didn't try to write a review, I notified customer service in an attempt to report the seller. I documented everything incl…

Leave a 5-star review, get your $20. Resell the item on Amazon for $10 less than what the original seller was selling for. Earn $10 dollars profit. Repeat for other such products. Earn more profit. Make a blog about your antics; earn more profit, and help others profit the same way. Exploit the system until Amazon has to fix it. EDIT: I guess at no point is Amazon actually harmed by this scheme. However, the companie…

> The cost to the original company is a lost sale, a lost product, and $20 [lost] in exchange for a 5-star review. That may well be worth it for the company, so I'm not sure this scheme would actually stop dishonest reviews, only make it worse.

Sometimes when I see a product being sold FBA I will do a search on Alibaba (they’re always on Alibaba) to find the wholesale price. I’ve found that the markup on most products is high enough that if a seller were to give every buyer $20, they’d still be making money.

Re: Amazon disallows pointing out paid reviews

#87

Post by whimsicalism »

hbosch wrote: post #81
ilamont wrote: post #16

I purchased the same webcam for my high school sophomore in September 2020, as school restarted (all online for him). The box contained a $20 "gift card" if I emailed proof of my 5-star review. It looks identical to the one I received (including the email address). Only the reward is different. I didn't try to write a review, I notified customer service in an attempt to report the seller. I documented everything incl…

I have to assume you meant the Amazon product with the url suffix "dp/B087NN41JH/". This seems to be the highest reviewed result for search term "webcam", at least on my page. Here on HN, we have a savvy audience that understands the problem on Amazon with counterfeits, fakes, and low-quality items. I don't usually have this problem myself, because I go out of my way to buy things from sellers that I recognize, such…

They won't pop back up with 12k 5 star reviews immediately?

I'm honestly shocked by this comment - warning sides aside, paying for reviews should cause a ban.

I am as unconvinced by this argument about "popping back" as I am by people who say that raising taxes is useless because people will just hide their money.

Re: Amazon disallows pointing out paid reviews

#89

Post by ilamont »

donmcronald wrote: post #63
PaulHoule wrote: post #10

There is a basic problem that if you see an obvious problem with a product listing on AMZN but you didn't buy the product they could care less. Sometimes the listing is obviously a scam, sometimes it is is just something that could be better: somebody is selling a box of assorted TTL ICs for $30 which were ill chosen for any use than testing your logic tester. (e.g. with $30 of quad-NANDs you can build a lot) In the…

The thing that absolutely blows my mind is the way other retailers want to be like Amazon, so they've all added 3rd party sellers to their websites. It's impossible to find anything because search results are dominated by absolute garbage on every retailer's site. They've taken the worst part of Amazon and latched onto it like it's the magic sauce that's going to make them relevant again. The other thing that I find…

Wal-mart opened up their marketplace to 3PS, but it's really gated. They want to know your financials, DUNS number, and IIRC supply chain details.

But another trend that's pretty bad - dropshippers of garbage. Not all dropshippers do this, but a lot do. Formula boils down to slick Shopify theme + Alibaba + social media = profit

Re: Amazon disallows pointing out paid reviews

#90

Post by inetknght »

croes wrote: post #76
ilamont wrote: post #16

I purchased the same webcam for my high school sophomore in September 2020, as school restarted (all online for him). The box contained a $20 "gift card" if I emailed proof of my 5-star review. It looks identical to the one I received (including the email address). Only the reward is different. I didn't try to write a review, I notified customer service in an attempt to report the seller. I documented everything incl…

Amazon doesn't really care about customers like the rest of FAANG. It's all about money, data and power. Everything else is just PR and advertising.

> care about customers like the rest of FAANG

I think of the five FAANG companies only Apple and Netflix have even a remote semblance of caring about the customer.

Google and Facebook certainly don't and that was known since before the announced antitrust lawsuits.

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