Reviews do work :)
Does anybody can share an example of scam item on Amazon with majority reviews looking legit?
$118 16TB SSD on Amazon, 4 star reviews mention cuff links and coffee cups
21–30 of 46 posts
Re: $118 16TB SSD on Amazon, 4 star reviews mention cuff links and coffee cups
#22How in the world does Amazon allow this
It is so prevalent, the question is: why are people shopping at a company intentionally having a go at misleading them?
Same reasons people use Discord. Convenience, herd mentality, discounting risk that's intangible from an evolutionary biology perspective (fraud and privacy violations don't activate the amygdala the same way a bear charging at you does), illusion of lack of choice (which is really just lack of knowledge of choice), resistance to change, apathy, stockholm syndrome, and basing decisions on emotion rather than rational and critical analysis.
Re: $118 16TB SSD on Amazon, 4 star reviews mention cuff links and coffee cups
#23It's not new. I've seen this a lot. I guess it's easy enough to just change the item for sale and keep the previous item's reviews. I don't understand why it continues.
Since Amazons sales, profits continue to grow.
They've shown time and again that they don't bother and, apparently, are incompetent enough to fix this shitshow of a bait-and-switch wrt their reviews
If you really want to read some comedy, i'd recommend their seller forums - various sellers report fraudulent listings - Amazons response? crickets
Only way to fix it: vote with your wallet, give your money someone else. It's easier than it seems at first, especially if you notice that the days of Amazon having the lowest prices by default are long gone, next-day delivery is hit or miss (don't even get me started on videogame preorders...) and absolutely useless search results (seriously, when was the last time someone has found what they've been looking for?).
I've even gone as far (sigh) as canceling my Prime membership as of January - biggest use i got out of it was free shipping.... well, i guess, i've to think again and pile up orders until i'm over minimum for free shipping - guess i'll be saving the planet in the process...
Re: $118 16TB SSD on Amazon, 4 star reviews mention cuff links and coffee cups
#24How in the world does Amazon allow this
It is so prevalent, the question is: why are people shopping at a company intentionally having a go at misleading them?
Because the issue of fake reviews and scam products is blown out of proportion. Amazon remains one of the most convenient digital stores to shop on. I have almost never received a product that was different than what I expected. On the rare occasions that it did, it was because of a misjudgment on my part rather than misleading advertising. I have learned from my experiences.
Re: $118 16TB SSD on Amazon, 4 star reviews mention cuff links and coffee cups
#25Seen that many times, I think sellers somehow re-purpose ASINs
That leaves the ratings and reviews in place while they change the title, description, price, etc.
Amazon obviously needs to make that re-purpose impossible but oddly they never do?
Re: $118 16TB SSD on Amazon, 4 star reviews mention cuff links and coffee cups
#26For batteries, memory/storage, and perhaps many other categories, better to get from a real distributor like Best Buy, Samsung, or WD directly.
Don't buy anything from there unless you're ok with it being probably a counterfeit, or a real product but with fake reviews. Amazon is AliExpress with faster shipping and higher prices.
At least with AliExpress you kind of know what you are getting!
Re: $118 16TB SSD on Amazon, 4 star reviews mention cuff links and coffee cups
#27Reviews do work :) Does anybody can share an example of scam item on Amazon with majority reviews looking legit?
This item had even weirder reviews - the reviews are about some locks, pillow cases, etc. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BKJRFZQ8/ref=cm_sw_r_api_i_58ZZZ...
What is the trick here? How do they get these reviews?
Re: $118 16TB SSD on Amazon, 4 star reviews mention cuff links and coffee cups
#28This is hilarious because to sign up as a seller on Amazon, they do this onerous process where amongst other things:
1. You need to upload photo ID and address details that have a funky AI auto-check (which often fails) to ensure what you've entered is what is on the ID docs.
2. They mail (snail mail) you a physical postcard with a printed One-Time Token to enter into your pending seller account.
3. You need to do a video call with one of their staff members to verify your identity, which also involves the pantomime of putting your passport or other ID document next to your face in the webcam so they can "check".
Yet listing re-use, with "Ships from Amazon" and the nice Prime checkmark, for something totally fraudulent, is still trivial to do.
I used to buy everything online from Amazon, and now it's much more of a judicious process which can cause family strife - I had a huge argument about not using a generic China-sold electronic in our kitchen because I was worried about the safety mark validity.
This, like the Twitter bot problem, seems solvable, but it's strange why this doesn't appear to be a focus for them.
Re: $118 16TB SSD on Amazon, 4 star reviews mention cuff links and coffee cups
#29It's not new. I've seen this a lot. I guess it's easy enough to just change the item for sale and keep the previous item's reviews. I don't understand why it continues.
Since Amazons sales, profits continue to grow. They've shown time and again that they don't bother and, apparently, are incompetent enough to fix this shitshow of a bait-and-switch wrt their reviews If you really want to read some comedy, i'd recommend their seller forums - various sellers report fraudulent listings - Amazons response? crickets Only way to fix it: vote with your wallet, give your money someone else.…
There is a good chance that Amazon does care and the fraudsters are able to occasionally get past the countermeasures.
Amazon ships a remarkable number of products. If only 10^-4 of them are fraudulent, there will still be quite a few bad products . We'll generally hear about the bad ones with outsized volume.
Re: $118 16TB SSD on Amazon, 4 star reviews mention cuff links and coffee cups
#30How in the world does Amazon allow this
Regulators have been made impotent. Who’dda thought that regulators maintained order and protected people?
You think there should be order and rule following in society?
And laws and regulations should be enforced?
Looks like we’ve got ourselves a white supremacist over here.