Comment by jasode | Hacker News Reader

Comment by jasode | Hacker News Reader

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> as a consumer I see a 4.9 rating as indistinguishable from a 0.9 rating.

I've been an Amazon customer for more than 20 years. Yes, both the 5-star reviews and 1-star reviews can be gamed. Many 5-stars reviews are fake because of bribery. Many 1-star reviews are from competitors trying to hurt their rivals.

That said, I still find Amazon reviews useful if I read the texts instead of depending on the number of stars. I go to the 3-star and 2-star reviews and read the specific complaints customers are writing about. Some reviewers also post useful photos.

For example, I needed to buy a guest bed for COVID quarantine so I looked for "air mattress" on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/s?k=air+mattress

Most of those have 5-star reviews. I ignore that and simply read the texts. After digesting some reviews, I learn that all air mattresses regardless of brand suffer from leakage (usually after the 30-day return period). Some recommended getting a foldable foam mattress as an alternative to totally avoid the issues with leaks and broken air pumps. That's what I ended up buying and it was the Amazon reviews that steered me away from air mattresses.

You can usually pick out fake reviews by the language. No human I've ever met would write about an 'excellent product' - that's the language of a marketeer.

Also 5 star reviews can be honest and useful; examine the text for credibility then look at other reviews by the same person. If they're all 5 star then you most likely have a stinker, but some measured criticism and other, lower starred reviews may show validity.

Hey! Marketers are people too. Haha. I worked in retail. Worked in marketing/graphic design. Worked as a cook for a few years. We called everything products.

So how do you tell? IMHO, it’s not the word phrase, but the word count. If you’re saying too many ‘just nice’ things —repetitive — you prolly want something.

Also, Amazon is frigging annoying about how much they ask you to comment. When And if I do it’s usually terse.

> Marketers are people too

Sometimes.... :)

> Marketers are people too.

Yeah. People who should kill themselves – according to the late, great Bill Hicks: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HUd6ARKcPS0

Upvoted in any case.

OH! You mean MBAs. Yeah. They suck. haha

Human beings never used to write reviews. They were either repeat customers or they weren’t. I have never felt writing a review. So what if you have a good product, or something I may like. Why should I tell the whole world? I’d rather do word to mouth. Your product - good or bad - will adjust based on demand and supply on its own.

Amazon’s reviews are like old Yahoo’s news comment streams (same as YouTube today). I’d like to think average/sane human beings do not spend their time compulsively hanging out at such joints.

The best sensible thing Amazon could do is list the number of repeat customers against the number of sell. That would be honest and fair.

There's a very thick line indeed between not writing any reviews and being 'compulsive' as you put it. Why do you have to phrase it such an extreme way?

I write a few reviews because if something is particularly good or useful, or very bad, I want others to benefit from that.

I think the QA section should serve that purpose. Say that you got something bad and has negative review to tell. First of all, you have to eliminate your subjectivity (whether it is just you and your one specific product out of the lot, or is it everyone and everything out of the lot). Only the vendor can help you here first, and not the whole world. If the vendor is bad, then it is the platform’s fault (they didn’t help themselves by helping host the vendor). The best you can do is ask a ‘why’ question (why it is broken, or why it is not as advertised). Enough people asking the same, would naturally help everyone.

Now say you got something good. Again, you have to first eliminate your subjectivity. Why should the world care if you like something? But you want to help others make a good decision. Fine. Let them ask questions genuinely and then you can answer. Platform should let that happen because otherwise vendor would never let others answer on their behalf. QA should be the only place for interaction. Question should only be posed by potential customers. Answers, only by known customers.

Crowd sourced reviews are first and foremost subjective. They spawn either a fan boy syndrome or ‘I’m going to get’ you syndrome. If not either of them then they have spawned a whole new underground market of their own. Indeed, they have not proven to naturally balance the real and legitimate market; otherwise, they wouldn’t have been gamed. But Amazon does have QA alongside reviews. This makes it obvious that reviews are their cash cows using/abusing human psychology - of greed and gratification.

I find it amusing how my attitude toward writing reviews changed. Early on I used to feel that we, the little people, can use the Internet for good, band together, and share information about products to "stick it to the man." Nowadays, I feel writing reviews is ironically only helping the richest man in the world and now actively avoid it.

Sites like Amazon need the review layer to substitute the physical contact of brick and mortar that they removed. Pretty common story by now - instead of paying employees in stores, they crowd source the value for free, and we're happy to go along since we get lower prices in the bargain.

> Pretty common story by now - instead of paying employees in stores, they crowd source the value for free, and we're happy to go along since we get lower prices in the bargain.

That's a win-win eliminating a bullshit job.

>Why should I tell the whole world?

I can get useful insights from reviews so I also like to contribute back if I find something worth mentioning.

Reading reviews without contributing them is a form of freeloading.

But economically freeloading is the only correct behavior.

cite?

> Yes, both the 5-star reviews and 1-star reviews can be gamed.

You don't look for that <i> Verified purchase </i> text ?

Scammers have made that useless. They have you buy the product, then reimburse you for it... if you review it well. Free product for you, five star verified review for them.

I would be tempted to do so only to lower the review after the charge back window closed.

>You don't look for that <i> Verified purchase </i> text ?

If you're not being sarcastic...

Those "Verified Purchase" reviews can also be faked by manufacturers/sellers reimbursing the credit-card payment of the Amazon shopper.

Example: https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/nicolenguyen/her-amazon...

I bought something from Amazon, and it wasn't up to spec, so I left a 3-star review.

Well, I got contacted by the seller, offering me $20 to take down the review. I ignored it.

Then a few weeks later, they upped the offer. And in response, I downed the stars.

Last I heard from them, they were offering me $70 to take down the review. For something that cost under $15.

Amazon itself doesn't help either. I bought something (a food item) from Amazon, and it was nowhere close to the quality in the photographs or description. I wrote a review, describing how the actual item was of much lower quality than expected. Amazon refused to post my review! And I've been an Amazon customer for nearly 20 years!

Did the first company complain about you to Amazon, who then blacklist you for not playing ball?

I don't think so, I just ignored their messages.

I've had this same experience. After all the pestering and offers of cash to remove my 3 star review, I lowered it to 1 star.

Sounds like a business model to me. Leave a 3 star review, and if they try to bribe you $X threaten them to lower it to 1 star unless they pay $2X.

People do this. I used to sell a lot on Amazon. I would occasionally get a non-coherent one star review and then a message basically trying to extort a full refund in exchange for removing the review. And no, it wasn't because the book was in bad condition, they can always return for a full refund. They want to keep the book and get a full refund.

I was (obviously) joking but this is really a sad thing to hear.

There's truth behind every joke.

And this really is a decent biz model. I mean, free items, just sell them for 50% and you can make a living.

Scale this up using multiple amazon accounts, multiple addresses.

The market is big enough so that you can make a living out of this, I'm sure.

And your x2 multiplier makes it even easier!

Great time to no longer use their services!

I reported someone trying to bribe me to remove a review. Amazon passed it along to them and the company started emailing me creepy stalker stuff about my Instagram.

Last time I bought a power supply from Amazon I got an email from the seller saying that they'd give me a $20 Steam Credit if I left a 5 star review. It made me consider returning the Power Supply.

LastPass was offering something like $10 for anyone that left a review on G2 (from RSA Conf). The kicker was I did this and they never even honored it.

Lastpass has gone to crap IMO since their sell to logmein

often if reviews were boosted, the most recent reviews will take a plunge. So I tend to focus on recent reviews.

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