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Comment by keeran | Hacker News Reader

Sellers generate fake orders for their products using real identities, actually send the product to those people, but leave a fake review in their name.

I've tried raising the issue repeatedly with Amazon, but I've now given up and look forward to the random crap I get sent almost on a monthly basis.

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I don't get it. Why do they have to send real product to the person if they're not relying on the receiver to write the review?

They could ship an empty box if they just needed a tracking number. If the customer isn't coming into the feedback loop, they don't need the product.

Because Amazon itself is usually handling the storage and shipping -- you can't pay Amazon to store empty boxes in its warehouses. (With perhaps one exception: https://www.amazon.com/Cheap-Moving-Boxes-10-Pack-10MPK/dp/B... )

Better idea: Only verified buyers who have been on Amazon for X amount of time (or some other process to gain trust) should be allowed to leave reviews.

I never experienced it myself, but I’ve seen reviews claiming they had a letter in their package that they’d get X currency if they leave a 5-star-review.

Sorta similar but different, I left a 3 star review for something (cheap headphones that were OK but not great), and got a few emails after it offering me credit etc. if I changed it to a 5 star review.

I didn't, but did report it to Amazon (no idea if they cared at all.)

Where do I sign up to get free random stuff sent to me from Amazon review farmers?

Ideally you don't.

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