Amazon paid reviews- going to buy more junk to make money

[Neilk]

I had heard about vendors buying positive reviews, but if I am getting them, how widespread is it?

A couple of months ago, I damaged the screen to my iPhone 11 Pro that I was about to return. I ordered a $40 replacement screen on Amazon that was of lesser quality than Apple's but good enough to get a trade-in allowance from AT&T. Three weeks later, the vendor sends me a postcard offering $20 for a 5 star review. All I had to do was send proof of the positive review to get an Amazon credit.

I recently bought some USB-C cables for my new iPhone for $12 and just got a postcard for a $15 gift card for a positive review. The listing was a bit misleading in that they were not selling actual Apple cables, you had to read the fine print, but they were good enough, so I added my review.

I guess most reviews for off brand Chinese goods are fake or bought. Time to install that FakeSpot plugin or better yet, not buy knock off cr*p.

[stevej37]

I must be buying the wrong things on Amazon...never had an offer like that.

The Prime truck is here almost every day.

[2.7RS]

I must be buying legitimate brand name things that don't need validation.

Never got an offer like that.

[Baz]

Man...........I wish I'd get an offer like that. Best I could do is I found a $5 bill in the HD parking lot today.....sheesh.......

[herr_oberst]

The OP is a perfect example of why you should never buy anything online based on a 5 star review.

[Baz]

Originally Posted by herr_oberst

The OP is a perfect example of why you should never buy anything online based on a 5 star review.

Another thing to remember is that in general people will be more likely to post a review when they are upset. So just because there's a bunch of negative reviews doesn't mean it's not a decent product.

It goes both ways.

[RobFrost]

Originally Posted by herr_oberst

The OP is a perfect example of why you should never buy anything online based on a 5 star review.

Only thing I do with reviews is click directly on the one star and read those. You get to learn quickly what the defects are and bypass all the deception.

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[RobFrost]

Originally Posted by Neilk

I had heard about vendors buying positive reviews, but if I am getting them, how widespread is it?



A couple of months ago, I damaged the screen to my iPhone 11 Pro that I was about to return. I ordered a $40 replacement screen on Amazon that was of lesser quality than Apple's but good enough to get a trade-in allowance from AT&T. Three weeks later, the vendor sends me a postcard offering $20 for a 5 star review. All I had to do was send proof of the positive review to get an Amazon credit.



I recently bought some USB-C cables for my new iPhone for $12 and just got a postcard for a $15 gift card for a positive review. The listing was a bit misleading in that they were not selling actual Apple cables, you had to read the fine print, but they were good enough, so I added my review.



I guess most reviews for off brand Chinese goods are fake or bought. Time to install that FakeSpot plugin or better yet, not buy knock off cr*p.

If I received an offer like this I'd go out of my way to find Amazon's reporting mechanism. I hate to see cheats prosper.

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[1990C4S]

I know a person who received a free mattress in return for a five-star review. His friend's wife worked for the seller.

I think paying for reviews is extremely common, but the gift is typically smaller.

[wilnj]

Originally Posted by RobFrost

If I received an offer like this I'd go out of my way to find Amazon's reporting mechanism. I hate to see cheats prosper.

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I don’t remember where but I was recently shopping for something online and it tagged reviews where the reviewer was reimbursed for their positive review. I ignored those.

[Zeke]

Originally Posted by stevej37

I must be buying the wrong things on Amazon...never had an offer like that.

The Prime truck is here almost every day.

e neither and I buy all my supplies on A.

Originally Posted by RobFrost

Only thing I do with reviews is click directly on the one star and read those. You get to learn quickly what the defects are and bypass all the deception.

I read the 3-star reviews which are supposed to be "OK." Usually they are objective about positives and negatives. Too many one star reviews are not even relevant.

Originally Posted by RobFrost

If I received an offer like this I'd go out of my way to find Amazon's reporting mechanism. I hate to see cheats prosper.

That's why I never read 5-star reviews. It's really bad on Yelp where the business can wipe out negatives and be 100% positive for about $500/mo in fees. I know a painter that does this.

[WPOZZZ]

I get tons of free stuff from Amazon through their Vine program. I can choose whatever I want to review, and can keep or do whatever I want with the product. Most of these are items from new vendors trying to get their foot in the door with Amazon.

[Deschodt]

A few times, I posted a justifiably scathing review on some chinese crap I bought on amazon. Each time I got an offer from the vendor to keep the product and refund me if I took the review down ("but take it down first, LOL)... I never did, got more satisfaction from outing their crap.

[Steve Carlton]

I gave this thread 5 stars. What do I get?

[rwest]

Originally Posted by Steve Carlton

I gave this thread 5 stars. What do I get?

A full refund of your monthly forum subscription cost.

[Steve Carlton]

"So, I got that going for me, which is nice."