Are fake/biased reviews a big problem for you when buying from Amazon?

[LongHaul]

Poll on how much of an issue fake/biased reviews are on Amazon.

[rkbabang]

I buy a lot on Amazon and usually find the reviews helpful.  You kind of have to filter them a bit though.  For good reviews you can sometimes tell they have only used the product for a short amount of time and probably don't have much experience with it yet.  I always take those "VINE" payed reviews with a grain of salt as well.  For negative reviews I ignore the reviews that sound like the person writing the review is an idiot and bought the wrong product or couldn't figure out how to use it.  I also ignore the "I got it and it was broken" or "There was an important part missing" type reviews because if that happens to me Amazon makes returns fairly easy.  And you can sometimes tell the reviewer doesn't like the product and has all kinds of nasty things to say about it but hasn't purchased it or used it. This happens with books a lot, where someone disagrees politically with an author and will write a trashy review on a book without reading it.

 

For a product that has a small number of reviews you probably need to be cautious about taking them as gospel, but for products with a large number of reviews you can usually get a feel for what the average person's experience with it is.

 

What was your experience which prompted this poll?  This?

[Travis Wiedower]

rkbabang makes a lot of good points. Also good to only look at reviews from verified purchasers so you at least know for sure they bought the product. Of course they can still be extremely biased in either direction and/or just stupid.

[zarley]

Usually I look for a meaningful number of reviews and then scan the best rated reviews (rated most helpful) for consistent themes (good and bad) or areas of specific interest to me.  I'll often look at the 2's and 4's for the good and bad of the item.  I find 1's and 5's can be irrational and unhelpful.  A 2 is someone who isn't just blindly rating 1 because something made them angry or sad; there are usually one or two specific things that are negative about the item that makes it not work for them.  Similarly, 4's are very positive reviews, but will usually highlight one or two areas where it might fall just short, which is useful.  After reading a handful of 2 and 4 ratings something like a consensus starts to emerge about the general strengths and weaknesses of the item.  If the weaknesses are related to my particular need, then I need to think about it more, or consider other items.

[Jurgis]

What was your experience which prompted this poll?  This?

 

Perhaps http://www.amazon.com/Tuscan-Whole-Milk-Gallon-128/dp/B00032G1S0 or this http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001SNVXYA/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_dp_ss_3?pf_rd_p=1944687562&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=B00032G1S0&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=0TDC96EFZAK69FX9QQ58

[Guest longinvestor]

This beats blatantly false advertising, sales folks trying sell you in b&m stores etc. I'm one to buy when I need to versus being sold to. Amazon's review system works fine for me. The hit rate for things bot after review reading is rather high.

[rkbabang]

What was your experience which prompted this poll?  This?

 

Perhaps http://www.amazon.com/Tuscan-Whole-Milk-Gallon-128/dp/B00032G1S0 or this http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001SNVXYA/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_dp_ss_3?pf_rd_p=1944687562&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=B00032G1S0&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=0TDC96EFZAK69FX9QQ58

 

Thanks, I've seen the milk one, but I never saw the toilet seat ebook before.  These are good as well:

 

Accoutrements Yodelling Pickle

The Mountain Three Wolf Moon Short Sleeve Tee

Uranium Ore

Sharp, Provolone Piccante Cheese (Whole Wheel) Approximately 60 Lbs

 

[rkbabang]

Oops, how could I forget the world famous Hutzler 571 Banana Slicer.

[DCG]

Fake reviews are definitely a big problem on Amazon. It's usually not hard to tell which reviews are fake, but it adds time onto the shopping process trying to decipher through fake reviews.

[augustabound]

Off topic but has anyone bought used books from Amazon?

I'm just curious since the prices are fairly low and shipping too.

 

I'm seeing books for a few dollars with reasonable shipping and the seller satisfaction are all around 90-95%. But there we go back to relying on the reviews.

[Jurgis]

Off topic but has anyone bought used books from Amazon?

I'm just curious since the prices are fairly low and shipping too.

 

I'm seeing books for a few dollars with reasonable shipping and the seller satisfaction are all around 90-95%. But there we go back to relying on the reviews.

 

Yes, I buy them all the time. Positive experience overall.

 

You can always complain and get your money back.

My only issues were couple books that were pre-publication reviewer copies. I got the money back and kept the book(s).

 

This is USA though, can't speak for Canada/Europe.

 

Edit: try to pick highest quality ("Used Like New" or whatever it is called) and highest seller star rating while keeping the low(est) price. If you go down the quality level, you may get highlights in the text, etc.

[rkbabang]

Off topic but has anyone bought used books from Amazon?

I'm just curious since the prices are fairly low and shipping too.

 

I'm seeing books for a few dollars with reasonable shipping and the seller satisfaction are all around 90-95%. But there we go back to relying on the reviews.

 

I've never bought used books on Amazon, but I've had good luck buying used books on half.com (owned by ebay)  You usually pay very little for the book and about $3 shipping.  It uses the ebay rating system so the seller can rate the buyer and the buyer can rate the seller, if you have an ebay account you can buy/sell there.

 

[augustabound]

Awesome. Thanks to both of you.

[cobafdek]

Yes, I buy them all the time. Positive experience overall.

 

Edit: try to pick highest quality ("Used Like New" or whatever it is called) and highest seller star rating while keeping the low(est) price. If you go down the quality level, you may get highlights in the text, etc.

 

Ditto for me.  I've received books as low as "Used-Very Good" that I would have called "Like New."

 

More off-topic stuff:  ordered 3 books for delivery to my nephew in Maryland for his birthday, priced about $50 total.  A week later it still hadn't shipped.  Sent an e-mail to Customer Service, who put an immediate 1-Day delivery on it, no extra charge, and gave me a $5 credit.  In their rush, it appears they got something wrong on the address label, so when the US Postal Service got it to my nephew's doorstep, USPS had to take it back to their distribution center.  I had to e-mail Amazon Customer Service again.  Profuse apologies from them, gave me an additional $10 credit, and they cancelled my first order and re-issued a replacement order, which finally arrived (about 2 weeks late).  Meanwhile, I had contacted USPS via e-mail, they traced the first package and ended up delivering it before the replacement from Amazon.  And Amazon told us to keep the extra copies and the $15 credit for future orders.

 

My anecdote confirming Amazon striving to be the most customer-centric company on the planet.