4 ms·

I have zero faith in rating systems. Absolutely useless 98% of the time. The only time they work is if there are thousands upon thousands of negative reviews wi

I have zero faith in rating systems. Absolutely useless 98% of the time. The only time they work is if there are thousands upon thousands of negative reviews with hardly any positives.

rbanffy 10y ago
Money is absolutely useless by itself. It's our collective agreement that it has value that gives it value.
- nhaehnle 10y ago
  That's not quite true. Money has value because a lot of the demand for it is enforced by law (taxes and repayment of debts). Those act as a real anchor for its value beyond collective agreement.
  - Natanael_L 10y ago
    ... Because it is on average more convenient to follow the law than break it.
  - saint_fiasco 10y ago
    Laws and debts are collective agreements too.
qq66 10y ago
I have not had a single bad experience with buying from eBay sellers with >99.8% feedback, but multiple bad experiences buying unusual items from <99% sellers that I couldn't find with better sellers. It's worked well for me.
- rorykoehler 10y ago
  Generally on ebay I assume you are buying a mass produced product. If you receive it in time and it's not broken then you're happy? How about more subjective things like Yelp reviews? Edit: I don't buy on ebay however rating brigading has made reviews/ratings on amazon practically useless for products I've never used before.
  - qq66 10y ago
    Generally, I'm buying old camera equipment (25-60 years old). The condition of these items varies widely. The 99.8% sellers take every trouble to find every scratch / fleck of dust / etc. and photograph/document it. The <99% sellers take photos in more flattering light and don't mention things that wouldn't be grounds for a dispute. I only buy from a <99% seller if the item can't be found elsewhere. For Yelp, I've found that a 4+ star restaurant with >100 reviews is almost always good, although I wouldn't say that I can detect a difference between 4-star and 5-star places.
- rorykoehler 10y ago
  Generally on ebay I assume you are buying a mass produced product. If you receive it in time and it's not broken then you're happy? How about more subjective things like Yelp reviews?
stinos 10y ago
Like here, on comments on HN?

I have zero faith in rating systems. Absolutely useless 98% of the time. The only time they work is if there are thousands upon thousands of negative reviews with hardly any positives.

rbanffy 10y ago

Money is absolutely useless by itself. It's our collective agreement that it has value that gives it value.

nhaehnle 10y ago
That's not quite true. Money has value because a lot of the demand for it is enforced by law (taxes and repayment of debts). Those act as a real anchor for its value beyond collective agreement.
- Natanael_L 10y ago
  ... Because it is on average more convenient to follow the law than break it.
- saint_fiasco 10y ago
  Laws and debts are collective agreements too.

qq66 10y ago

I have not had a single bad experience with buying from eBay sellers with >99.8% feedback, but multiple bad experiences buying unusual items from <99% sellers that I couldn't find with better sellers. It's worked well for me.

rorykoehler 10y ago
Generally on ebay I assume you are buying a mass produced product. If you receive it in time and it's not broken then you're happy? How about more subjective things like Yelp reviews? Edit: I don't buy on ebay however rating brigading has made reviews/ratings on amazon practically useless for products I've never used before.
- qq66 10y ago
  Generally, I'm buying old camera equipment (25-60 years old). The condition of these items varies widely. The 99.8% sellers take every trouble to find every scratch / fleck of dust / etc. and photograph/document it. The <99% sellers take photos in more flattering light and don't mention things that wouldn't be grounds for a dispute. I only buy from a <99% seller if the item can't be found elsewhere. For Yelp, I've found that a 4+ star restaurant with >100 reviews is almost always good, although I wouldn't say that I can detect a difference between 4-star and 5-star places.
rorykoehler 10y ago
Generally on ebay I assume you are buying a mass produced product. If you receive it in time and it's not broken then you're happy? How about more subjective things like Yelp reviews?

stinos 10y ago

Like here, on comments on HN?