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Last year I bought a set of cheap Bluetooth headphones on Amazon which I use on a daily basis. It's obvious they have an affiliate program because I often seem

Last year I bought a set of cheap Bluetooth headphones on Amazon which I use on a daily basis. It's obvious they have an affiliate program because I often seem on those daily deal roundup posts that a lot of tech blogs now have. Recently, I've been getting emails from the vendors asking me to leave a review in return for a free product. Here is a copy and paste of one: Dear Customer, Thank you for purchasing our (HEADPHONES). Are you satisfied with the Bluetooth headphones that you bought? If there is any question or concern regarding product quality, please don't hesitate to contact us first. If your (BRAND) experience has been everything you hoped it would be, share it with the world! Meanwhile, to express our sincere thanks for your kind support, we are more than happy to send you a (FREE PRODUCT) for free if you are willing to leave us a review since this would be very helpful for other customers who are also interested in this product. If you are interested in a (FREE PRODUCT), please get back to us with the screenshot of your review. Note: you can click the link below directly to leave your positive review: (LINK TO AMAZON TO LEAVE REVIEW) Please rest assured that we’ll arrange (FREE PRODUCT) to you ASAP after we receive the screenshot of your review together with your shipping address. Any questions, please kindly let us know. Have a nice day!

dontbenebby 8y ago
>If you are interested in a (FREE PRODUCT), please get back to us with the screenshot of your review. >Note: you can click the link below directly to leave your positive review: (LINK TO AMAZON TO LEAVE REVIEW) >Please rest assured that we’ll arrange (FREE PRODUCT) to you ASAP after we receive the screenshot of your review together with your shipping address. It'd be interesting to see what they do if you left a neutral review. (Eg: "Three stars. Cheap build quality but decent for the price I guess"). I suspect they're trying to maintain the illusion they're not paying for positive reviews, just for reviews. If they're dumb enough to reply back over email that only positive reviews qualify, you could probably forward that to a regulator.
- uodtl 8y ago
  Can't you edit the review or just take it back once you've received (FREE PRODUCT)?
  - dontbenebby 8y ago
    I looked back at a review I wrote a little less than a month ago and I still have the option to edit it, so yeah I suppose you could.
  - haggy 8y ago
    It's a numbers game. Most people aren't going to go back and edit it. They'll leave their 5 star review and hold their hand out for FREE PRODUCT.
stone-monkey 8y ago
I just recently bought a pair of ANC Bluetooth headphones and received the same email. One interesting thing to note is that I received the email from an outlook address instead of an address affiliated with the company. It was already flagged as spam, though - I only found it by chance. They did offer a free pair of upgraded headphones instead of the same pair, which is a nice touch I suppose.
yeutterg 8y ago
Amazon seller here. It is against the terms of service to ask for positive reviews. It is also against TOS to offer a free product in exchange for a review. You can, however, ask customers for a review in a neutral way. For example, "Would you be open to leaving us a brief, honest product review?" That is how we ask it. Some companies, especially supplements companies, have a funnel that gives you a "second month free" in exchange for privately sharing product feedback and your email address with them. Here's how it works for one brand I purchased from recently: - You receive your first purchase - You go to a landing page and enter your name and order ID - They send you an email after 2 weeks asking for your private feedback of the product. - Once you provide this private feedback, they will send you the free product. - Before you leave the survey, they ask you if you are open to leaving a product review. They ask in a neutral way and are explicit that it is completely optional. This is to be clear that they are not giving you a product in exchange for a review—you already got your free product for sharing private feedback. You could argue that this is a gray area, for sure. But for small brands, reviews are incredibly important, and it helps to be able to market to past customers (which Amazon does not allow you to do through their system). Getting a 2nd month free can help build brand loyalty. Personally, I don't have a problem with this type of funnel, as long as it adheres completely to Amazon's TOS and doesn't annoy or deceive the customer. The customer has to feel right about writing the review, not like they were manipulated. It's very easy to get that wrong, and most sellers who try do get it wrong. Note that we do not have such a funnel set up for our product as of this writing. [Edited one sentence for clarity]

dontbenebby 8y ago

>If you are interested in a (FREE PRODUCT), please get back to us with the screenshot of your review. >Note: you can click the link below directly to leave your positive review: (LINK TO AMAZON TO LEAVE REVIEW) >Please rest assured that we’ll arrange (FREE PRODUCT) to you ASAP after we receive the screenshot of your review together with your shipping address. It'd be interesting to see what they do if you left a neutral review. (Eg: "Three stars. Cheap build quality but decent for the price I guess"). I suspect they're trying to maintain the illusion they're not paying for positive reviews, just for reviews. If they're dumb enough to reply back over email that only positive reviews qualify, you could probably forward that to a regulator.

uodtl 8y ago
Can't you edit the review or just take it back once you've received (FREE PRODUCT)?
- dontbenebby 8y ago
  I looked back at a review I wrote a little less than a month ago and I still have the option to edit it, so yeah I suppose you could.
- haggy 8y ago
  It's a numbers game. Most people aren't going to go back and edit it. They'll leave their 5 star review and hold their hand out for FREE PRODUCT.

stone-monkey 8y ago

I just recently bought a pair of ANC Bluetooth headphones and received the same email. One interesting thing to note is that I received the email from an outlook address instead of an address affiliated with the company. It was already flagged as spam, though - I only found it by chance. They did offer a free pair of upgraded headphones instead of the same pair, which is a nice touch I suppose.

yeutterg 8y ago

Amazon seller here. It is against the terms of service to ask for positive reviews. It is also against TOS to offer a free product in exchange for a review. You can, however, ask customers for a review in a neutral way. For example, "Would you be open to leaving us a brief, honest product review?" That is how we ask it. Some companies, especially supplements companies, have a funnel that gives you a "second month free" in exchange for privately sharing product feedback and your email address with them. Here's how it works for one brand I purchased from recently: - You receive your first purchase - You go to a landing page and enter your name and order ID - They send you an email after 2 weeks asking for your private feedback of the product. - Once you provide this private feedback, they will send you the free product. - Before you leave the survey, they ask you if you are open to leaving a product review. They ask in a neutral way and are explicit that it is completely optional. This is to be clear that they are not giving you a product in exchange for a review—you already got your free product for sharing private feedback. You could argue that this is a gray area, for sure. But for small brands, reviews are incredibly important, and it helps to be able to market to past customers (which Amazon does not allow you to do through their system). Getting a 2nd month free can help build brand loyalty. Personally, I don't have a problem with this type of funnel, as long as it adheres completely to Amazon's TOS and doesn't annoy or deceive the customer. The customer has to feel right about writing the review, not like they were manipulated. It's very easy to get that wrong, and most sellers who try do get it wrong. Note that we do not have such a funnel set up for our product as of this writing. [Edited one sentence for clarity]