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This topic comes up quite frequently on HN. It boils down to the risk-reward ratio. If you've never tried to sell anything on Amazon it's probably not obvious

This topic comes up quite frequently on HN. It boils down to the risk-reward ratio. If you've never tried to sell anything on Amazon it's probably not obvious how ridiculously important positive reviews are to your product sales. I cannot overstate how important they are in the beginning, given the way your average online shopper decides what to buy. What this means is that sellers are faced with an absolute imperative to get positive reviews at any cost, otherwise they die, while the flip side is that if they get caught manipulating reviews they maybe get de-listed and start over again. This imbalance leads to exactly what you see now, and it at least seems like as long as positive reviews are so important (in the absence of curation) this will be an arms race.

nickthemagicman 6y ago
I agree with you and it makes sense. As a noob to this, have you happened to have read up on any legit alternatives to the review treadmill?
- mdorazio 6y ago
  From which side? The obvious alternative for consumers is to go back to curation, which is what brick and mortar retailers have done since forever. Costco, for example, has a giant team of people that test, verify, and give approval on the few products that go on shelves so that shoppers know they are getting something legitimate and of reasonable quality. On the marketplace seller side I haven't come across anything that really strikes me as a better alternative. Review culture is pretty ingrained at this point.
AniseAbyss 6y ago
Amazon feels to me just a place that continues to exist because of its name recognition. Most of the stuff doesn't even come from Amazon's own warehouses anymore.
- sokoloff 6y ago
  I’d be surprised if less than 75% of gross merchandise sales don’t come from Amazon FCs. I’d be incredibly surprised if it was less than 60%.
  - TAForObvReasons 6y ago
    I found out recently that there are actually a few levels of "Amazon Prime" sales! The "Shipped and sold by Amazon" is what we normally expect, but there's also "Fulfilled by Amazon" and a third tier that's effectively "Prime Shipping" but is treated as a third-party seller. That third tier is particularly deceptive because the sidebar display doesn't distinguish between the second and third case but the return policies are very different.
    - sokoloff 6y ago
      That third category is “Seller Fulfilled Prime (SFP)”. If my orders from Amazon are in any way representative, SFP is well under 10% of volume (probably under 5%). I get way more non-Prime orders than SFP.
- foresto 6y ago
  I suspect many people buy from Amazon because they can't find what they want anywhere else, or don't want to be stuck with shipping and restocking fees if something is wrong with it, or both. Sadly, there aren't many vendors with a wide selection and a hassle-free return policy. On Amazon, even third-party sellers often have a return policy that matches Amazon's.

nickthemagicman 6y ago

I agree with you and it makes sense. As a noob to this, have you happened to have read up on any legit alternatives to the review treadmill?

mdorazio 6y ago
From which side? The obvious alternative for consumers is to go back to curation, which is what brick and mortar retailers have done since forever. Costco, for example, has a giant team of people that test, verify, and give approval on the few products that go on shelves so that shoppers know they are getting something legitimate and of reasonable quality. On the marketplace seller side I haven't come across anything that really strikes me as a better alternative. Review culture is pretty ingrained at this point.

AniseAbyss 6y ago

Amazon feels to me just a place that continues to exist because of its name recognition. Most of the stuff doesn't even come from Amazon's own warehouses anymore.

sokoloff 6y ago
I’d be surprised if less than 75% of gross merchandise sales don’t come from Amazon FCs. I’d be incredibly surprised if it was less than 60%.
- TAForObvReasons 6y ago
  I found out recently that there are actually a few levels of "Amazon Prime" sales! The "Shipped and sold by Amazon" is what we normally expect, but there's also "Fulfilled by Amazon" and a third tier that's effectively "Prime Shipping" but is treated as a third-party seller. That third tier is particularly deceptive because the sidebar display doesn't distinguish between the second and third case but the return policies are very different.
  - sokoloff 6y ago
    That third category is “Seller Fulfilled Prime (SFP)”. If my orders from Amazon are in any way representative, SFP is well under 10% of volume (probably under 5%). I get way more non-Prime orders than SFP.
foresto 6y ago
I suspect many people buy from Amazon because they can't find what they want anywhere else, or don't want to be stuck with shipping and restocking fees if something is wrong with it, or both. Sadly, there aren't many vendors with a wide selection and a hassle-free return policy. On Amazon, even third-party sellers often have a return policy that matches Amazon's.