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This was the first question that occurred to me. Just a couple of days ago I needed to buy another iphone USB-lightning cable. If you want to get a sense of ju

This was the first question that occurred to me. Just a couple of days ago I needed to buy another iphone USB-lightning cable. If you want to get a sense of just how broken Amazon reviews are, try searching for one of these. It's a nightmare minefield of 4.7+ rated products that have these highly dubious 5 star ratings, but with a telltale sizeable chunk of recent 1 star reviews.[1] So I ended up having to also check various meta-review sites or other product review sites just to to buy a stupid cable. For certain product categories, reviews have become mostly noise. [1] I tend to discount really effusive, highly detailed 5 star reviews for basically mundane products. "This ethernet cable was both highly attractive and yet lighter than others I've bought in the past. I plugged it in and it immediately started working! I was amazed!"

0xffff2 6y ago
Positive reviews are noise for me on any product. For products I don't care enough about to do independent research, I evaluate them exclusively by reading 1 and 2 star reviews, ignoring the additional noise of "the product didn't ship on time" type reviews, and deciding if the specific complaints made in the rest are things I care about.
- TT3351 6y ago
  Are you open to the possibility of competing brands bombarding decent products with negative reviews? FWIW, almost every [negative, because I'm trying to warn others about wasting money] Amazon review I leave is removed for arbitrary reasons set out by Amazon. They seem uninterested in contributions like "this mouse was $30 not 6 months ago, and the current $90 price tag is unconscionable. [LG G602 mouse]" The few times I've complained about shipping problems (as you suggest you've seen) they also removed those.
  - Cd00d 6y ago
    Well, you're not actually reviewing the product. Sure, I wouldn't mind a time series of the price history of an item esp in cases with large jumps. But, generally the point of reviews is to tell me about the product. I can do my own evaluation of what I am willing to pay.
    - TT3351 6y ago
      Hijacked product pages and price swings are two of Amazon Shopping's biggest vulnerabilities from my view. Do you know of a price history website/app like you're describing? Sounds like a very good idea.
      - SifJar 6y ago
        camelcamelcamel [0] tracks price history for Amazon listings [0] https://camelcamelcamel.com/ https://camelcamelcamel.com/
  - sokoloff 6y ago
    If I’m reading your review of a mouse, I want to know how well the mouse worked. If I want to know the price history, I’ll go to camelcamelcamel. You telling me the mouse was cheaper before doesn’t help me decide which mouse to buy today.
  - _tom_ 6y ago
    Amazon is correctly removing your reviews, because neither of your examples are things that belong in product reviews. Do not leave price related reviews. The prices change daily. You may leave a bad review because you think the price is too high. Tomorrow the mouse may cost $10, but your one star review is still there ten years later. Shipping problems do not belong in product reviews. The listing is for a PRODUCT, shared by any number of amazon sellers. Amazon provides seller reviews to comment on seller's shipping problems. (If you are leaving these as seller reviews, then I apologize for assuming, and you are correct)
gallamine 6y ago
I've taken to running all my amazon purchases through fakespot dot com first. It's highly discouraging.
- toomuchtodo 6y ago
  They have a chrome extension FYI that shows their data/status on a product page on Amazon.
- OJFord 6y ago
  > Amazon automatically provides you with the cheapest version of the product you’re looking at, Nice; thanks, Amazon. > even if it’s potentially fake. Yikes! Hope I don't get one of those! > Most of the time you cannot even return these items! That's just rubbish though, Amazon returns are so easy, if the price is only marginally lower elsewhere I'll order from Amazon just because - if necessary - returning is easy, third party or not. I'm not sure if I get the point of it, if I can't tell if the product's a 'fake', aren't I happy? If I can (and I'm not happy with it anyway) I'll just send it back?

0xffff2 6y ago

Positive reviews are noise for me on any product. For products I don't care enough about to do independent research, I evaluate them exclusively by reading 1 and 2 star reviews, ignoring the additional noise of "the product didn't ship on time" type reviews, and deciding if the specific complaints made in the rest are things I care about.

TT3351 6y ago
Are you open to the possibility of competing brands bombarding decent products with negative reviews? FWIW, almost every [negative, because I'm trying to warn others about wasting money] Amazon review I leave is removed for arbitrary reasons set out by Amazon. They seem uninterested in contributions like "this mouse was $30 not 6 months ago, and the current $90 price tag is unconscionable. [LG G602 mouse]" The few times I've complained about shipping problems (as you suggest you've seen) they also removed those.
- Cd00d 6y ago
  Well, you're not actually reviewing the product. Sure, I wouldn't mind a time series of the price history of an item esp in cases with large jumps. But, generally the point of reviews is to tell me about the product. I can do my own evaluation of what I am willing to pay.
  - TT3351 6y ago
    Hijacked product pages and price swings are two of Amazon Shopping's biggest vulnerabilities from my view. Do you know of a price history website/app like you're describing? Sounds like a very good idea.
    - SifJar 6y ago
      camelcamelcamel [0] tracks price history for Amazon listings [0] https://camelcamelcamel.com/ https://camelcamelcamel.com/
- sokoloff 6y ago
  If I’m reading your review of a mouse, I want to know how well the mouse worked. If I want to know the price history, I’ll go to camelcamelcamel. You telling me the mouse was cheaper before doesn’t help me decide which mouse to buy today.
- _tom_ 6y ago
  Amazon is correctly removing your reviews, because neither of your examples are things that belong in product reviews. Do not leave price related reviews. The prices change daily. You may leave a bad review because you think the price is too high. Tomorrow the mouse may cost $10, but your one star review is still there ten years later. Shipping problems do not belong in product reviews. The listing is for a PRODUCT, shared by any number of amazon sellers. Amazon provides seller reviews to comment on seller's shipping problems. (If you are leaving these as seller reviews, then I apologize for assuming, and you are correct)

gallamine 6y ago

I've taken to running all my amazon purchases through fakespot dot com first. It's highly discouraging.

toomuchtodo 6y ago
They have a chrome extension FYI that shows their data/status on a product page on Amazon.
OJFord 6y ago
> Amazon automatically provides you with the cheapest version of the product you’re looking at, Nice; thanks, Amazon. > even if it’s potentially fake. Yikes! Hope I don't get one of those! > Most of the time you cannot even return these items! That's just rubbish though, Amazon returns are so easy, if the price is only marginally lower elsewhere I'll order from Amazon just because - if necessary - returning is easy, third party or not. I'm not sure if I get the point of it, if I can't tell if the product's a 'fake', aren't I happy? If I can (and I'm not happy with it anyway) I'll just send it back?