6 ms·

One example I can remember from 10+ years ago was newegg. I don't recall ever really feeling like I got "duped" based on the many online reviews there. I think

One example I can remember from 10+ years ago was newegg. I don't recall ever really feeling like I got "duped" based on the many online reviews there. I think that sentiment was pretty well revered and not just my personal opinions of it. Everything was pretty well spot on from my experiences. That said, I have no idea how that would fair these days. I'll even go so far as to say back when Amazon was getting started their reviews were a lot more reliable as well.

tw04 5y ago
I think you mean duped?
- mkhpalm 5y ago
  Ah yeah... typo I guess
TedDoesntTalk 5y ago
Ebay seller reviews have been fraudulent for 20 years or more (not ALL reviews, of course). And i think you are talking about the times before NewEgg had 3rd party sellers.
- smashed 5y ago
  A++++++
- foota 5y ago
  Honestly, I think 3rd party sellers are half the problem. Eliminating them won't fix everything though, since there are sites where the 1st party itself is dishonest (e.g., yelp), but if you trust the site and it is all 1st party then you're in a good state for reviews, since there's little incentive for anyone to fake them.
  - kube-system 5y ago
    Manufacturers or importers/distributors would still have incentive to fake them.
    - lotsofpulp 5y ago
      There would be far fewer of them, and the consequences may not be worth it. That is why trust in a Target or Costco vetted vendor is higher than a small time seller named “eBizValue”.
  - DavidPeiffer 5y ago
    >Honestly, I think 3rd party sellers are half the problem. Totally agree. Right now there's a spread from anyone can review anything (yelp, Google reviews) to purchase required to review. What if only 1 out of 20 purchases, selected randomly, were allowed to place a review? Single person review shops become easier to spot - they are suddenly ordering way more than typical. Returns might skyrocket, which is expensive for everyone involved, however there's now another signal available to spot odd patterns of behavior. Inclusion of a restocking fee, which is obviously not popular with consumers, is another option which would help make it more expensive to fake reviews.
hodgesrm 5y ago
Newegg reviews were pretty good--they steered me away from a lot of noisy gear when building servers. That kind of feedback does not exist in the specs.
makeitdouble 5y ago
It should be pointed out that current fake review issues are not just on fraudulent products. For instance Aukey has been caught by Amazon, but in my experience their products were pretty good, and they probably played the fake review game mainly due to everyone else playing it, and it became an arms race.
- qaq 5y ago
  The cynical take Aukey was taken out because they had good products and good reputation in a high margin category that Amazon wanted for their house brand to play a bigger role in.
  - jonathankoren 5y ago
    I would have called this conspiracy territory, but then it broke that Amazon was doing exactly that in India. https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/amazon-india-operation/ https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/amazon-i...
    - blfr 5y ago
      I would have called this conspiracy territory It is a conspiracy theory. Some of them are just true.
      - jonathankoren 5y ago
        Touché
    - KajMagnus 5y ago
      Does this indicate that by not fixing the fake reviews problem, Amazon can, whenever it wants, get rid of a troublesome competitor? (since the competitors are sort of forced to use fake reviews)
      - makeitdouble 5y ago

tw04 5y ago

I think you mean duped?

mkhpalm 5y ago
Ah yeah... typo I guess

TedDoesntTalk 5y ago

Ebay seller reviews have been fraudulent for 20 years or more (not ALL reviews, of course). And i think you are talking about the times before NewEgg had 3rd party sellers.

smashed 5y ago
A++++++
foota 5y ago
Honestly, I think 3rd party sellers are half the problem. Eliminating them won't fix everything though, since there are sites where the 1st party itself is dishonest (e.g., yelp), but if you trust the site and it is all 1st party then you're in a good state for reviews, since there's little incentive for anyone to fake them.
- kube-system 5y ago
  Manufacturers or importers/distributors would still have incentive to fake them.
  - lotsofpulp 5y ago
    There would be far fewer of them, and the consequences may not be worth it. That is why trust in a Target or Costco vetted vendor is higher than a small time seller named “eBizValue”.
- DavidPeiffer 5y ago
  >Honestly, I think 3rd party sellers are half the problem. Totally agree. Right now there's a spread from anyone can review anything (yelp, Google reviews) to purchase required to review. What if only 1 out of 20 purchases, selected randomly, were allowed to place a review? Single person review shops become easier to spot - they are suddenly ordering way more than typical. Returns might skyrocket, which is expensive for everyone involved, however there's now another signal available to spot odd patterns of behavior. Inclusion of a restocking fee, which is obviously not popular with consumers, is another option which would help make it more expensive to fake reviews.

hodgesrm 5y ago

Newegg reviews were pretty good--they steered me away from a lot of noisy gear when building servers. That kind of feedback does not exist in the specs.

makeitdouble 5y ago

It should be pointed out that current fake review issues are not just on fraudulent products. For instance Aukey has been caught by Amazon, but in my experience their products were pretty good, and they probably played the fake review game mainly due to everyone else playing it, and it became an arms race.

qaq 5y ago
The cynical take Aukey was taken out because they had good products and good reputation in a high margin category that Amazon wanted for their house brand to play a bigger role in.
- jonathankoren 5y ago
  I would have called this conspiracy territory, but then it broke that Amazon was doing exactly that in India. https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/amazon-india-operation/ https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/amazon-i...
  - blfr 5y ago
    I would have called this conspiracy territory It is a conspiracy theory. Some of them are just true.
    - jonathankoren 5y ago
      Touché
  - KajMagnus 5y ago
    Does this indicate that by not fixing the fake reviews problem, Amazon can, whenever it wants, get rid of a troublesome competitor? (since the competitors are sort of forced to use fake reviews)
    - makeitdouble 5y ago