4 ms·

Maybe companies should be required to version prouducts a bit more carefully. As I understand it, it's possible to continue selling under the same product even

Maybe companies should be required to version prouducts a bit more carefully. As I understand it, it's possible to continue selling under the same product even after making changes to manufacturing techniques or materials. If you get a bunch of good reviews because you're using high quality materials, you can't just start selling a cheaper version under the same listing. I'm not sure how frequently this actually happens, but I've heard it claimed that it does happen.

dredmorbius 3y ago
Wiping all review history for any product edit change might be one way to approach this.
- djtango 3y ago
  Having worked in ecommerce that's incredibly hardcore even though I appreciate the sentiment. That will probably also disincentivise users from leaving reviews because users will see their reviews disappear. And actually what's to stop people changing a listing if they're not happy with the current set of reviews? Some kind of slick UI to highlight differences from current listing to previous listing for a review might be a solid scalable compromise
  - dredmorbius 3y ago
    The "disappearing reviews" issue might be mitigated by versioning the product entry, and preserving the old reviews for the old version of the listing.
- plagiarist 3y ago
  What about showing a thumbnail next to the review of how the product looked for the purchaser submitting a review? Break out averages per version. Show a diff between the total and the latest version. > Overall 4.7 stars: > [Photo of sock] 4.9 stars from 17,000 reviews "very comfy!" > [Photo of expensive electronics] 1.3 stars from 13 reviews "this garbage lit itself on fire."
  - dredmorbius 3y ago
    That would apply for gross substitutions, but not for subtle product enshittification. Say, Pyrex's gradual substitution of less-durable materials in its baking and cooking glassware. That won't appear in a simple photo.

dredmorbius 3y ago

Wiping all review history for any product edit change might be one way to approach this.

djtango 3y ago
Having worked in ecommerce that's incredibly hardcore even though I appreciate the sentiment. That will probably also disincentivise users from leaving reviews because users will see their reviews disappear. And actually what's to stop people changing a listing if they're not happy with the current set of reviews? Some kind of slick UI to highlight differences from current listing to previous listing for a review might be a solid scalable compromise
- dredmorbius 3y ago
  The "disappearing reviews" issue might be mitigated by versioning the product entry, and preserving the old reviews for the old version of the listing.
plagiarist 3y ago
What about showing a thumbnail next to the review of how the product looked for the purchaser submitting a review? Break out averages per version. Show a diff between the total and the latest version. > Overall 4.7 stars: > [Photo of sock] 4.9 stars from 17,000 reviews "very comfy!" > [Photo of expensive electronics] 1.3 stars from 13 reviews "this garbage lit itself on fire."
- dredmorbius 3y ago
  That would apply for gross substitutions, but not for subtle product enshittification. Say, Pyrex's gradual substitution of less-durable materials in its baking and cooking glassware. That won't appear in a simple photo.