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I say: would it not be possible to restrict reviews to users having effectively paid for the reviewed item? I know this may make things difficult for recently-r

I say: would it not be possible to restrict reviews to users having effectively paid for the reviewed item? I know this may make things difficult for recently-released items but it would be a better option for consumers. What are the drawbacks (apart from much fewer reviews of newer items)?

stephenc_c_ 12y ago
You can see this right now, with some reviewers carrying a "Verified Purchase" badge next to their review.
- avn2109 12y ago
  And they've had that feature for years.
vmarsy 12y ago
I think Amazon already make these reviews show more, with a "verified purchase" shiny badge on the review (And probably shows up higher than non verified purchases)
dragonwriter 12y ago
> What are the drawbacks (apart from much fewer reviews of newer items)? Shill reviewers will then buy, review, and return the items, which will increase the retailer's cost of dealing with returns or and force them to either increase prices or institute more restrictive return policies that end up inconveniencing legitimate purchasers that have to do returns. EDIT: another problem is that it prevents legitimate reviews from people who, e.g., receive the item as a gift, which might not seem like a big problem, but some items may be more frequently purchased as gifts than for use by the purchaser.
- deleted 12y ago
  [deleted]
- vmarsy 12y ago
  you could prevent reviews of >3 stars to be posted if you return the item. As a legitimate purchaser, you would return the item only if you hate it :in that case your review is sincere, or if you don't need it that much: in that case don't leave a review. This wouldn't prevent shill reviewers to negatively review the concurrent items, but Amazon could easily identify an account that has a abnormally high return rate + negative reviews and forbid them to review. (I guess requiring reviewers a minimum spending before reviewing would avoid shill reviewers to create an account only for the purchase)
  - benologist 12y ago
    You can still buy your own stuff and then you're only losing amazon's share of the transaction.
jrs235 12y ago
That's not enough though. "The suit also alleges Gentile told the customer that the seller could “simply ship empty packages in an effort to fool Amazon into believing the reviewer was a ‘verified purchaser.’ ”"
tim333 12y ago
One problem from the article: >The suit also alleges Gentile told the customer that the seller could “simply ship empty packages in an effort to fool Amazon into believing the reviewer was a ‘verified purchaser.’ ”

stephenc_c_ 12y ago

You can see this right now, with some reviewers carrying a "Verified Purchase" badge next to their review.

avn2109 12y ago
And they've had that feature for years.

vmarsy 12y ago

I think Amazon already make these reviews show more, with a "verified purchase" shiny badge on the review (And probably shows up higher than non verified purchases)

dragonwriter 12y ago

> What are the drawbacks (apart from much fewer reviews of newer items)? Shill reviewers will then buy, review, and return the items, which will increase the retailer's cost of dealing with returns or and force them to either increase prices or institute more restrictive return policies that end up inconveniencing legitimate purchasers that have to do returns. EDIT: another problem is that it prevents legitimate reviews from people who, e.g., receive the item as a gift, which might not seem like a big problem, but some items may be more frequently purchased as gifts than for use by the purchaser.

deleted 12y ago
[deleted]
vmarsy 12y ago
you could prevent reviews of >3 stars to be posted if you return the item. As a legitimate purchaser, you would return the item only if you hate it :in that case your review is sincere, or if you don't need it that much: in that case don't leave a review. This wouldn't prevent shill reviewers to negatively review the concurrent items, but Amazon could easily identify an account that has a abnormally high return rate + negative reviews and forbid them to review. (I guess requiring reviewers a minimum spending before reviewing would avoid shill reviewers to create an account only for the purchase)
- benologist 12y ago
  You can still buy your own stuff and then you're only losing amazon's share of the transaction.

jrs235 12y ago

That's not enough though. "The suit also alleges Gentile told the customer that the seller could “simply ship empty packages in an effort to fool Amazon into believing the reviewer was a ‘verified purchaser.’ ”"

tim333 12y ago

One problem from the article: >The suit also alleges Gentile told the customer that the seller could “simply ship empty packages in an effort to fool Amazon into believing the reviewer was a ‘verified purchaser.’ ”