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Amazon Merchants Continue to Find Ways to Cheat

posted by martyb on Saturday November 25 2017, @05:05PM   Printer-friendly
from the trying-to-sink-the-other-guy's-boat-so-yours-will-float dept.

An Anonymous Coward writes:

Amazon Merchants Continue to Find Ways to Cheat

Mike Molson Hart, who sells toys on Amazon.com Inc.'s marketplace, realized earlier this month something was amiss. His company's popular disc-shaped plastic building set, called Brain Flakes, had dropped precipitously in the ranks of Amazon's best-selling toys as the critical gift-giving season approached.

He visited the product page on Amazon.com and suspected he was the victim of "sniping," when one merchant sabotages another by hiring people to leave critical reviews of their goods and then voting those reviews as being helpful, making them the most prominent feedback seen by shoppers. Freelancers in China and Bangladesh willing to do this for $10 an hour are easily found online. Even though the toy has a 4.8 star rating out of 5 based on more than 1,100 reviews, shoppers first see a string of critical one-star reviews and many may get scared away.

Original Submission

 
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  • (Score: 2) by ledow on Saturday November 25 2017, @10:50PM (2 children)

    by ledow (5567) on Saturday November 25 2017, @10:50PM (#601533) Homepage

    Are you guys on a different planet to the rest of us?

    Almost every "real" review I see has the words "Verified Purchase" next to it.

    If it doesn't, you ignore it.

    I don't think that's a UK/EU-only thing, surely?

    And do you think competitors are buying competing products just to bad-review them?

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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday November 26 2017, @02:29AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday November 26 2017, @02:29AM (#601568)

    > Almost every "real" review I see has the words "Verified Purchase" next to it.

    http://www.wordstream.com/blog/ws/2014/04/10/amazon-reviews [wordstream.com]

    As always, fake reviews can be obtained if you’ve got the gut of a gambler. For falsified Amazon consumer reviews, you can check out…

            Fiverr. Fiverr is such a weird melting pot of shady bizarre offerings. The black market of internet advertising, you can find just about anything for cheap on Fiverr, including artificial Amazon reviews.

            BuyAmazonReviews.com. Yes, it is real – you can buy Amazon reviews. It is trustworthy? Ehh… user discretion is most certainly advised.

    Yes, you will get in trouble if you’re found out – heck, you might get your entire Amazon account suspended. But great risk, great reward, you know the drill, so it’s your call Saul.

  • (Score: 4, Insightful) by captain normal on Sunday November 26 2017, @06:09AM

    by captain normal (2205) on Sunday November 26 2017, @06:09AM (#601627)

    "And do you think competitors are buying competing products just to bad-review them?"
    Probably, yes...This is the foundation of "free enterprise" economics. Lie, cheat, steal, bribe, scam and shout loud...anything to get people to give you their money.

    --
    When life isn't going right, go left.