Graftazon

Her Amazon Purchases Are Real. The Reviews Are Fake.

Third-party sellers know what it takes to make it on Amazon: Get good reviews and a high search ranking. But attracting genuine customers is tough, so some sellers use a reliable cheat — bribes. Because of Amazon’s vast scale, inscrutable algorithms, and capricious enforcement of its own rules, unscrupulous sellers and paid shills largely get away with it.

Amazon has banned giving away free products in exchange for reviews, so Jessica requested anonymity out of fear that the company would suspend her account.

Sellers reach out to Jessica through targeted Facebook ads touting free items or dedicated review groups with thousands of members, and give her a specific set of instructions to purchase their products on Amazon. After she leaves a 5-star review, the sellers reimburse her via PayPal or an Amazon gift card, and let her keep the items she reviews.

Boldface emphasis added by me.

“dedicated review groups with thousands of members” — organized fraud!

Also:

But sometimes the products are worse, and Jessica still rates them 5 stars. “I haven’t found a thermometer by doing this that works correctly — they all give me different readings,” she said. Jessica is afraid to use the electronic appliances she receives, which often come with incomprehensible instructions written in both English and Chinese. She took photos of one product, a foot spa, without adding water or plugging it in.

Boldface emphasis added by me.

We’re entering the gift-buying season in America.

My advice:

1) Buy from a trusted brick-and-mortar local retailer. They don’t stock counterfeits. You can see items in person and touch, try, and even smell them (which I do). Most importantly, a local retailer’s longevity is based on satisfying customers — not having so many customers that they can afford to alienate thousands out of tens of millions. (That doesn’t apply only to Amazon. See Apple’s butterfly keyboard debacle!)

2) Read reviews on Amazon starting with the lowest ratings. Those are often the truthful ones. People who spent their own money yell the loudest when cheated or disappointed.

3) Don’t believe any YouTube reviews. There are very few trustworthy reviewers, especially in the Alt-Wheels space. A good tell is that the “reviewer” doesn’t answer questions in Comments — because they’re already busy with their next freebie to fraudulently hype. (If you’re influenced by Instagram, why the hell are you even at this blog? You’re too far gone to help.)

And this periodic reminder: This blog is graft-free. See all of my prior posts about this, below.

Previously here:

A Reminder: This Blog Is Graft-Free
More Tech Press Corruption Unveiled
More Corruption In The Electric Skateboard World
I Must Repeat: This Blog Is CORRUPTION-FREE!
Hey, Kids! Tech Press Corruption Is Back!
The Rubes Of Corruption
Fake Trust Is The Future Bitcoin
Hmmm… What’s That Odor? MORE Fraud!

Previously at Mike Cane’s xBlog:

Reading Chinese Tech News Sites
I Love The Smell Of Chinese Revisionism In The Morning
Discerning Advertorialism In Chinese Tech Sites
Examples Of Advertorial Graft At Chinese Tech Sites

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