How reliable are Amazon gear reviews?

5 years 9 months ago #593172 by C.C.
Some of these reviews just seem overboard.  Are these vetted at all?

Or anyone able to leave one?


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5 years 9 months ago #593181 by garyrhook
I don't look at reviews on Amazon for the content of a single one, I look for a trend. I read the 1 and 2 star reviews to find out what people complain about. If there are enough positive reviews, then I think you can be confident that they are legitimate.

The biggest problem with reviews is people leaving one with no actual experience with the product. But I don't see that happening much.

That said, I wouldn't be using only Amazon to find out what people think about gear. There are lots of resources for information. Go find and read.


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5 years 9 months ago #593405 by jeffnles1
I tend to ignore most 5 star reviews and most 1 star reviews.  1 stars typically read like trolls or people with unique bad experience with a specific vendor and taking it out on the product.  Many 5 star reviews read like someone from the PR department of the manufacturer wrote them.  

I find most use out of 3 star reviews.  Most of them are talking about a problem with the product but the person writing it is usually more level headed than the 1 star trolls.

Just my personal point of view.

Jeff


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5 years 9 months ago #593407 by Troponin
I have an add on for Firefox that can determine if the reviews are fabricated or not. Apparently in most reviews that are fake, they use certain words and phrases etc. 

After determining they are most likely real, I find myself reading a few of the really low ratings, however, I usually take them with a grain of salt until I see an obvious pattern. 


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5 years 8 months ago #595408 by Jared-Weaver
I can tell you from experience that if it's a name brand product with a hefty pricetag, the reviews are probably legit. Where you run into problems is with weird off brand accessories that come straight from China. Most of those reviews are done by folks signed up as product testers through rebate websites. If you give enough good reviews, they boost your level and you can test more stuff. If you give negative feedback though, you can be terminated as a product tester. So most folks will give a glowing review of a bad product.


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