Amazon "honest and unbiased reviews"

I'm getting sick of seeing "I received this for free in exchange for my honest and unbiased review" on Amazon lately. They seem to have come out of nowhere all of a sudden. It went from one or two here and there, to almost every review on some products.

I rely heavily on reviews on Amazon before making a purchase. but I don't care how honest they say they are, these are the reviews I skip over. I can tell the majority of the time that their review is total BS. Shame on manufacturers/resellers pushing junk for 5-star reviews.

markr6 said:

I'm getting sick of seeing "I received this for free in exchange for my honest and unbiased review" on Amazon lately. They seem to have come out of nowhere all of a sudden. It went from one or two here and there, to almost every review on some products.

I rely heavily on reviews on Amazon before making a purchase. but I don't care how honest they say they are, these are the reviews I skip over. I can tell the majority of the time that their review is total BS. Shame on manufacturers/resellers pushing junk for 5-star reviews.

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+1

The solution may be to ignore all the positive reviews, concentrating on the neutral to negative evaluations......saves a lot of money and is usually more entertaining.

Lex Icon said:

The solution may be to ignore all the positive reviews, concentrating on the neutral to negative evaluations......saves a lot of money and is usually more entertaining.

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Not a bad idea. I see lots of quality 3-star reviews where they wanted to love the product, but it just fell short in some key areas. Then I just need to decide if those are deal-breakers for me.

Get your tips here and places like flashlight guide or cop n gun forums.

It's as simple as typing "startfire va3 review" or what ever the make n model is.

Many reviewers at Amazon think the $9 Defiant 3C with 850 lumens is the best light ever made since the '$19 as seen on tv tactical' numbers. In many cases they take stars away for stupid stuff and not performance based issues. "Only got 19.5 hours on low"...stuff like that.

bykfixer said:

Get your tips here and places like flashlight guide or cop n gun forums.

It's as simple as typing "startfire va3 review" or what ever the make n model is.

Many reviewers at Amazon think the $9 Defiant 3C with 850 lumens is the best light ever made since the '$19 as seen on tv tactical' numbers. In many cases they take stars away for stupid stuff and not performance based issues. "Only got 19.5 hours on low"...stuff like that.

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I forgot to mention these were pretty much everything other than flashlights (clothing, little gadgets, etc).

But flashlight reviews are funny "OMG BEST BRIGHTEST FLASHLIGHT EVER!!" for some junk $9 poofire torch.

Lex Icon said:

The solution may be to ignore all the positive reviews, concentrating on the neutral to negative evaluations......saves a lot of money and is usually more entertaining.

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I always read the negative reviews as well. The only time I give weight to the positive reviews is when there are 300 or more reviews.

I also give a lot of weight to CNET and ZDnet reviews; never been disappointed when I followed their recommendations.

Bob

Yeah I read the three stars or less, reviews, noting how many 5/4 star reviews there are in total. In each review, I also look to see how long the item reviewed has been used, and for follow up reviews after the item has been used for a time. And when (valid) problems arise, how the vendor handles it. Anyone else use different strategies?

The Nitecorestore made a post about offering a huge discount code if the item is reviewed by the purchaser on Amazon. I chose to not review the Tube UV on Amazon because of the claimed issue of not being able to see the UV strip on $100 bills. It is great that we can talk accurately about products here, and usually pretty evident when a CPF member is primarily a promoter looking to get more flashlights sent to them for free. Seems like Selfbuilt has a very skillful balance in his reviews, between sparing, artfully-worded criticism and a measured abundance of promotion.

markr6 said:

I forgot to mention these were pretty much everything other than flashlights (clothing, little gadgets, etc).

But flashlight reviews are funny "OMG BEST BRIGHTEST FLASHLIGHT EVER!!" for some junk $9 poofire torch.

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Folks who review cloths, gadgets and everything other than flashlights think the $9 Defiant 3 C 900 lumens is the best thing since that $19.99 as seen on tv tactical lights.

Again, go to sites geared for that stuff. Someone mention CNET. Great site for the latest greatest gadgets. Running sites for shoes, hiking sites for boots etc etc...

bykfixer said:

Folks who review cloths, gadgets and everything other than flashlights think the $9 Defiant 3 C 900 lumens is the best thing since that $19.99 as seen on tv tactical lights.

Again, go to sites geared for that stuff. Someone mention CNET. Great site for the latest greatest gadgets. Running sites for shoes, hiking sites for boots etc etc...

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I get what you're saying but I'm sorry I'm not making myself clear. I can't think of an example. It's stuff you only really see on amazon or ebay, chinese offbrand stuff.

markr6 said:

But flashlight reviews are funny "OMG BEST BRIGHTEST FLASHLIGHT EVER!!" for some junk $9 poofire torch.

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I think some of these might be honest, if only because it seems people only purchase a new flashlight every decade. 20 years ago they had an incan. 10 years ago they had a 5mm showerhead. And now they finally have something with a power LED in it. Of course they are blown away.

parametrek said:

I think some of these might be honest, if only because it seems people only purchase a new flashlight every decade. 20 years ago they had an incan. 10 years ago they had a 5mm showerhead. And now they finally have something with a power LED in it. Of course they are blown away.

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Excellent point; always put the best possible construction on ones fellow man. :twothumbs

~ Chance

Always mind your niche hobby bias when evaluating anything Amazon does; lots of folks over on the photography forum are complaining that there wasn't enough "pro level" camera equipment for sale on Prime Day - of course there wasn't, just as there weren't any Muyshondt lights, or Dumble guitar amplifiers, or Spiegelau beer glasses, etc. You'll need a specialized forum for info on specialized items, most people don't even know these things exist..

KITROBASKIN said:

Seems like Selfbuilt has a very skillful balance in his reviews, between sparing, artfully-worded criticism and a measured abundance of promotion.

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I met Selfbuilt, eala & persco (hm maybe that name is wrong) for supper one night about 18 months ago in Toronto area. What was really interesting (& I would have to look back through notes) is Selfbuilt had a ~$10 to $20 AA light that was solid, well made, a nice light. Then he had a $40 to $50 light AA light that was a piece of cr@p.

Not really adding much to the thread, but had to throw that in....

Was he doing extended use for a review, or were they his personal carry lights? Did you talk to him about it?

nfetterly said:

I met Selfbuilt, eala & persco (hm maybe that name is wrong) for supper one night about 18 months ago in Toronto area. What was really interesting (& I would have to look back through notes) is Selfbuilt had a ~$10 to $20 AA light that was solid, well made, a nice light. Then he had a $40 to $50 light AA light that was a piece of cr@p.

Not really adding much to the thread, but had to throw that in....

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markr6 said:

I get what you're saying but I'm sorry I'm not making myself clear. I can't think of an example. It's stuff you only really see on amazon or ebay, chinese offbrand stuff.

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I follow what you're saying (I think)...

I went looking for a scooby do flashlight this morning and saw some reviews at amazon.

I somehow doubt there'll be reviews for that one at say, flashlight guide.
So yeah I see what you mean as amazon seemed to be the only source for reviews... that is unless you want to spend hours searching in vein...

For me it just depends on the product. If it's something I'm not super interested in and I just want something that's good enough then Amazon reviews are fine and I try to not stress over the decision much. On the other hand if it's something I'm really into or need it to be super reliable then I go check out what enthusiasts say about it on forums or somewhere similar.

I keep seeing more and more!!

Disclosure: As a fellow Amazon buyer, I have always researched items before spending hard earned money on purchases, and now I am able to test items and present my honest and unbiased reviews to assist others in making (or avoiding) purchases. I purchased this product at a discount or for free in exchange for my honest review. I hope the information I presented helps you make an informed decision! Thanks!

That's from a HORRIBLE product with mostly 1-2 star reviews. Of course the reviewer gives it 5-stars.

markr6 said:

I keep seeing more and more!!

a HORRIBLE product with mostly 1-2 star reviews. Of course the reviewer gives it 5-stars.

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Bear in mind that many products are "bombed" with fake accounts posting exclusively negative reviews; watch for reviews that are similarly formatted and are all from roughly the same time period - it's entirely possible that all the negative reviews are fake and the one positive review is coming from the one person who has actually tried the product.

StarHalo said:

Bear in mind that many products are "bombed" with fake accounts posting exclusively negative reviews; watch for reviews that are similarly formatted and are all from roughly the same time period - it's entirely possible that all the negative reviews are fake and the one positive review is coming from the one person who has actually tried the product.

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I've spent a lot of time digging into these. They are in fact junk products with wild claims. This particular one was for a car scratch remover. If you've ever used these, you know they won't WOW you. Maybe some light scratches or swirls at best. This one is junk, but the fake reviews would have you think otherwise. Always seems to be some discount site overseas unloading <$15 items.