"We will refund the full amount to those who wrote Amazon reviews" → 4945 high ratings rush! → Removed from Amazon because it stands out too much

When you buy something on Amazon, you do a product review and a 5-point star rating check, right?

There are times when a company writes reviews of its own products, and it's easy to tell from the way they write, but recently there seems to be a lot of unfair traders who pay customers to write highly rated reviews.

According to the NY Times, a company called "VIP Deals", which sells products on Amazon, was offering a full cashback to customers who wrote a review after purchasing the product!

The review item in question is Vipertek's Kindle Fire leather case, the premium slim black leather case for the Kindle Fire. Fire sold like crazy during the year-end and New Year holidays, so the accessory case market must be crazy.

VIP Deals were selling this case for $10 plus shipping, instead of the regular price of $59.99.

Customers who actually received the product told the NY Times:

When I opened the delivery package, there was a letter inside, "Please write a product review on the Amazon community."

"As a thank you to the person who wrote it, we will refund the full amount you paid for your order," it said.

The letter didn't explicitly ask for a five-star rating, but it was something anyone could take. It was written like this. "I will do my best to receive a 'five-star' score out of 100 from everyone!"

Well, if it's written like this, I'll give it 5 stars unless you're a very dull person... By the way, VIP Deals does not have its own website, and the return address is a mailbox (PO box) in the suburbs of Los Angeles.

In this way, 4945 highly rated reviews flooded Amazon last week, earning a nearly perfect score of 4.9 out of 5! It was strangely conspicuous, but it was quickly caught on Amazon's radar and the entire product was deleted.

Georgia pharmacist Anne-Marie Logan told the New York Times:

Hmmm... I think it's a bit bad, Anne. only a little.

[New York Times; Image: Mike Blogs]

connection:

``What is the motivation of Amazon reviewers?''

Can I trust Amazon reviews? - Other (Digital Life) - Tell me! goo

JAMIE CONDLIFFE (original/satomi)