Monday, October 19, 2015

Giving Bloggers and Reviewers a BAD NAME. My take on reviews. Who should and shouldn't be doing it.

So big news lately in the last day or so, Amazon is suing specific reviewers.  Personally I think it is about time.  Now one thing I desperately want to say is just because a reviewer has a lot of 5 or 4 star reviews does NOT mean they are lying which is what a lot of the news channels are saying.  There are a lot of reviewers like me. 

If there is an item i really really want. For example, we wanted an Android box to be able to watch movies etc.  They were retailing anywhere between $250 and $500 each.  It really wasn't in our budget.  So, I saw it come across open reviews.  It was a discounted price for review of about half price.  So yes a discount.  NOT FREE.  I want to stress a lot of reviewers don't get their items for free they get a discount.  anywhere from 10% off to 90% off and on occasion free.  I will tell you right now the only things I have gotten for free were vitamin supplement things and some essential oils.  Like 2 of them.  Everything else pretty much I have paid at least a dollar for.

Some reviewers who really want an item but can't afford it will reach out to sellers and say listen read my reviews.  Tell me if you think you could offer me a discount on this product in exchange for my review.  I have done it.  There is a bag I really wanted that was Dr. Who.  It was like $40 when I sent the request.  It went on sale for 25.  I got $5 off of it on sale by asking for the discount.  I have a very high reviewer ranking (top 5,000).  He agreed.  I also purchased something from his store that was not on sale (a mousepad for my daughter) partially because my daughter would love it and because the sale price was listed when I got my $5 off and I felt like it was already on sale.  I wanted to make it even.  Not every reviewer is out to get something for nothing.

I do hear bloggers on group sites or reviewers say well I work hard to do my blog and my reviews.  Well I do too but, to limit myself from getting a discount on a product I am already going to buy...just to get it for free because I won't pay to do reviews is ridiculous.  I will pay for an item I was already going to buy at a discount price to be able to still get the item.  For example.  I wanted to get my daughter one of those 3D pens for christmas.  At $100 I was on the edge of no.  But I usually get my kids inexpensive gifts and then one big gift each.  Then It came across my offers at a discount price that I could afford about $60.  So I jumped on it.  Later an offer for 50% off the refills.  So I grabbed a refill too.  Something I had planned on buying but had not gotten around to it.

Not all reviewers are people who are out for a buck.  I have seen people talk about people who will get a discount approved and then use it over and over.  Most sellers have figured this out and will make their code only good for one use instead of giving everyone the same code.  This left people who could use the product from being able to get it at the discount because one person bought the entire stock out.  I have seen people posting that someone is selling items we have seen people reviewing on auction sites.  They don't list the site but, I am sure we can all figure out the popular ones.  It makes me really mad.

I think about a friend of mine who I suggested should start reviewing.  She is a single mom on a budget and needs the discounts when offered on baby clothes or diapers wipes etc.  I think about people like her and people like me.  We have had a rough year.  When we finally get our heads almost above water..I change jobs and get a start date delay of a month.  Being able to be a reviewer has saved our christmas. I am very thankful for that.  However, I will also add, these people amazon is suing definitely deserve it.  I was not ever afraid of my name being on there because yes I have received a bunch of items at a discount but, I have used them all or have reviewed them honestly.

I will never buy anything I don't need, I will never sell an item I have received for review. For example, I got a phone case that should have fit my sons phone based on the description. I think it was valued at $7 was on sale for $5 and I got it for $2.99.  It didn't fit and so I put out an APB to my friends does anyone have that model phone that could use a cover.  One of my friends happened to have one.  So I gave it to her.  yes I paid $3 for it. I could have asked her to reimburse me, but I didn't.  I received a discount.  I did my review based on seeing if it fit her phone.  I always do reviews for the items I purchased. I am always honest.  If it works and is a good quality but could be improved I do leave it in there as well.  If I say we loved it trust me we did.

If you still see the reviewers review on Amazon today or later, you will know that these people are NOT the ones lying about the products.  You may see five star reviews along with 2 star reviews.  Sometimes the issue is the person who reviewed it. Sometimes the issue is a product issue the seller has fixed after a bunch of bad reviews.  Sometimes a few people got a faulty product.  There are lots of reasons why there could be a difference in reviews.  Some people just have really high standards that most sellers can't meet.  You have seen them in the store or if you have ever worked customer service I am sure you have spoken to them.  How the potato wasn't the right color.  They exist everywhere.  Be mindful of who you read reviews from.

In the case of being completely open.  Here is my reviewer profile: here.  I get emails often from sellers asking me to review a product at a discounted price sometimes free.  I have turned down more free products than I can list because I am not willing to take it, or I am not interested nor could I use the product.  Like Iphone 6 cases.  No one in my house has an Iphone 6. i have never nor will I accept a review for something that I am offered that I can't use.  Just makes no sense.  I can't honestly review something I have no use for.  Just common logic.

So there is my rant, selfish people who won't really use it shouldn't review it.  Period.  People who will pick apart anything and everything should not be reviewing items.  Great items get passed up because they didn't like the shade of blue so the whole thing sucked for them.  The people who should review are honest people like my reviewer friends who genuinely will use the products and will review honestly.  Yes they may give a lot of 4 and 5 stars because they already were looking for that item.  And as a note, some sellers can delete your low rating review when you get a discount.  I have 2 right now that keep getting deleted from my bad reviews.  So don't assume someone hasn't done a bad review.  If they gave a discount, some sellers can delete those.  So it isn't all the reviewers.  Just saying. 

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