Amazon Made Changes To Review Policy

[Y.B.]

Actually, I think everyone has this all wrong. Amazon's most recent update is going to help new sellers.

I'm a member of a few amazon review groups. After this change, they both sent a similar email, revising their terms. Now, people are not required to leave reviews, they are optional. However, everyone is still going to continue to leave positive reviews, otherwise they won't be able to get free products anymore. The review groups no longer require you to add the disclaimer that you received a discount for testing the product. So now users get positive reviews and don't have the disclaimer so amazon customers won't even be able to tell if it's fake or not anymore.

Amazon Review Groups - 1
Amazon - 0

 

[SenGracic]

Was about time !

 

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[eTox]

Are people still going to buy from these review groups at full price? Probably not. People in these groups wanted cheap products for $1. Now that you can't leave reviews using a heavily discounted coupon why will sellers give out $1 products to people?

Exactly.

 

[Late Start]

BTW, I should mention that this is an awesome thing. Yesterday I was looking for that toilet bowl illuminator product that was on Shark Tank. The problem was that the main product itself had 3 stars only because it broke after 2 months.

There are dozens of pages of Chinese knockoffs. All of them were fake reviews and all of them had the same exact issue as the Shark Tank version. If you read through the reviews, the solution was a very simple soldering fix. If only ONE seller would actually fix that issue, they could be #1 within a few months easily!

Try to find me one seller in this niche that has a clearly better product than the rest, and I'll buy it.
https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias=aps&field-keywords=toilet bowl light&rh=i:aps,k:toilet bowl light

FREE PRODUCT IDEA: Improve this and clearly state it in the title, call it version 2.0, guaranteed to last for 12 months, etc... There would be no need to launch or ask for reviews, you'd just get them naturally.

I'm planning a similar approach when I shift manufacturing of my initial product to the US. It will be strictly a cosmetic change (the functionality of the original is solid), but between having a unique look AND being the only one (of what by then will likely be MANY) that is Made in the USA (in a niche where that is a rare premium), I hope to have a decent run of dominance - well until the designer's patent application is finally approved, anyway (and I'm small potatoes enough that even if the current iteration is approved in 12 months or so, I'll likely be under their radar).

 

[Late Start]

I launched my product with a 50 review giveaway promotion from GetBSR. Nothing has disappeared thus far, but I do have my listing paused while I wait for my corrected shipment. Honestly a good chunk of them were Verified anyway - not that that will keep the bots away. Between leading to the discovery of a good local manufacturer, another opportunity that dropped in my lap tonight, and being inactive while the Amazon bots scrub reviews, there is a lot of silver lining for all the lost revenue of my inventory fiasco.

 

[luniac]

same thing STEAM just did with bought video game reviews. huh...

 

[jesset17]

As a consumer turned seller on Amazon, I am glad they are removing paid reviews and even entire listings. All of the products on the first page of my category have over half of the reviews stating I received this product at discount in exchange for an unbiased review etc etc. I hope to see these listings drop off or disappear soon.

Great time to start selling if you have a product that can gain 5 star reviews based off of quality and customer satisfaction.

 

[eliquid]

Conversely you could just build a company that marketed products that people liked and wanted.

I agree. but there is no harm in priming the pump either when it's done correctly

 

[strobe]

Good thing this happend now. I have been researching Amazon and pretty much every "Guru" has been talking about giving out 100 or more units of a product to review groups in exchange for reviews. I heard a podcast today about it where they guy was trying to say you could still send out the products to review groups but you just couldn't "Ask" them for a review which is the exact same thing and good thing it is finished so that products are genuine with real reviews.

Amazon should incentivise customers to leave reviews a bit more though. I leave reviews when I buy a book for example if it provided great value.

 

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[petkovic]

Apparently, this is not yet active in Germany. In a news article on golem.de (from October 4th) an Amazon spokesperson said they don't want to speculate about the future when asked when the new rules would apply here. I am looking forward to it, though.

 

[Jon L]

Saw this while looking for computer programming gigs on CL. Obviously, this violates Amazon's TOS, but how would they prevent this kind of thing?

 

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[LateStarter]

The best way to build a business has NEVER been fraudulently gaming loopholes to try and short circuit providing value to consumers.

I agree with this in terms of fraud. And I'd turn it around to ask how you would approach this then if you were new to the market. Since you are much more established I suspect this new barrier to entry is good news. For the rest of us, it presents more of a challenge.

'Real world' example.
A friend of mine recently published a book an has it on Amazon. She's been trying to establish some kind of a rank on there and has been requesting honest reviews from people in her networks. This includes contacts she's made at publishing companies as well as personal friends. Her issue now is that she believes (based on this blog post) that Amazon is purging these ratings based on her connections on social platforms. Aside from advertising and trying to gain reach/sales via PPC or organic, what else can she do to help build rank?

 

[StartupMonkey]

I know! Cause now the brands that blasted their way to the top are going to still have huge amounts of reviews. Even launching a better product would be difficult when comparing against products with 1000+ reviews that are all 4 star or better.

Not exactly. You can still create the edge in no time regardless of this new policy change. Just order your own product under a new name (same address) every time. Keep ordering. If your product costs $100, order 5. The money will obviously return back to you in your bank account. And you can use that same money to order 5 more. Repeat. Money will always return to you while leaving a beautiful mark of reviews. It's no different. You just need a couple weeks of legwork while setting it up and you'll have a running business in no time. Great, so you've got a ton of reviews. Now all you need to do is shell a few hundreds on advertisement and you'll see the ranks of cash quadrupling.

P:S: You can escape Amazon charges by purchasing $40/month subscription. Build off your reviews in that month and cancel subscription at the end of the month. Win-win.

If you've got no product to sell. Just steal. Go to hot trending products. Let's say you picked up a Portable charger or a wireless earphones. Order it. Take it apart once it ships. Hire a 3D modeller to model you a cool headphone design ($100). 3D print it and stuff in the tech inside it or you can have it professionally done (or just order a bulk, seriously. But make sure it's a profitable category). Now advertise it. And voila! watch as money pours in. If you need a boost, hire a videographer and have your 4k product video created. Simple as that.

 

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[StartupMonkey]

This is such horrible advice that I'm not even sure you are serious. Anyone who follows this is 100% guaranteed to get banned by Amazon in short order.

You can't get banned by Amazon if you have different IP addresses (with emails and account) every single time you order. I've researched into this to find that Amazon follows a robotic algorithm where it automatically catches and bans members when they repeatedly order the same thing over and over with different accounts BUT with the SAME IP address. So cut off the IP address issue and there won't be more doors to clear. Also, diversifying the delivery address to a friend or two (or family member) wouldn't hurt. I've done this before with 6 straight reviews so far without getting banned at all so I don't know how this is a "horrible advice". You should give this a shot yourself on a test product to see if this will chart. Mine sure did. And I am 100% serious. Try it.

 

[StartupMonkey]

And by the way, even if you happen to get banned (which you won't) so what? So what if you get banned? Just create a new account. Your merchant account will not be affected. Even if Amazon decides to ban you, only your buyer account will be banned, not seller. Funds will be reimbursed as well once you're banned (buyer account). Merchant will not be banned because there is ZERO affiliation. So there is ZERO loss.

You just need to be very careful with the slieght of hand and must understand Amazon's auto ban algorithm if you want to go that route.

 

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[StartupMonkey]

Like no one has done that ever?

It's clearly against TOS to buy your own product...and you must understand that since you have a detailed process to avoid getting caught...
I'm new to FBA, this forum and the Fastlane mindset but these sort of tactics go against everything they teach. Best of luck to you though! I'll not be trying it.

See you guys are quick to judge. Where did I say not to "create value" and start pilling hordes of reviews for your products? Nowhere did I ever say that. I never talked about fastlane mindset as well, I simply pointed out an undetectable flaw in the Amazon algorithm system which you can infiltrate to give you reviews (only a few). And Yes, creating value is important and yes having a "reputation" is also important. Without reputation + exposure even if you have a product that could wipe someone's memory no one would buy it.

Again, where did I tell someone to do this? I'm not advising anyone to do this. All I said was "this is possible". And frankly, you need a couple of reviews to kickstart your product. Your product won't do jack shit without having your customer's opinion/remarks about it. You need at least a dozen reviews and people will start start buying your product. So adding a few (6 or 10) fake reviews won't hurt no one. In fact, it will benefit you. I'm not saying to do this repeatedly but only a dozen or two to create "that" edge for you to start selling. And because of those reviews, you'll start getting more and more rather quickly (as we all know how hard it is to get your first buyer, because he would feel being the first one to purchase your product with a long shot of having zero feedback).

[HASHTAG]#landfill[/HASHTAG] bullshit
Too bad we cant landfill individual posts. You're batting .1000 with the garbage

Cool. I got your point, but your "garbage" will still be ahead of my garbage since you've got reputation on your back. Reputation/reviews is the second thing people look after they're fully interested in buying your product. They want to know what other people think of your products. If you've got a say, a wireless mouse with 26+ reviews and the same wireless mouse by the same company with 0 reviews. Which one would you likely to purchase? But perhaps since you're an expert your decision might be different but it's enough for an average customer to buy the one with 26+ reviews, it gives them a sense of satisfaction for their purchase.

Please do not do this. EVER.

Read this whole thread and you should have your answer. Provide amazing products that add value to its users and you will have no problem in the marketplace.

https://www.thefastlaneforum.com/co...-to-do-it-the-easy-way-or-the-hard-way.64808/

I don't plan in doing it. For me personally I'll create a product/service that has excellent value and boost it with 10+ reviews and slowly advance the hype. I don't focus on "reviews" but I do have to keep in mind that I need at LEAST a dozen reviews to kickstart my product to start grabbing some hype and attention so people can jump in or at least be interested in it.

You're a real hoot.

Based on this (and your avatar) it's clear you'd sell your first-born as long as it made you a buck. Guys like you don't last long here.

In that case, so was Bill Gates and Steve Jobs, real hoots.

Also, what's the harm in selling your first born if it will give you funds to fund your "most solid business ideas"? I could be wrong, it all depends on the situation really. I do understand as you said in the book we should focus on "long term over short term" however isn't that feasible for only solid business ideas as opposed to ideas that lift off and die just as hard?

“good artists borrow, great artists steal.” - Pablo Picasso.

 

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[StartupMonkey]

You do understand that what you post is usually what you recommend right? If I make a long how-to post, isn't it possible that I'm recommending that specific action?

And you are 100% wrong. I think it's clear based on your posts and replies that you have no understanding of how Amazon works.

Go ahead and put in that single review and see what happens. There was another forum member who did not listen to some warnings and guess what happened to his account.

I do agree that entrepreneurs should focus on providing "value" by fixing/solving a new/existing problem OR simplifying/making people's life easier. I do agree on that aspect of fastlane mindset that "once you successfully change how people live their lives" you'll be an instant millionaire. I also understand fastlane mindset is to focus on "value" rather than tossing fake feedbacks on the garbage can. I completely understand. However, my post was regarding creating an "edge" for your product so it's easier to kickstart or get your product "running".

Also, you're taking me really wrong. I don't plan to "put in that every single review", that would be tossing your hands inside a gator's mouth. What I'm trying to say is let's say I have recently launched a product and say it's a pair of trendy wireless headphones. I'll give myself around 6 or so fake reviews just to kickstart it. I'll create 6 different accounts using different country's IP addresses each time (so Amazon doesn't detect it). Then I'll put my mother's address, my brother's address, my grandparents address, my friends address and so forth. This isn't against Amazon because if your friends or family were to buy your product they "absolutely can", but in this case, you're simply managing the orders. Purchase and put reviews in at least 2-3 day margin. 6-10 reviews and that's it! I won't touch that section again. Now I'll just focus on some solid marketing and direct traffic through facebook, youtube or paid marketing agencies. Traffic will come on, and they'll be "LESS" hesitant to purchase your product now since you already have 6 great feedback from live people. They'll purchase and your pile of reviews will start climbing.

If it were to have same marketing done and now they've landed on wireless headphones with zero reviews they'd wonder "If this is such a revolutionary product, why the hell did somebody else not buy it yet?" F*ck it, I'll rather go check out some branded products. And that's it, you've blown it away. It just helps, I'm not talking about putting "every singlereview out there" just a few (6-10) to I have a kickstart to it. It doesn't hurt no body, it actually helps (A LOT).

Everybody is quick to judge, I'm not talking about fastlane mindset. You have a revolutionary product? Toss in a few feedback from people and begin marketing. No one will be hesitant and you'd have to agree it would do much better than revolutionary product with zero feedback on it. It takes a bit longer to get it going with no feedback whatsoever (since your audience will MOST likely prefer a similar product in the genre with over 100+ reviews, because they have reputation to back it up). Most would trust the 100+ reviews one and not be hesitant to click on "order" as they would with a featherless product.

 

[StartupMonkey]

People fall for it easily. You wouldn't. But an average person would. You got some shady popups that claim "watch this video and you'll turn into a millionaire in 6 weeks" OH "watch my free money system and you'll be a millionaire every 29 days" OH "Invest in our binary stock and you'll be a millionaire by investing in 2 weeks". If you notice correctly, you'll see 5-6 fake a$$ testimonials before it begins to give you that surety and credibility of the system. "Oh I absolutely became a millionaire in 29 days (that explains the ripped couch you're sitting on). "Oh I am a single mother and paying for my son's college fee now is not a problem at all, thanks to the free money system, I'm a millionaire". Would YOU fall for it? NO. Would an average sidewalker fall for it? YES. THEY WILL. And they always have and they always will. And their rivalries have made a ton of cash using this technique. Didn't MJ said the art of selling these systems are "Fastlane"? Even though they don't actually provide value? It's camouflaged to be seen as "value" to sidewalkers but isn't really.

Fake testimonials are very EASY to spot. You can easily spot bad acting however it's NOT SO EASY to spot them on online platforms such as Amazon, ebay, etc. So most people see a review such as:

"Great product, my wife LOVES IT. I bought it 4 weeks ago, have zero problems so far, works amazing, the sound quality is amazing, just one flaw in it, I don't really like how the speakers are shaped and sometimes they fall from ears, but overall great product" - 4.5 stars.

You're giving 90% of great feedback here and 10% negativity so it doesn't look like it's a fake feedback. Criticism is a great tactic to make it even harder for someone to detect a fake feedback. However that's all just bullshit, I'm not planning to overdose reviews, just a few as I said to have a "running momentum". Just so first time buyers aren't "hesitant" in buying my products. That's it. Most of you have failed to understand what I'm actually trying to say. But I get it, I'm here to learn, so I don't mind helpful advice, keep it coming, Cheers.

 

[StartupMonkey]

So you are justifying being just another marketing douchebag selling perceived value, over actual value. In other words, you're walking the line of deception, schemery, and even fraud.

I don't plan on doing that at ANY cost. It's against fastlane fundementals. Also, if they're "just another douchebag border lining deception and schemery", why did you call them "excellent fastlaners?"

You can put whatever you want on your own website. So your argument here doesn't hold water. I can launch and put 1000 fake reviews on my ecommerce store if I wanted. Nobody would care.

But we are talking about doing in on someone else's platform that they have clearly stated is against their TOS. If you want to risk never selling on Amazon again, or getting banned after your making decent money, go ahead. You can absolutely do it what you said.

Just don't come here and tell others that it is ok to do it.

You have lost all credibility here.

I agree. Thank you for your reply.

 

[StartupMonkey]

OR you can go with one of the following strategy and forgo any possibility of being banned:

1. Modify/produce a product so good that even Zeus himself would buy one for his life.

2. Price your product at or below the market competition, which may be net negative in the short term, in order to get your initial sales. Low cost will reduce risk for new buyers. Risk vs Value assessment = Make a product and offer so good they can't say no. Bundles, variations, and new additions all add to the equation. If you saw a product you needed to use priced at $1 when it's usually $29.99, I'd be willing to try out the $1 version so long as the pictures and descriptions were of high quality.

3. In the words of Gary V, jab jab jab right hook. It may be a different context than social medial, but give value, give more value, and then give some more value, and ASK for a review regardless of whether it is 1 star or 5 star. This means maybe you will bundle accessories for free, include a pamphlet that teaches the customer about your product/niche and asking. This could be through automated email responses. It could be through the opening every single product you have in order to include a handwritten letter thanking your customer personally for purchasing your product and politely asking for a review as a new company or product. If you have a shitty product, your reviews should reflect it. If your product is phenomenal, you should have no problem getting 10 reviews.

4. This is the part where you don't get banned and you begin to grow organically.

5. Expand your product line and repeat.

100% in line with ToS. 100% Legit reviews. Yes it takes longer to get up and running, but in the end, 1 wrong mistake can cost years of hard work building up listings to vanish and your income being reduced from 20k/month to 0/month. It violates the commandment of control (yes being on amazon violates that as well. Which is why you should be even more hypercritical of your actions).

You're method reeks of cutting corners and laziness. Businesses aren't built in a day and neither are your Amazon listings. Think 24 months ahead instead of 31 days ahead. Give everything you can within reason to your customers and they will do the same for you.


***Note: I am still in the process of learning all these strategies and my advise should be taken with a grain of salt. But some things have been working wonders for me personally***

Excellent reply, Thank you.

 

[TKDTyler]

Excellent reply, Thank you.

What other strategies can you think of that you believe might yield sales and reviews that would be in line with Amazon ToS?

 

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[Kevin Farney]

While going the legit route might make less in the short term, those of us on the legit path and providing real value will outlast the people taking short cuts and earn more in the end.

A person can sell a product that meets a need, reviews or not. I started as an Amazon merchant just a couple years ago, launching with less than 2 dozen related products. I had no reviews on those products. I had no reviews on my seller account. It even said "Just Launched" right by my store name. Within about 40 days I was doing $1k+/month still with no reviews and no advertising and no social media. Because I was selling a product people wanted. Then I started advertising and built it up into something real.

When Amazon changed their policy, I didn't lose any of my reviews, because they were all 100% legit. An added benefit was being relieved of the near daily customer inquiries I was receiving from fake reviewer assholes who wanted a product code so they could do me the great honor of leaving a fake review. I marked them all as suspicious and was pissed I had to spend time doing this every day and can't even imagine the life of the person who sits around, messaging individual sellers all day long, hoping someone sends them shit for free.

I'm just now starting on Amazon. Can you or have you elsewhere elaborated on your launch process? I'm surprised you started with so many products. Were they variations or all different (but related) products? Did you private label? I just launched my first product and it is not doing that well honestly. Working on a new iteration that will be better value and bring differentiation from my competition for round two. But it has taken a long time and $$$ to get even this one product up. How did you start with nearly 2 dozen? Thanks in advance.

 

[Kevin Farney]

Were they variations or all different (but related) products?
Different but related products.

Did you private label?
I created my own products, that were never created before. As opposed to re-doing something already done and slapping my own label on it, like putting my name on some Chinese sunglasses that every other person has with their name on it, and then trying to out advertise.

How did you start with nearly 2 dozen?
Amazon was the last platform I got on. My products were (and are) on eBay and even Etsy. I was new to being an Amazon merchant but my products were already tested. This means: my products were already refined by the time I got to Amazon. Obviously there may be future improvements but I was pretty well structured. It took me like a week to get them all up as I had to build my own product pages and I was slow at it.

Please note: I'm like the least cool person on this forum. There are other people here who have done much better, launching with advertising, pre-sales, and a huge social media following. You should follow them. I was only talking about what's possible, not what's great. There are probably people laughing at me for saying that I pulled in 1k+ a month right off the bat. Seriously. But it's also true: this can be done with no reviews, probably better than I did.

Thanks man! At this point (starting from zero) 1k per month sounds pretty cool to me!! Thanks again

 

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[Mattie]

A friend of mine recently published a book an has it on Amazon. She's been trying to establish some kind of a rank on there and has been requesting honest reviews from people in her networks. This includes contacts she's made at publishing companies as well as personal friends. Her issue now is that she believes (based on this blog post) that Amazon is purging these ratings based on her connections on social platforms. Aside from advertising and trying to gain reach/sales via PPC or organic, what else can she do to help build rank?

Just from my experience, I believe you have to have more than one book. You have to keep writing all the time. The more books I have selling actually helps my rank. I believe if your book is worth reading, in the right niche, they'll find you on their own when they read the book.

I have one book I never did anything with, the reviews came themselves, and it's going by word of mouth. I've sold more of those than any other book.

It's picking a hot Niche. I just hit one on accident, because I knew it was a hot Niche. Experiment. Trial & Error. More people buy it then leave reviews.

It's hard to say because every book is different. You're not going to be able to duplicate what works for one book, the same thing might not work for another book.

 

[QDF]

One problem I've noticed with the new review policy....

I've had Amazon remove 100% legitimate reviews from my products more than once now. Solid 5 star reviews. It's actually quite frustrating - especially when launching new products and trying to gain traction.

Has anyone else experienced anything similar?

 

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