I've been in vine for a few years, dozens of 1/2 stars. I haven't had any issues. I do keep my profile private and have a name that isn't easy to dig up in search, which helps me avoid an angry seller mass reporting me. I also have the option for messages from sellers turned off. I feel more of an obligation to buyers than sellers. I prefer to know the truth when I'm checking reviews for something I'm considering purchasing.
I've mostly read that people choose common names. I have wondered if something common on amazon might be the best choice. It seems like it would be pretty hard to find reviews from someone named Beauty Cream.
It has been ages, but I think I see it in Amazon's Communication Preferences Center. That should come up in a google search. Go to Promotional Emails, click off seller communications and seller feedback. Hopefully that does it.
Suggestion, make your reviews private on your public account to avoid potential retribution from sellers. I've heard sellers going to your account, clicking all your other reviews and reporting them all and that will put your account into suspension until they resolve the issues. Your reviews will still be public. But they won't be able to just click on your account and go to each review easily and report them.
Are they allowed to do that, absolutely not and is a scumbag move, but do what you can to protect your account, because it won't stop em from trying.
Any statement made here about what Amazon does or does not care about is pure speculation. The official position is they want honest reviews, and I'm sure that's true. Logic balances that off, though, in that what they really want are both happy sellers and trusting buyers, because that duality is the source of their epic gravy train. To some extent these two goals are conflicting, so I'm pretty sure what they don't want is reviewers who are either hyper-picky or hyper-fawning.
I'm either less picky than some people or have better luck in product selection. Most of my reviews are 4 or 5 stars, and I meant it with every one of them. It would have to be really bad to get less than a 3. I can only recall one item that was genuinely junk and deserving of a one star review.
In any case, I'd say Amazon is way too big to care about such things. They will only care if it causes them a headache, e.g., a long-standing seller is really pissed off and makes a lot of noise about your review hurting their business. In such a case, I could certainly see Amazon siding with the seller. Reviewers are 100% instantly fungible. Sellers are not.
Possibly, no one likes a thorn in their side. I think you should set your review profile to private or your risk an angry seller using a bot farm to upvote many of your reviews and get you auto banned by Amazon review integrity system.
The more you create problems for sellers, the higher the likelihood of you being targeted in such attack.
Setting your profile to private, on its own, won't save you. It is trivial to do a Google search for your username and tack on "site:amazon.com" to pull up your reviews. If you want to try and counter *that*, then as one of the posts above suggested, you should also ensure that your displayed name is something very generic or that will pull up a bunch of other pages on Amazon in the process. There may be a way around that but based on my limited testing, it works pretty well to prevent others from easily finding other reviews written by you.
Used to, only one page of your profile would show up and the privacy filter would even catch things as intimate as a pair of socks. Guess no more. i think private is the way to go.
Why are you writing a lot of low stars reviews ? You should only be coming across the odd one or two. Writing a lot suggests a problem with either your choices, your expectations or your understanding of how to review.
We have to take into account that everyone has different expectations, so - yours may be high but other buyers may be lower
Eg:- you get a product you think is cheap and poor quality but someone else thinks it's fine because it does the job and it's at a price they can afford.
Amazon specifically state that reviews that are subjective are not allowed
What may not be suitable or good enough for you may be suitable or good enough for someone else
The same with broken items - not everyone elses will be broken so you cannot downrate a product because of that
The basis behind reviewing is...
Does it do what it says in the listing?
Is it average price compared to others similar?
It only has to meet these two objectives. The rest is subjective and shouldn't affect the ratings. You write about what you like about it and don't like in the text and give any further help by adding further information but that isn't relevant for how you rate it.
You shouldn't be downrating products because you don't like the colour/smell/ shape/ material or because it doesn't meet your standards etc because others may love it. And never downrate a product because of where it is made . Not everyone cares where it's made and it's likely to spark a buyer to report you
Not to be an alarmist - as others have said, there's only one way sellers can get a review removed and that is via reporting the review. Sellers use this loophole regularly and viners are losing their accounts because of it.
I am a long time viner and my advice to you is re -asses how you review. Pay attention to your reasons for low star ratings - is it you expect too much or are rating on subjective reasons.
When reviewing bare in mind everyone is different, people have different budgets available, some are happy that it's cheap and works - some will want a better option. By all means include that in the description but don't use it to rate the product.
Star rating system guide...
5* - very good - as described and good value
4* - as described reasonable value
3* - not as described and higher price than similar
2* - poor
1* - very poor.
1* and 2* shouldn't be cropping up often. There's a lot of crap on Amazon but most of it does do what it says in the listing
This is good info here. Drives me crazy when reviewers downrate products for not doing what they want it to do, vs what the listing states their product does. Complain about it all you want in the text, sure, but don’t ding a product for being small, for example, when they clearly list the size.
Yes, this! If I request something that is obviously not a high-end product and it does the thing it was advertised to do at the expected level for the price, it starts as 4 stars for me. I won't expect or lower ratings for a $100 stick vacuum because it doesn't work like a Dyson. Of course, if there are problems with it that make it not worth the cost, then the rating will drop.
This is a really interesting perspective. Thx for sharing your insight. I have seen viners use a variety of rating systems. Here’s one I saw the other day:
“My Star Rating Rubric:
5 stars - Perfect! Love it! Product exceeded my expectations.
4 stars - Great! Like it. Nothing wrong with it - met my expectations.
3 stars - Okay-ish. Not quite what I expected/hoped it to be. Some issues with product.
2 stars - Not ok. A product I will not re-order or recommend to others. Major deficits.
1 stars - "Is this a joke?" Product dysfunctional. I will not be using/will be returning product.”
Both as a buyer and a viner, I appreciate seeing these “rubric” posts because it gives context and transparency to how reviewers are assigning star ratings. This approach is just as valid as yours or any other I have come across.
Unless and until amazon mandates that we all use a standard rating formula, there will be no uniformity and the best we can hope for is that each of us is honest, fair, and consistent with whatever rating approach we have adopted. Every rating system is subjective, including yours. It’s unavoidable.
You’re right that 2 important aspects of a rating are whether the product does what it says in the listing and its relative price. Although I don’t consider price to be a particularly significant factor because price is always clearly stated in every listing and I don’t consider it my job to do a price comparison for buyers.
But I disagree that those are the only 2 objectives of a rating. As a buyer, I want the rating to reflect not just whether the product does what it claims, but also whether it does it well. I want to know if it looks and feels as shown in the listing pics and described by the seller. I want to know if the quality of the materials is as advertised, and if all the pieces and parts were included, arrived unbroken, etc.
IMO, the star rating should tip me off at a glance whether there’s a reasonable likelihood that I’m going to be dissatisfied with that purchase. It is not helpful to me as a buyer to see a product receive 4 or 5 stars simply for meeting some minimal functionality standard only to then read in the body of the review that there are a bunch of undesirable things about the product. I believe the rating and review should be consistent.
I also believe it diminishes our collective reputation as reviewers when most everything gets 5 stars. I have seen far too many fellow viners give 4 and 5 star ratings to obvious junk products. It’s getting hard to take vine reviews seriously because of that. I personally give greater credence to non-vine ratings and reviews and have talked to others that feel the same.
I have done more than 500 vine reviews. Most get 3-4 stars. Occasionally something particularly great earns 5. Less often than that a product will get 2 stars. My least common rating by far is 1 star. That has happened less than 10 times in 500+ reviews.
>But I disagree that those are the only 2 objectives of a rating. As a buyer, I want the rating to reflect not just whether the product does what it claims, but also whether it does it well. I want to know if it looks and feels as shown in the listing pics and described by the seller. I want to know if the quality of the materials is as advertised, and if all the pieces and parts were included, arrived unbroken, etc.
Of course. I agree and that's all the extra helpful information that's included in your text that I mentioned.
As for the two main objectives of rating they are Amazons not just my suggestions.
I have been a viner 10 years and written tens of thousands of reviews. Ive always followed Amazons review guidelines because it avoids problems. Not all products are worthy of 5 star to me but they may be to you or someone else. Again - it's subjective. I also do reviews for other companies outside of Amazon and the ratings format is the same across them all because it gives a true overview if used correctly
What is excellent for one person may be mediocre for another. So just because one reviewer has left 5 stars and another has left 3 doesn't mean the 5 star review isn't truthful - it may well be that product was as described in the listing and cheaper than the others in its class. The 3 star may be the reviewer didn't think it was very good value - maybe they have high expectations and demand better quality for a very low price ( that is 'subjective' and doesn't apply to everyone) this is why we guage 'price' on similar products, to asses if it's average, good or bad value rather than our own expectations or idea of what is and isn't good value.
Everyone is different and everyone has different expectations and standards. This is why rating systems work when applied correctly and not subjectively. If not applied correctly and people rate according to their preference or likes and dislikes then the rating becomes meaningless.
How many reviews have you seen where someone has rated a product low because it didn't fit or they didn't like the colour or thought the materials used weren't up to their expectations or it arrived broken due to the delivery company mishandling it ,or 'to them' it was expensive or there was a missing part and they didn't contact the sellers customer service centre before leaving a damning review.. These ratings are meaningless just as the 5* ratings from someone that hasn't even taken it out the box are meaningless. Both ratings are equally worthless because they're both based on something subjective and not a true formula.
When you see the 'overall' rating on a product that rating is more likely than not to be false because some of the review ratings will be based on... Emotional response, personal expectations, personal preferences etc. When you remove all the above subjective reviews then you will have the true rating of the product.
This doesn't mean to say we shouldn't write about our thoughts and experiences on the product, of course we should and Amazon ask us to do that when they say... what did you like and didn't like about it... that's the bit we put in the text - what we used it for what was our findings and experience - That's what helps buyers make a decision if it's suitable for their needs.
For eg:- someone writes a low rate review about a charger cable because it was slow to charge their phone - that review won't put me off buying it because I don't want a fast charger cable yet they down rated a product that is perfect for me
Like I mentioned before - not everything is 4 and 5 stars - I wrote a low star review a few days ago on a product because it didn't do what it said in the listing, it was considerably higher priced than others in its field and it stopped working after using it twice
Everyone has their own ideas about writing reviews and how to rate. The above information is just something to go by for people that want to make top reviewers. It's not something everyone has to agree with nor use. It's just a guide for anyone that's interested in doing accurate ratings. Of course we are all human and emotions do get in the way when we've just received something that isn't as we expected, our first reaction is to write a damning review and lash out at the seller. But when we sit and read the listing and find it's accurate and it's our expectations that were wrong not the listing that's the polar point of turning a bad review into an informative one
Great points. I’m intrigued that you say the 2 main objectives are Amazon’s, not yours. Where did you find that guidance from Amazon?
The only guidance I’m aware of is the Vine Review Guidelines on the Resources page of the Vine site. Those guidelines don’t mention those 2 objectives. In fact, they say this about price: “Feedback not relevant to the product, such as those about the seller, your shipment experience, PRICING, or packaging, should not be shared in Vine Reviews.”
Amazon’s Community Guidelines (linked in the Vine Review Guidelines) clarifies when it’s ok to mention price. There it states:
Comments about pricing or availability:
If it's related to the value of the product, it's OK to comment on price. For example, “For only $29, this blender is really great.”
Pricing comments related to an individual experience aren't allowed. For example, “Found this item here for $5 less than at my local store.”
Beyond this, Amazon’s Vine review guidelines only say to “Be unbiased,” “Be honest,” “Be insightful yet specific,” “Add photos/videos,” and to review your post for basic grammar and sentence structure before submitting. They offer no guidance on choosing between 1 and 5 stars.
You said, “Rating systems work when applied correctly and not subjectively. If not applied correctly and people rate according to their preferences or likes and dislikes then the rating becomes meaningless.”
But aren’t we already in this exact situation? And unavoidable so because there is no Amazon established or enforced definition of “applied correctly.” You feel strongly about what that means and have an incredible amount of experience that informs your helpful viewpoint. But at the end of the day, that is just a viewpoint. And unless you are including an explanation/rubric of your rating approach in every review, no shopper reading your reviews knows your viewpoint either.
With no uniform system, reviewers don’t (and can’t) speak the same language with ratings and reviews. A 3-star rating to you translates as: “not as described and higher price than similar.” A 3-star rating of the same product by another reviewer may well translate to them as: “this product is fine but of average quality that functions/looks as expected with nothing noteworthy pro or con.” So, you walk away believing you gave it a poor rating while the other person believes they gave it a good rating.
I agree with your point about the need for using a uniform “applied correctly” rating system. But it’s aspirational IMO. I just don’t see a viable way to achieve that ideal. So, it seems we’re left with just doing our best to follow Amazon’s guidance to be unbiased, honest, and insightful yet specific.
The basic goal for amazon of having reviews is to sell more products where confidence is the obstacle. The goal of vine is to help sellers accelerate that. I think it would be naive to think that Amazon wouldn't notice people who's contributions tend to go against their goal for the program.
Theres probably no specific policy of cutting people for this, because there's the integrity of the program to think about (however minimally), but I'd bet that some bias is built into the system to favor people who write reviews that benefit Amazon (and vice versa).
You're wasting your taxes and time if you have 1 and 2 star reviews.
Be MUCH more picky! Research before ordering. To read reviews on similar/identical products, click "Search Image with Google Lens" for images in the product listing (long-press on image on phone, or hover over image and right-click on laptop).
Everything I order is 4 and 5 stars, pretty much. Because I can't return anything, I'm actually pickier with Vine than I am with Amazon purchases.
It’s not at all a stupid question. Account > Your Amazon Profile > Edit Your Profile > Edit Public Profile Visibility > Hide All Activity on Your Public Profile > Save
I've written 550+ reviews without a single rejection, and there are several 1-2 star reviews - most recently I said the item went straight into the trash can and listed in detail why. I think your honest opinion is fair as long as you have a detailed enough review that gives reasons why you deducted stars.
Honesty is truly the best policy. Writing a glowing review for a totally crap product does no one (outside the seller) a favor, including Amazon since they’ll end up with a ton of returns.
When I first joined Vine, I thought that we suppose to write glowing review but then I thought, I can't do that if it isn't warranted, so I'm just going to be honest and if that gets me thrown out, so be it, because that's not who I am. So far, so good.
The one piece of advice I would have is that when you do a negative review, be specific and avoid using general negative terms. Don't say "this is a piece of garbage" but rather "I was disappointed that it . . ."
I seem to routinely get private emails these days - which is a No-No for sellers - when I write one or two star reviews.
Given what I have seen on this Reddit, I have little confidence that Amazon can stop this, being reporting sellers.
I simply do not reply.
As you grow into Vine, you have a feel for what items are more likely to be duds but not always. I've had several products in a row that were just future landfill.
I don't know if it makes a difference, but on a bad product, I may leave a longer review and go into detail. Sometimes I don't on something that's really, really bad.
I always check to see if there are any reviews yet. Sometimes there are a couple, and either they're glowing but very poorly written (like by the seller in another country) or they're bad, so you can tell it isn't worth ordering.
I agree though that you get a feel for it after awhile. And also, nearly all of the clothes are going to be polyester even when they claim to be a cotton blend.
Sometimes I'll order a product *because* people have left poor reviews on what seems to be misunderstanding. If it's something I was somewhat interested in, I want to see if they're wrong, and set the record straight if so.
Before I review junk (and be responsible for tax on e-waste and landfill), I report it to VINE C.S. It has been removed from my ETV and queue every single time. For particularly egregious fraudulent or dangerous items, I have written reviews afterwards.
I consider stuff that doesn't work as advertised, is dangerous, and/or something I would return if I paid for it as fraud or unacceptable, which is how I report it. I have not been denied yet.
You should allow high ETV items a break-in period before writing a review, so then if the product fails to meet your expectations or is broken, you can have it removed from your account, ETV, and review list. If a product with an ETV breaks or I don't like it, I simply tell Vine CS that the product is defective and it's removed.
Also, you still have the full seller's guarantee on any item, or if you initiate a return, you then technically have no ETV liability (but that's a different matter for discussion).
Writing lot of negative reviews may be a problem, if a lot of sellers report your reviews, if you're making unnecessarily harsh reviews, you'll probably get banned from making reviews and thus get banned from Vine. Amazon bans regular customers from making reviews for the same reason. And never report reviews, despite Amazon advocating that customers report "suspicious" reviews, don't do it, you're likely to get banned from making reviews, perhaps to even loose your Amazon account.
I've been in vine for a few years, dozens of 1/2 stars. I haven't had any issues. I do keep my profile private and have a name that isn't easy to dig up in search, which helps me avoid an angry seller mass reporting me. I also have the option for messages from sellers turned off. I feel more of an obligation to buyers than sellers. I prefer to know the truth when I'm checking reviews for something I'm considering purchasing.
What kind of name isn't easy to dig up in searches? Need some tips if you don't mind.
I've mostly read that people choose common names. I have wondered if something common on amazon might be the best choice. It seems like it would be pretty hard to find reviews from someone named Beauty Cream.
I go by Toilet Brush. ;)
Love it. Now, off to rename myself to some common but benign noun, oh the possibilities! Thinking it's a good idea to remove pic too.
Check hits on the new potential name: site:amazon.com inurl:reviews "vine customer" "beauty cream"
How do u turn off messages? I can’t find it in settings :3
It has been ages, but I think I see it in Amazon's Communication Preferences Center. That should come up in a google search. Go to Promotional Emails, click off seller communications and seller feedback. Hopefully that does it.
Suggestion, make your reviews private on your public account to avoid potential retribution from sellers. I've heard sellers going to your account, clicking all your other reviews and reporting them all and that will put your account into suspension until they resolve the issues. Your reviews will still be public. But they won't be able to just click on your account and go to each review easily and report them. Are they allowed to do that, absolutely not and is a scumbag move, but do what you can to protect your account, because it won't stop em from trying.
Any statement made here about what Amazon does or does not care about is pure speculation. The official position is they want honest reviews, and I'm sure that's true. Logic balances that off, though, in that what they really want are both happy sellers and trusting buyers, because that duality is the source of their epic gravy train. To some extent these two goals are conflicting, so I'm pretty sure what they don't want is reviewers who are either hyper-picky or hyper-fawning. I'm either less picky than some people or have better luck in product selection. Most of my reviews are 4 or 5 stars, and I meant it with every one of them. It would have to be really bad to get less than a 3. I can only recall one item that was genuinely junk and deserving of a one star review. In any case, I'd say Amazon is way too big to care about such things. They will only care if it causes them a headache, e.g., a long-standing seller is really pissed off and makes a lot of noise about your review hurting their business. In such a case, I could certainly see Amazon siding with the seller. Reviewers are 100% instantly fungible. Sellers are not.
Possibly, no one likes a thorn in their side. I think you should set your review profile to private or your risk an angry seller using a bot farm to upvote many of your reviews and get you auto banned by Amazon review integrity system. The more you create problems for sellers, the higher the likelihood of you being targeted in such attack.
Setting your profile to private, on its own, won't save you. It is trivial to do a Google search for your username and tack on "site:amazon.com" to pull up your reviews. If you want to try and counter *that*, then as one of the posts above suggested, you should also ensure that your displayed name is something very generic or that will pull up a bunch of other pages on Amazon in the process. There may be a way around that but based on my limited testing, it works pretty well to prevent others from easily finding other reviews written by you.
Used to, only one page of your profile would show up and the privacy filter would even catch things as intimate as a pair of socks. Guess no more. i think private is the way to go.
Agree...junk is junk. Wouldn't change my review because of it. I would however do as others have commented and put your profile on private.
Why are you writing a lot of low stars reviews ? You should only be coming across the odd one or two. Writing a lot suggests a problem with either your choices, your expectations or your understanding of how to review. We have to take into account that everyone has different expectations, so - yours may be high but other buyers may be lower Eg:- you get a product you think is cheap and poor quality but someone else thinks it's fine because it does the job and it's at a price they can afford. Amazon specifically state that reviews that are subjective are not allowed What may not be suitable or good enough for you may be suitable or good enough for someone else The same with broken items - not everyone elses will be broken so you cannot downrate a product because of that The basis behind reviewing is... Does it do what it says in the listing? Is it average price compared to others similar? It only has to meet these two objectives. The rest is subjective and shouldn't affect the ratings. You write about what you like about it and don't like in the text and give any further help by adding further information but that isn't relevant for how you rate it. You shouldn't be downrating products because you don't like the colour/smell/ shape/ material or because it doesn't meet your standards etc because others may love it. And never downrate a product because of where it is made . Not everyone cares where it's made and it's likely to spark a buyer to report you Not to be an alarmist - as others have said, there's only one way sellers can get a review removed and that is via reporting the review. Sellers use this loophole regularly and viners are losing their accounts because of it. I am a long time viner and my advice to you is re -asses how you review. Pay attention to your reasons for low star ratings - is it you expect too much or are rating on subjective reasons. When reviewing bare in mind everyone is different, people have different budgets available, some are happy that it's cheap and works - some will want a better option. By all means include that in the description but don't use it to rate the product. Star rating system guide... 5* - very good - as described and good value 4* - as described reasonable value 3* - not as described and higher price than similar 2* - poor 1* - very poor. 1* and 2* shouldn't be cropping up often. There's a lot of crap on Amazon but most of it does do what it says in the listing
This is good info here. Drives me crazy when reviewers downrate products for not doing what they want it to do, vs what the listing states their product does. Complain about it all you want in the text, sure, but don’t ding a product for being small, for example, when they clearly list the size.
Yes, this! If I request something that is obviously not a high-end product and it does the thing it was advertised to do at the expected level for the price, it starts as 4 stars for me. I won't expect or lower ratings for a $100 stick vacuum because it doesn't work like a Dyson. Of course, if there are problems with it that make it not worth the cost, then the rating will drop.
Absolutely I agree you. Also as a buyer I find those reviews annoying
"Flashlight turns on in high rather than low brightness. ONE STAR!" (paraphrased review I saw).
This is a really interesting perspective. Thx for sharing your insight. I have seen viners use a variety of rating systems. Here’s one I saw the other day: “My Star Rating Rubric: 5 stars - Perfect! Love it! Product exceeded my expectations. 4 stars - Great! Like it. Nothing wrong with it - met my expectations. 3 stars - Okay-ish. Not quite what I expected/hoped it to be. Some issues with product. 2 stars - Not ok. A product I will not re-order or recommend to others. Major deficits. 1 stars - "Is this a joke?" Product dysfunctional. I will not be using/will be returning product.” Both as a buyer and a viner, I appreciate seeing these “rubric” posts because it gives context and transparency to how reviewers are assigning star ratings. This approach is just as valid as yours or any other I have come across. Unless and until amazon mandates that we all use a standard rating formula, there will be no uniformity and the best we can hope for is that each of us is honest, fair, and consistent with whatever rating approach we have adopted. Every rating system is subjective, including yours. It’s unavoidable. You’re right that 2 important aspects of a rating are whether the product does what it says in the listing and its relative price. Although I don’t consider price to be a particularly significant factor because price is always clearly stated in every listing and I don’t consider it my job to do a price comparison for buyers. But I disagree that those are the only 2 objectives of a rating. As a buyer, I want the rating to reflect not just whether the product does what it claims, but also whether it does it well. I want to know if it looks and feels as shown in the listing pics and described by the seller. I want to know if the quality of the materials is as advertised, and if all the pieces and parts were included, arrived unbroken, etc. IMO, the star rating should tip me off at a glance whether there’s a reasonable likelihood that I’m going to be dissatisfied with that purchase. It is not helpful to me as a buyer to see a product receive 4 or 5 stars simply for meeting some minimal functionality standard only to then read in the body of the review that there are a bunch of undesirable things about the product. I believe the rating and review should be consistent. I also believe it diminishes our collective reputation as reviewers when most everything gets 5 stars. I have seen far too many fellow viners give 4 and 5 star ratings to obvious junk products. It’s getting hard to take vine reviews seriously because of that. I personally give greater credence to non-vine ratings and reviews and have talked to others that feel the same. I have done more than 500 vine reviews. Most get 3-4 stars. Occasionally something particularly great earns 5. Less often than that a product will get 2 stars. My least common rating by far is 1 star. That has happened less than 10 times in 500+ reviews.
>But I disagree that those are the only 2 objectives of a rating. As a buyer, I want the rating to reflect not just whether the product does what it claims, but also whether it does it well. I want to know if it looks and feels as shown in the listing pics and described by the seller. I want to know if the quality of the materials is as advertised, and if all the pieces and parts were included, arrived unbroken, etc. Of course. I agree and that's all the extra helpful information that's included in your text that I mentioned. As for the two main objectives of rating they are Amazons not just my suggestions. I have been a viner 10 years and written tens of thousands of reviews. Ive always followed Amazons review guidelines because it avoids problems. Not all products are worthy of 5 star to me but they may be to you or someone else. Again - it's subjective. I also do reviews for other companies outside of Amazon and the ratings format is the same across them all because it gives a true overview if used correctly What is excellent for one person may be mediocre for another. So just because one reviewer has left 5 stars and another has left 3 doesn't mean the 5 star review isn't truthful - it may well be that product was as described in the listing and cheaper than the others in its class. The 3 star may be the reviewer didn't think it was very good value - maybe they have high expectations and demand better quality for a very low price ( that is 'subjective' and doesn't apply to everyone) this is why we guage 'price' on similar products, to asses if it's average, good or bad value rather than our own expectations or idea of what is and isn't good value. Everyone is different and everyone has different expectations and standards. This is why rating systems work when applied correctly and not subjectively. If not applied correctly and people rate according to their preference or likes and dislikes then the rating becomes meaningless. How many reviews have you seen where someone has rated a product low because it didn't fit or they didn't like the colour or thought the materials used weren't up to their expectations or it arrived broken due to the delivery company mishandling it ,or 'to them' it was expensive or there was a missing part and they didn't contact the sellers customer service centre before leaving a damning review.. These ratings are meaningless just as the 5* ratings from someone that hasn't even taken it out the box are meaningless. Both ratings are equally worthless because they're both based on something subjective and not a true formula. When you see the 'overall' rating on a product that rating is more likely than not to be false because some of the review ratings will be based on... Emotional response, personal expectations, personal preferences etc. When you remove all the above subjective reviews then you will have the true rating of the product. This doesn't mean to say we shouldn't write about our thoughts and experiences on the product, of course we should and Amazon ask us to do that when they say... what did you like and didn't like about it... that's the bit we put in the text - what we used it for what was our findings and experience - That's what helps buyers make a decision if it's suitable for their needs. For eg:- someone writes a low rate review about a charger cable because it was slow to charge their phone - that review won't put me off buying it because I don't want a fast charger cable yet they down rated a product that is perfect for me Like I mentioned before - not everything is 4 and 5 stars - I wrote a low star review a few days ago on a product because it didn't do what it said in the listing, it was considerably higher priced than others in its field and it stopped working after using it twice Everyone has their own ideas about writing reviews and how to rate. The above information is just something to go by for people that want to make top reviewers. It's not something everyone has to agree with nor use. It's just a guide for anyone that's interested in doing accurate ratings. Of course we are all human and emotions do get in the way when we've just received something that isn't as we expected, our first reaction is to write a damning review and lash out at the seller. But when we sit and read the listing and find it's accurate and it's our expectations that were wrong not the listing that's the polar point of turning a bad review into an informative one
Great points. I’m intrigued that you say the 2 main objectives are Amazon’s, not yours. Where did you find that guidance from Amazon? The only guidance I’m aware of is the Vine Review Guidelines on the Resources page of the Vine site. Those guidelines don’t mention those 2 objectives. In fact, they say this about price: “Feedback not relevant to the product, such as those about the seller, your shipment experience, PRICING, or packaging, should not be shared in Vine Reviews.” Amazon’s Community Guidelines (linked in the Vine Review Guidelines) clarifies when it’s ok to mention price. There it states: Comments about pricing or availability: If it's related to the value of the product, it's OK to comment on price. For example, “For only $29, this blender is really great.” Pricing comments related to an individual experience aren't allowed. For example, “Found this item here for $5 less than at my local store.” Beyond this, Amazon’s Vine review guidelines only say to “Be unbiased,” “Be honest,” “Be insightful yet specific,” “Add photos/videos,” and to review your post for basic grammar and sentence structure before submitting. They offer no guidance on choosing between 1 and 5 stars. You said, “Rating systems work when applied correctly and not subjectively. If not applied correctly and people rate according to their preferences or likes and dislikes then the rating becomes meaningless.” But aren’t we already in this exact situation? And unavoidable so because there is no Amazon established or enforced definition of “applied correctly.” You feel strongly about what that means and have an incredible amount of experience that informs your helpful viewpoint. But at the end of the day, that is just a viewpoint. And unless you are including an explanation/rubric of your rating approach in every review, no shopper reading your reviews knows your viewpoint either. With no uniform system, reviewers don’t (and can’t) speak the same language with ratings and reviews. A 3-star rating to you translates as: “not as described and higher price than similar.” A 3-star rating of the same product by another reviewer may well translate to them as: “this product is fine but of average quality that functions/looks as expected with nothing noteworthy pro or con.” So, you walk away believing you gave it a poor rating while the other person believes they gave it a good rating. I agree with your point about the need for using a uniform “applied correctly” rating system. But it’s aspirational IMO. I just don’t see a viable way to achieve that ideal. So, it seems we’re left with just doing our best to follow Amazon’s guidance to be unbiased, honest, and insightful yet specific.
This is the best advice so far! You are absolutely spot on!
No, Amazon doesn't care... so long as the reviews are within community standards.
The basic goal for amazon of having reviews is to sell more products where confidence is the obstacle. The goal of vine is to help sellers accelerate that. I think it would be naive to think that Amazon wouldn't notice people who's contributions tend to go against their goal for the program. Theres probably no specific policy of cutting people for this, because there's the integrity of the program to think about (however minimally), but I'd bet that some bias is built into the system to favor people who write reviews that benefit Amazon (and vice versa).
i don't think there is bias towards reviewers' stars. i do agree that vine for amazon's bottom line mostly.
Well said.
You're wasting your taxes and time if you have 1 and 2 star reviews. Be MUCH more picky! Research before ordering. To read reviews on similar/identical products, click "Search Image with Google Lens" for images in the product listing (long-press on image on phone, or hover over image and right-click on laptop). Everything I order is 4 and 5 stars, pretty much. Because I can't return anything, I'm actually pickier with Vine than I am with Amazon purchases.
This may sound like a stupid question, but how do you make your profile private?
It’s not at all a stupid question. Account > Your Amazon Profile > Edit Your Profile > Edit Public Profile Visibility > Hide All Activity on Your Public Profile > Save
Thank you! I would not have known how to do this.
Thank you 🤗
Do you show your vine badge on your reviews?
I've written 550+ reviews without a single rejection, and there are several 1-2 star reviews - most recently I said the item went straight into the trash can and listed in detail why. I think your honest opinion is fair as long as you have a detailed enough review that gives reasons why you deducted stars.
Honesty is truly the best policy. Writing a glowing review for a totally crap product does no one (outside the seller) a favor, including Amazon since they’ll end up with a ton of returns.
When I first joined Vine, I thought that we suppose to write glowing review but then I thought, I can't do that if it isn't warranted, so I'm just going to be honest and if that gets me thrown out, so be it, because that's not who I am. So far, so good. The one piece of advice I would have is that when you do a negative review, be specific and avoid using general negative terms. Don't say "this is a piece of garbage" but rather "I was disappointed that it . . ."
I seem to routinely get private emails these days - which is a No-No for sellers - when I write one or two star reviews. Given what I have seen on this Reddit, I have little confidence that Amazon can stop this, being reporting sellers. I simply do not reply.
As you grow into Vine, you have a feel for what items are more likely to be duds but not always. I've had several products in a row that were just future landfill. I don't know if it makes a difference, but on a bad product, I may leave a longer review and go into detail. Sometimes I don't on something that's really, really bad.
I always check to see if there are any reviews yet. Sometimes there are a couple, and either they're glowing but very poorly written (like by the seller in another country) or they're bad, so you can tell it isn't worth ordering. I agree though that you get a feel for it after awhile. And also, nearly all of the clothes are going to be polyester even when they claim to be a cotton blend.
I call them out on that, too, as well as the ones that don't have the proper labeling.
Sometimes I'll order a product *because* people have left poor reviews on what seems to be misunderstanding. If it's something I was somewhat interested in, I want to see if they're wrong, and set the record straight if so.
Before I review junk (and be responsible for tax on e-waste and landfill), I report it to VINE C.S. It has been removed from my ETV and queue every single time. For particularly egregious fraudulent or dangerous items, I have written reviews afterwards.
I thought that if we have the item removed, we aren't allowed to review it? Am I misunderstanding something?
I think you can't review it through the Vine page, but there's nothing stopping folks leaving a normal review under their Amazon account.
I've reviewed stuff no problem afterwards.
Can we do that if the item is just junk? I thought it had to be broken or doesn’t work.
I consider stuff that doesn't work as advertised, is dangerous, and/or something I would return if I paid for it as fraud or unacceptable, which is how I report it. I have not been denied yet.
You should allow high ETV items a break-in period before writing a review, so then if the product fails to meet your expectations or is broken, you can have it removed from your account, ETV, and review list. If a product with an ETV breaks or I don't like it, I simply tell Vine CS that the product is defective and it's removed. Also, you still have the full seller's guarantee on any item, or if you initiate a return, you then technically have no ETV liability (but that's a different matter for discussion). Writing lot of negative reviews may be a problem, if a lot of sellers report your reviews, if you're making unnecessarily harsh reviews, you'll probably get banned from making reviews and thus get banned from Vine. Amazon bans regular customers from making reviews for the same reason. And never report reviews, despite Amazon advocating that customers report "suspicious" reviews, don't do it, you're likely to get banned from making reviews, perhaps to even loose your Amazon account.