If you’re a seller, Amazon will nail you for posting product reviews of the stuff you’re selling.
One seller, VIP Deals, who was offering rebates in exchange for five-star product reviews, was apparently suspended by Amazon after the New York Times ran a story about them. Not only did Amazon take down VIP’s listings, they wiped out the product page, too.
Just to be clear, we’re talking about product reviews, not merchant feedback.
This is one thing that escapes the attention of many sellers: Amazon’s “prohibited seller activities” includes writing product reviews of items you’re selling. The logic is, if you have a financial interest in the product, it’s too tempting to post an undeservedly glowing review of it (in other words, a “fake” endorsement). Here’s Amazon’s wording:
Creating reviews for items in which you have a financial interest in the product or a directly competing product (for example posting a review of a product you offer for sale on Amazon, or posting a negative review of a competing product) is prohibited. You may not solicit or pay anyone to create a review or offer gifts or refunds for the removal of product reviews.
So, was VIP Deals in the wrong for offering a rebate to buyers in exchange for reviews? No debate in this case. Where they went over the line was in hinting they expected 5-star reviews in exchange for refunds–according to what I’ve read. As the Times recounts, thousands of Amazon customers discovered VIP’s Kindle Fire leather cases priced at $10, marked down from $59.99. The packages arrived with a letter asking buyers “to write a product review for the Amazon community.”
“In return for writing the review, we will refund your order so you will have received the product for free,” the letter said. Here’s a picture of the letter:
There’s nothing inherently wrong about providing free products solely for review consideration. Amazon has a giant program called Amazon Vine, which serves as a pipeline between publishers, product manufacturers, and Amazon’s amateur reviewers. Vine reviewers get a newsletter once a month offering review copies of new books and other products.
You can’t directly sign up for Amazon Vine. It’s one of those “don’t call us, we’ll call you” situations. If you frequently post product reviews on Amazon and get a sufficiently high percentage of “helpful” votes, you’ll get the invitation.
Check out most of the Amazon Vine reviews, and you’ll see that most (but not all) of the reviewers consistently post five-star product reviews. Perhaps they post upbeat reviews because they can expect to receive even more freebies from manufacturers who want reviews of new items.
I’ve heard that it costs publishers more than $5,000 to get a single book included in the Vine program. And so publishers are frustrated when, every once in a while, a Vine reviewer pans a book, according to Publishers Weekly.
One of the most notorious Amazon reviewers is Harriet Klausner, who often posts dozens of glowing book reviews each day of the week.
I’ve been a member of Vine myself for three or four years, and one thing I’ve noticed is that the offered products closely follow your recent purchases. If I’ve recently bought a kitchen gadget on Amazon, the next Vine newsletter will offer kitchen gadgets, in addition to books. Last month I bought a license plate frame on Amazon, and sure enough, today’s newsletter offered auto accessories. So Amazon definitely tries to match up books and products with reviewers who are interested in that category.
How effective is Vine? That’s open to debate. One thing is obvious, though, it’s a cash cow for Amazon — they’ve got manufacturers lining up by the thousands paying big bucks for the privilege of giving away their merchandise, on the theory that they’ll eventually sell more of it.
bookselling
The BooksellerThat Bookstore Next on the Block
Publishers Weekly
This month alone both Mystery Lovers Bookshop in Pittsburgh and RJ Julia Booksellers in Madison, Ct., went on the market. TBIB owner Mary Gay Shipley, who turns 68 next month, told PW, “I want somebody to buy my store and make it theirs.and more » What's Up with the Google Affiliate Program?
Publishers Weekly
Although the hiatus hasn't affected American Booksellers Association IndieCommerce stores that sell Google eBooks on their Web sites or affiliates like Powell's Books in Portland or smaller stores like Devaney Doak & Garrett Booksellers in Farmington, ...
Telegraph.co.uk
etsy
Central Michigan LifeStitch Labs makes running an online business a snap, raises $1M (updated)
VentureBeat
Co-founder Jake Gasaway told VentureBeat in an interview that Stitch Labs really took off after it integrated with Etsy and Shopify. Many of the millions of Etsy users began making their way over to Stitch Labs and became paying customers, which helped ...How Three Users' Sales Idea Improved Etsy
NBC Chicago (blog)
Chicago-based startup Etsy On Sale is an example of what can happen if you opt for the latter. To be fair, it isn't like they cold called Etsy -- the e-commerce site that lets folks sell their homemade crafts to anyone interested -- and said, "Hey, ...Crafts: For art's sake, take great pictures of it
LubbockOnline.com
William Dohman, who sells wooden signs and scenic images at his store, Oh Dier, at the online marketplace Etsy.com, is an architect and self-taught photographer who plans each photo shoot in his St. Paul, Minn., studio. Dohman likes to photograph his ...and more »
Related posts:
![[Google]]( http://www.weberbooks.com/selling/wp-content/plugins/easy-adsenser/google-light.gif)
2 Comments
Good Morning Steve,
I’ve been reading your commentary for the past six years — since I began as a pro-merchant seller on Amazon. Thought for once I’d share some of my commentary with you.
As you and everyone else on our side of the equation knows, the Amazon rating system considers neutral ratings the same as negative in determining a seller’s overall rating.
This is inaccurate and unfair to all parties involved as it results in a distorted picture.
I have taken this up with Amazon (see my emails to them below). As you would expect, all I received in return are form emails about how their rating system works.
Perhaps you and other sellers would like to add your own missives to Amazon? Your call.
Best wishes,
Russ Pottle
Tennessee Bookman
Details about Case 51914051
Jan 26, 2012 5:53 PM PST
Why does Amazon give neutral feedback the exact same weight as negative? That isn’t fair is it? If two vendors each had ten ratings: the first eight positive and two neutral: the second eight positive and two negative, they would both show an 80% on your system. The Tennessee Bookman just received a neutral rating from a customer who said he was pleased with the book and the service received, but the shipping was slow. We shipped the book within 24 hours. Any complaint with the time in transit lies solely with the post office, not us. But we get the neutral rating that in your system might as well be a negative and our rating goes down. How is that fair? How does that help customers distinguish between vendors like the Tennessee Bookman who will treat them right and the truly problematic vendors who won’t?
(follow-up 1/27/12)
Case 51914051
This is the third time I’ve contacted you on this important issue so I hope to get a real response this time.
Your rating system is fundamentally flawed. You lump neutral ratings in with negative ratings. This is wrong on three levels. It was not the intention of the customer to have a neutral rating treated the same as a negative rating for the particular vendor. If they wanted to issue a negative rating they would have. It is unfair to the merchant. Ten neutral ratings brings down their overall rating exactly the same as if they had received ten negative ratings. How is that being accurate or fair? And finally, and most importantly, the prospective customer looking at the overall ratings gets a distorted and inaccurate assessment. Thus they may make the wrong choice and go with a vendor who received a number of negatives instead of a competing vendor who received the same number of neutrals.
Now here are two options to fix this statistical inaccuracy:
1. Don’t assign neutral ratings to either positive or negative ratings overall. Clearly, this buyer was satisfied with the transaction, otherwise they would have entered negative rather than neutral feedback. Thus, the opinion of the person who enters a neutral rating should be respected and not be lumped in with another customer who submits a negative rating.
2. If you must include neutral ratings somewhere, weight them. That’s the way its done in accepted statistical and survey analysis. Two neutral ratings are treated as one negative.
Let’s get this corrected ASAP. The buyers, the sellers, and the future customers deserve it.
Russ Pottle
Tennessee Bookman
I have contacted amazon in gripping fear because of a customer who blamed ME because they asked for standard/media shipping on a $2.99 book, and lived 3,000 miles away and didn’t get the book for, get this, ten days! TOO long. I am starting to not list anything that might not be able to be upgraded to faster shipping if the distance is great. Sometimes I just lose money rather than risk a bad feedback (not a good business plan!).
I have ALSO taken to writing an email with each transaction (cut and pasting the basic message, making changes as appropriate…and YES, time consuming) that alert the buyer that it might take twelve days, and maybe a few extra due to winter/holiday season/distance, in hopes of derailing a bad feedback because they cheaped out on a rush item.
Recently, I have had two disgruntled people, one pissed because amazon dropped my description from the listing and he thought it was a hardcover (why did the download do that to me?), and another because I couldn’t locate the book (I looked on my own inventory and had deleted it as sold months earlier!). I contacted Amazon regarding the second one, and they told me that they couldn’t do anything to help me. I told them that we work for them, true, but other employers protect their employees. The outsourced help desk person didn’t have an answer. Kevin from Pakistan pretty much listened, then said, is there anything else I can do for you?
So selling on Amazon is a risky business with no protection and very few perks. But, they ARE pretty much the only game in town. My alibris is horrendous, and I won’t be listing there again next year (they never sell anything for me, and when they do, they take a lot for it, esp. from their secondary sellers like B&N or chapters.ca, etc.). I still sell in a brick and mortar, but that’s labor intensive (all that cleaning, and shoveling!).
So Amazon knows they have us!