One of the last things you ever want to start a conversation with is “I’m a Amazon Product Reviewer”. There is curiosity, apprehension, and most times disgust from people who are aware of the dreaded disclaimer “I received this product… BLAH BLAH BLAH.” Recently there is a trend of BAD reviewers, I’m talking uneducated, short, misspelled, bad english, FAKE reviews. This has put a huge target on those of us who are professional, well written, honest, and descriptive reviewers.
There is a lot of repercussions that the professionals are now facing due to the swarm of unreliable, “give me something FREE” reviewers. Recently there has been a lot of changes and account suspensions due to the lack of professionalism that is in this community. A lot of the suspensions that I have personally witnessed are the professionals. Here is a short list of things to watch out for:
FLAG 1-AVOID sellers releasing more than 30 codes (sellers do NOT offer more than 30 to keep your product listing from coming under fire)
FLAG2- STAY AWAY from intentionally leaked codes (sellers if you need to clear inventory, do NOT go about it this way)
FLAG3- STAY AWAY from illegally leaked codes, if they are not given to you by the seller or your admin, DO NOT USE THEM. Your account will be at risk
FLAG4- ALWAYS leave a disclaimer in FULL VIEW of the review, either the beginning or the end. NEVER hidden. Again, BIG NO NO!
FLAG4- BEWARE, Your normal Amazon purchases need to be more than 30% of your review purchases, review products need to be under 70% of your reviews or you are “abusing the system”.
FLAG5- ALWAYS keep your eyes on your helpful votes, the new trend of sellers paying BAD reviewers to click on helpful votes, is completely out of your hands. If you notice this happening to your account, immediately contact Amazon and make them aware of the problem. This will also get your account suspended for “Farming Helpful votes”.
FLAG6- RECEIVING PAYMENT to write a review, this is the fastest way to get a lawsuit slapped on you by Amazon, do us all a favor and just STOP.
Here’s what I do know, reviewing isn’t going away. I understand Amazon wanting to weed out the crap. I personally go to Amazon to look for reviews when I am shopping (which is why I also believe it is important to write HONEST reviews) however the penalties that are being tossed out on honest professional reviewers, DAILY is extremely disappointing and upsetting. There are a lot of reviewers in our community that spend hours upon hours, reviewing and writing product reviews only to get their account suspended over something not even in their control.
As an active effort to keep the honest reviewers informed, please share this Blog and feel free to add any other FLAGS that we should be aware of to keep our community safe from the botched efforts of BAD reviewers and sellers!
If you need to contact Amazon appeals, here is the email address to submit questions and unjust claims. review-appeals@amazon.com
The Real Deal Gal 