I buy a lot of things off the internet. Doctors buy a lot of things using the internet. The internet has changed the way we shop. We can research products and order them from the comfort of our home and we can even shop on the go with our cell phones. Mega online retailer, Amazon makes online shopping a super easy experience by providing customer product reviews and offering 2 day shipping, or in some cases, same day shipping.
In this article, I will teach you how to use two great online resources to:
- Spot fake reviews with www.Fakespot.com
- Research price history with www.CamelCamelCamel.com
How to Spot Fake Reviews
Have you ever purchased something that was a huge disappointment but you remember buying it because it had amazing online reviews? Depending on the product, the reviews you are reading may be fake reviews placed there to lure unsuspecting customers into buying an inferior product.
Fake customer reviews and ratings have long plagued the internet. Advertisers know that if they can boost the number of 5 star ratings with fake reviews, customers will be more likely to click on the “add to cart” button. Even reviews labeled as “verified” can be fake.
This is where Fakespot.com comes in. If I am buying a new product for the first time, I will often run the product through Fakespot which will analyze reviews on sites like Amazon, Yelp, and Tripadvisor and provide a grade based on the reviews’ authenticity. Fakespot uses an algorithm to analyze the language and profile of each reviewer to distinguish between true and false reviews.
For me, Fakespot has been most helpful when buying things like phone cases and electronic accessories where the reviews just seemed too good to be true. Fakespot most recently saved me from purchasing a phone case that had 42 five star reviews. It seemed like a great case with a perfect rating.
But when I ran the case through Fakespot, the results were shocking:
Fakespot.com’s analysis found that almost 70% of the reviews were fake! The level of deception is disheartening, but luckily those armed with Fakespot will be able to identify and steer clear from products that use dishonest tactics to get customers to purchase their merchandise.
In another example, we will see how Fakespot helped me to gain confidence in an item I was researching and ultimately purchased. In this case I had been researching daypacks to carry my laptop and other work related items needed for my day to day activities. I love bags by Timbuk2, and I really liked the Timbuk2 Command Messenger Daypack
The Timbuk2 bag had a great rating with 833 reviews. But is it too good to be true? I ran it through Fakespot which analyzed the reviews and gave the reviews an A grade, meaning that most of the reviews are of high quality.
Now it’s your turn to give Fakespot a run. Follow the steps below to practice using Fakespot:
- Find an item that you would consider purchasing at Amazon.
- Copy the web address.
- Open Fakespot (click here for Fakespot.com).
- Paste the address into the Fakespot analyze bar and let the site work its magic.
How to Research Price History
Another tactic that can be used by sellers to trick the consumer has to do with pricing. You probably have noticed that Amazon shows two different price tags, the “List Price” and the “Amazon Price.” Often times the list price will be inflated and then crossed out. Just underneath the list price will be a deeply discounted Amazon price. Shoppers will naturally think that the product is on sale and that they are getting a great deal.
The New York Times reported: “A cat litter pan with a list price of $2,159 can be yours for a mere $28. A bag of doggy treats, normally $822, is only $8. A windshield wiper blade, which the unwary pay $1,504 for, has been knocked down 99 percent.
You say you don’t believe that a plastic cat pan could ever have been sold to anyone for a couple of thousand bucks? Or that a six-ounce bag of Zuke’s Lil’ Links pork and apple sausage bits ever cost more than dinner at a five-star restaurant?
It’s all part of the bizarre world of Internet “discounts,” which let retailers and brands assert that you are getting a stupendous deal because someone somewhere else — exactly where is never explained — is being charged much more.”
I mean check out this amazing deal on batteries, if you buy now you will save $829! Sellers love manipulating the prices in this way because it works. As long as consumers respond to fictitious discounts off of MSRP or list price, then sellers will keep on doing it.
The website CamelCamelCamel.com tracks Amazon pricing and keeps shoppers informed so that they don’t fall prey to price manipulation tricks. Just like with Fakespot, simply copy the web address of the item from Amazon that you are interested in seeing the price history and paste it into the engines of CamelCamelCamel.com.