Contacted by Amazon Seller - Free Dash Cam for Review

[Merko]

So I got this email a couple of days ago:

Hello friend,

This is Bela, we are an Amazon seller who keeps focusing on providing high quality car accessories, cellphone accessories, etc.

We just released a supercapacitor dash cam, it equipped with Sony sensor and microwave monitoring, OBD cable to accomplish 24/7 continuosly recording and powered by supercapacitor.
Do you have any interested in getting a free one for reviewing?

If so, would you mind sending me one of your previous review link at Amazon that you wrote before? Thank you!

On regards

Anybody else got one? Obviously against the EULA of Amazon.

 

[Nigel]

Sounds like a Vantrue T2?

Remember that it would be you that would be breaking Amazon's rules, and it would be you that they would prosecute.

 

[Merko]

Sounds like a Vantrue T2?

Remember that it would be you that would be breaking Amazon's rules, and it would be you that they would prosecute.

You are wrong there.

It's the seller that is breaking the Amazon rules, not me.

 

[jokiin]

it's how the Chinese sellers operate, they game the system by buying their reviews with free products, refunds, discounts etc

 

[Nigel]

You are wrong there.

It's the seller that is breaking the Amazon rules, not me.

You might want to read up on the rules before proceeding, rather than just guessing!

 

[jokiin]

You might want to read up on the rules before proceeding, rather than just guessing!

possibly against the rules for the buyer, it's definitely against the rules for the seller though and the seller will be punished if caught

 

[Nigel]

possibly against the rules for the buyer, it's definitely against the rules for the seller though and the seller will be punished if caught

What buyer? The reviewer is getting it free.

Old news:

Since the beginning of 2015, Amazon has sued over 1,000 people—but those sued people were reviewers.

Sellers Sued Over Fake Reviews on Amazon | Annex Cloud

The Seattle-based e-commerce giant is taking the fight against fake reviews on Amazon to a whole new level. Please Feel Free To Get In Touch With Us.

www.annexcloud.com

 

[jokiin]

What buyer? The reviewer is getting it free.

Old news:

Sellers Sued Over Fake Reviews on Amazon | Annex Cloud

The Seattle-based e-commerce giant is taking the fight against fake reviews on Amazon to a whole new level. Please Feel Free To Get In Touch With Us.

www.annexcloud.com

they make them purchase and then refund the buyer

 

[SawMaster]

On it's face it is an unethical process which is why I refuse such offers. TBH I'm not exactly certain how ethical it is for me to accept free cams for testing and review, even with me making it very clear that I will give as honest and unbiased review as I can, and only promising that to happen here on DCT and perhaps other dashcam websites.

My not purchasing from Amazon precludes me from posting a review there- not that I place much value on Amazon reviews anyway. It shouldn't matter who might get prosecuted when this scheme comes to light- the mere fact that it's against Amazon rules should be enough to tell us not to participate in the scheme at any level.

Phil

 

[Nigel]

On it's face it is an unethical process which is why I refuse such offers. TBH I'm not exactly certain how ethical it is for me to accept free cams for testing and review, even with me making it very clear that I will give as honest and unbiased review as I can, and only promising that to happen here on DCT and perhaps other dashcam websites.

My not purchasing from Amazon precludes me from posting a review there- not that I place much value on Amazon reviews anyway. It shouldn't matter who might get prosecuted when this scheme comes to light- the mere fact that it's against Amazon rules should be enough to tell us not to participate in the scheme at any level.

Phil

There is nothing wrong with people making reviews, the big problem with the Amazon reviews is that the seller always ensures that they only get 5 star reviews, either by withholding the repayment until a 5 star review is provided, or by choosing reviewers who have a history of only providing 5 star reviews. That is why Amazon banned the practice.

For reviews on here, people don't get away with posting inaccurate reviews without other people pointing out the inaccuracies, so there isn't much of a problem. Also, we wouldn't get most of the decent reviews if products were not provided free, and the forum would be a lot poorer without those reviews - we couldn't even rely on DashcamMan's reviews since his are based on the ones people have posted.

 

[jokiin]

For reviews on here, people don't get away with posting inaccurate reviews without other people pointing out the inaccuracies, so there isn't much of a problem. Also, we wouldn't get most of the decent reviews if products were not provided free, and the forum would be a lot poorer without those reviews - we couldn't even rely on DashcamMan's reviews since his are based on the ones people have posted.

I see no issue with members here getting free product for review, most reviews wouldn't happen otherwise, as you say tainted reviews are easily spotted and called out, that hasn't been a problem so far

 

[SawMaster]

There's nothing really wrong with "Free Product" reviews as long as the reviewer makes that very clear at the start, allowing readers/viewers to decide the veracity of the review for themselves. It's the "reimbursement" part which I find unsettling- the single purpose of doing things that way it so that the reviewer will be able to post an Amazon review as a buyer when in reality they are not a buyer at all. Starting off with deceit never ends well

Phil