I've reviewed a few purchases from Amazon. A couple of crafting books. Both 5 star. I found them informative and easy to use and made items from them that turned out well. Sewing and knitting. I thought my reviews could be helpful to others. I'm not much for critical reviews of novels, biographies etc. I don't think I would be good at it. But I just left a 1 star review for a cookbook that is a mess. It has a lot of 5 star reviews and I wish I had read the lower reviews before purchasing. (there were other 1 star reviews) I'll keep it in the hope of finding something from it. I don't know how Amazon works, my review was posted quickly. I don't think a real person reads them. I wonder if some program searches for some sort of trigger words that could be obscene or offensive. I usually don't like to leave a negative review. I just felt this one was too well deserved. Anyone review much or a little?
We shop a lot on Amazon, and I always read the reviews before I purchase something; so I also try to leave an honest review of the things I liked or didn't like about things that we buy. I think that a lot of people read the amazon reviews before they decide which product to buy, especially when it is a similar type of product. Sometimes, the most expensive ones are not always the best. As an example, I have a Logitech keyboard for my iPad Pro that was an expensive keyboard case. It has lighted keys and is very pretty. However, when the case is on the ipad, I cant work the volume controls, which is a real nuisance. I read some of the other reviews, and discovered that everyone else had the same complaint. One person explained about using the volume controls on the keyboard itself, and that does work. This keyboard case was a gift; but if I had been shopping for a case and read these reviews, I probably would not have purchased it for myself. I ended up getting a much cheaper case with a detachable keyboard, and it works perfectly for me. So I think that is always good to shop around, and read all of the reviews, or at least enough to get an idea what other people like and do not like about this item.
I read reviews to get an idea of the product, hopefully. I also ask a question, if its not covered, very helpful With books, you can download a sample - good idea I leave reviews, mainly when I like something, if its just OK, I say nothing If a product is bad - I will review it as such
Not on every product I buy, but I often leave reviews, good and bad. The ones in between are the ones I don't often bother reviewing.
I do reviews about consumer products I care about particularly. I always read reviews before shopping, as well, and have been helped enormously by other people's insights into problems with various items, eg is not a standard size, is a particularly itchy material, or has some hidden defect. Reviews are great for helping consumers make the best decisions so I contribute what I can to assist others. As for books, music or movies I do not have the skills to critique creative works so would not even try.
I write reviews for things I particularly like or dislike and do quite a lot connected with travel for the likes of Booking.com and TripAdvisor. I have found that on Amazon a lot of the 5 star reviews for new products can be false, so I check the reviewer to see if they have made any other reviews, which they often haven't if they are false. Books, movies and music I consider to be subjective and like @Augusta Heathbourne don't possess the skills to give a critique anyway....
I do exactly the same as @Terry Page , particularly the 5 star reviewers previous reviews I review thing which are outstanding...I review things which are disappointing or downright bad...and I review anyone who is clearly a new seller if they've given a good service. The in-betweenies...not really!!
I agree reviews can be helpful. And I do read them. A few negatives will always happen I guess. I have also given 5 star reviews for a couple of pet products I bought. Particularly the PetFusion scratcher I bought for the cats. Worth the extra money and they love it. My stupidity on the cookbook was buying it off a blog recommendation. Realizing later the blogger probably got something in return for recommending the stupid book. I have also read that some reviews can be false. Amazon does put "verified purchase" if the product was bought through them. I also like to leave seller reviews on Etsy.
Here is a online review that will pay off for us: I done an online review for the marine service that works on our boat. I said very good things about the service, since we've been taking our boat to them since April 2009. I've talked to the owner, know the office manager and lead mechanic. Unlike some, I don't have any complaints. Some boat owners want their boat done asap and that just isn't going to happen when the service only has one mechanic currently and it's in the middle of the summer. Currently, they have around 25 work orders for boats. Anyway, I found out they are giving us a nice discount on draining old gas out of our boat.
I write reviews off and on. I do read others views on Amazon and other places. I hold to the recent reviews, more..than older ones. However what benefits one person does not always benifit another.Helps to know otbers experience with something before I purchase. I think twice I have sent something back to Amazon because just not what I expected.
A couple of years ago, I order a pair of Darth Vader costume gloves for my Darth Vader Halloween costume. The picture online showed exactly what I wanted. When I got them, they weren't what the pictured showed and sent them back. Found another pair online from another Halloween store that looked just like the pair I wanted that I ended up sending back because they didn't match the photo online. Well, the second pair didn't match the picture online either. They let me keep the gloves and refunded my money. That was nice, but I did a review on the gloves, titled "Buyer Beware". They were going to change their online picture of the gloves to match the gloves they were sending out. At last check, they hadn't changed the picture yet.
I occasionally review stuff, but not often. Some things I have reviewed positively in the past have later proved unsatisfactory or not up to standards. On one product, I criticized the instructions (not the product) so negatively that I received and email that my review would not be included int eh public posts.
I quit doing or even reading Yelp reviews for that reason. Having no interest one way or another in any of the restaurants I had reviewed, my reviews were as objective as they come, some good, some bad, most somewhere in the middle. Then I found they had removed every review I had done from public view because they weren't considered objective. Yelp apparently makes its money from advertisers, so when an advertiser complains about a bad review, they hide it, and when they get a few complaints about the same reviewer, they hide all their stuff. What's the point in reading customer reviews, when so many of the negative ones are hidden?