Every day, you check your Amazon product listings for new reviews from customers. And every day, you end up disappointed.
What if you could just buy reviews instead of collecting them organically? As long as they look authentic, they’ll be just as good as the real thing, right?
While buying fake Amazon reviews is tempting, and many sellers do use this strategy, it will ultimately hurt your business. Learn why you shouldn’t buy fake Amazon reviews and what you can do to garner authentic reviews instead.
What Are Fake Amazon Reviews?
The only true, authentic reviews on Amazon are ones that verified customers write of their own volition. Any other reviews are considered fake, no matter how the seller got them.
Sellers sometimes buy fake reviews from companies that have whole systems in place to generate reviews for businesses. They may have dozens of fake Amazon profiles that they use to leave reviews. Sellers can usually pay a certain rate per review.
However, offering any form of compensation in exchange for a review is also a method of buying fake reviews. For example, let’s say you give customers a discount on their next purchase when they leave a review. The reviews they provide may not be entirely authentic.
Amazon outright prohibits providing compensation in exchange for reviews. But some sellers get around this policy through this process:
- Search for fake reviewers in Facebook groups.
- Invite these people to purchase their products.
- Tell the purchasers to leave reviews containing certain keywords.
- Refund the purchase price, allowing the purchaser to keep the “free sample.”
Manipulating reviewers in any way is inauthentic and can ultimately lead to the consequences below.
The Dangers of Buying Fake Reviews
You may think you can get away with using fake Amazon reviews on your product listings and that your customers and Amazon’s officials will be none the wiser. In reality, buying fake reviews poses the following risks:
It’s Illegal
Buying fake Amazon reviews isn’t just unethical; it’s illegal. The Federal Trade Commission is beginning to crack down on companies and sellers harvesting fake reviews through Facebook groups or designated fake review companies.
You could face significant fines and legal action from Amazon when you purchase fake reviews. At the very least, Amazon may ban you from selling on the platform, completely dismantling your eCommerce business.
Customers Can Spot Fake Reviews
While you may think your fake reviews look realistic, customers have become more attuned to the language and nuances common in fake reviews while shopping online. Falsified Amazon reviews often:
- Contain similar language across reviews
- Use oddly similar photos
- Only discuss the positives without giving any weight to the negatives
- Come from buyers who only have a few other reviews on their profiles
- Are short and sweet, containing only surface-level information and fluff
- Use broken English and poor grammar
- Contain generic headlines like “Nice” or “Awesome”
Meanwhile, companies that purchase fake Amazon reviews may have these red flags:
- An overwhelmingly high percentage of five-star reviews
- Products in the “People Also Buy” section that aren’t relevant to their product listings
Customers can often instantly identify at least one or two of these red flags, making them wary of a company. But some consumers have even begun using platforms like Fakespot and ReviewMeta, which can detect fake reviews on listings and alert consumers to inauthentic sellers.
When customers detect fake reviews on your product listings, they’ll hesitate to buy from you.
You’ll Hurt Your Brand Reputation
You don’t want to develop a reputation for lying to customers. Once users detect that your product listings are full of fake reviews, they’ll steer clear of your business and likely tell their friends to do the same.
Fake reviews can significantly hurt your reputation in the Amazon marketplace, causing your sales to drop. Customers may assume that the reason you had to purchase fake reviews is that your products are too poor in quality to gain real positive reviews from verified customers.
Fake Reviews Are Expensive
People won’t write fake reviews for you for free. They know there’s money to be made off the fake review market, and they want to see that money before they’ll write any reviews for your company.
Fake reviews hurt not only your brand reputation but also your wallet. Of course, you’ll need to pay the person or company you’re asking to write the false review. But you could also face fines from the FTC. In 2019, a company had to pay $12.8 million in fines for paying a third-party website to create fake Amazon reviews for its listings.
Tips To Get More Authentic Reviews From Customers
Buying fake reviews on Amazon isn’t a good strategy for marketing your business. Instead, you can leverage numerous other Amazon listing best practices to increase sales.
Start by focusing your efforts on encouraging more positive, authentic reviews about verified purchases. Here are a few tips to try:
- Just ask nicely: Sending an email to every customer and asking them to review your business won’t hurt anything. Ask nicely, and avoid being too pushy.
- Provide alternative outlets for negative feedback: If you want to maintain a strong ratio of positive to negative reviews, give customers another outlet for sharing criticism or tips. Maybe they can fill out a Google form with this information instead.
- Go above and beyond for customers: Putting your customers first and taking measures to exceed their expectations encourages them to leave positive reviews in a more organic and unforced way, helping you establish and maintain a trustworthy reputation.
Boost Your Amazon Sales With Click Fluency
If you’re having trouble getting product reviews on Amazon, buying fake reviews isn’t a smart move. But working with a professional eCommerce marketing company is.
When you partner with Click Fluency, we’ll implement the most effective strategies to boost sales for your Amazon business, so you won’t need to resort to purchasing fake Amazon reviews. Schedule your strategy call today to learn more.