Buying things on-line - decision strategies

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Discussions about buying stuff on-line (especially from Amazon) come up here and there and rather than put this in a thread that just mentioned amazon reviews, I figured I'd put it in its own message...

My advice to family is to mostly disregard 1* and 5* reviews:
5*: too many paid shills, or someone just happy to get what they ordered quickly but hasn't used it long enough to have a real opinion. nothing's perfect, and most 5* reviews don't have much meat on them.
1*: someone's got an axe to grind. Often ordered the wrong item and was shocked that they received what they ordered.
4*: someone may've actually put some thought into this review. Ignore it if it's 4* with no discussion of the negatives; I want to know why it's not 5*
3*: similar to 4* but there's not usually many 3* reviews; people are rarely on the fence when reviewing
2*: similar to 4*, but a negative review; pay attention as 2* reviews usually have the most substance about what's wrong with the item.

Basically if I see an item with an average rating above 4, I'll read a bunch of 2* reviews to see what the negatives are, and then mostly 4* reviews to see what people who liked the item didn't like about it.

If the item doesn't have a lot of reviews and they're mostly 5*, I tread carefully, and try to ignore the blatant shills as much as possible, and if there's nothing else, I won't buy it.

Scan the questions&answers section as well - here you'll find people mentioning discrepancies in quantity / size / color etc. Often amazon item listings cover multiple companies selling things and often mistakes are made because one seller is selling the item singly and another sells a 2-pack or something. The Q&A often shows this as "are there two in the package?" "opened the package and only a single widget was in there, I paid for two". Or in my case yesterday, the item was advertised as being stainless steel (my requirement), and someone mentioned in the Q&A that theirs was painted plain steel (deal breaker for me, despite everything looking good from the reviews).

 

[oosik]

I use the internet to research products. I buy local. I can't remember a time that I purchased something from an "internet store".

 

[Oaktree]

I use the internet to research products. I buy local. I can't remember a time that I purchased something from an "internet store".

You're fortunate to have a good retail selection where you live. Many of us aren't.

 

[skipmarcy]

Really - we have to plan our day-long shopping trips ahead of time - usually end up driving over 100 miles round trip just to get all the groceries/supplies we need weekly, sometimes much further for uncommon items. Nearest loaf of bread or can of soda is right at 10 miles away. And this isn't on any interstate hwy either, crappy 2-lane backroads to crappy 2-lane state hwys. that beat you and your vehicle to pieces.

 

[EddieWalker]

I think it's pretty easy to see the fake reviews. Especially when it's an off brand and every single review is a 5, and then the reviews are closed. On the reviews with a one, some are very valid and I've gone off of those reviews for not buying a product. I very rarely read the 4 star or 2 star reviews. I've also been very satisfied with my purchases based on reviews when I wasn't sure what to buy.

Here in Tyler, if I can't find it locally, there is no way that I'm driving to the Dallas area. For me, this is painful beyond compare. I'll go to a couple of stores locally, and if I can't find it, I'm going online to order it. Most things are here the next day.

 

[4570Man]

I have better stuff to do than drive around all day and wait in long checkout lines. Ordering online is much faster and easier.

 

[oosik]

I'm just about the same as you Eddie. If I can't find it in Spokane - NO WAY am I going to drive 275 miles to Seattle. I don't appreciate driving is Seattle - the Taco Wagon would really hate Seattle. Spokane is OK.

If I can't find exactly what I want/need - I will find an acceptable alternate - locally.

I went to the U of W in Seattle for five years. Thank God - I did not own a car.

 

[zzvyb6]

Careful. You're going to be flamed by the Amazon Police in China. Took me a while to teach my anti-virus software to squash Asian I.P. addresses.

 

[Jchonline]

I use the internet to research products. I buy local. I can't remember a time that I purchased something from an "internet store".

I try and do the same, sometimes it is hard to find it locally (at least in the last couple of years). If I need to return something I don't want to have to ship it.

As to the original post:
I also recommend you look at multiple different types of internet sources for reviews. Forums (like TBN, Arborsite, etc), retailers other than Amazon, videos. Yes it is hard to always tell what is true and a shill.

 

[Jchonline]

I think it's pretty easy to see the fake reviews. Especially when it's an off brand and every single review is a 5, and then the reviews are closed. On the reviews with a one, some are very valid and I've gone off of those reviews for not buying a product. I very rarely read the 4 star or 2 star reviews. I've also been very satisfied with my purchases based on reviews when I wasn't sure what to buy.

Here in Tyler, if I can't find it locally, there is no way that I'm driving to the Dallas area. For me, this is painful beyond compare. I'll go to a couple of stores locally, and if I can't find it, I'm going online to order it. Most things are here the next day.

Recently Dallas was deemed the most dangerous city to drive in the US. I was back in early July for a week and I believe it. So very congested, people swerving in and out....Growing up I don't remember seeing ANY accidents on 175 between Athens and Crandall and we drove it a few times a week. In July I saw 4 just driving one way. It has gotten out of hand. The urban sprawl of Dallas is now moving East...in 10 years Dallas to Gun Barrel will be like Dallas to McKinney.

 

[dodge man]

My experience is if you are a Amazon Prime member they are the cheapest or very close to it. I have found items cheaper from other sources but by the time you factor in shipping, Amazon is usually better.

One thing I have found is sometimes you can buy it in a local store as cheap. I was at our local farm store and was buying a trickle charger. I looked it up on Amazon for more information not to compare prices, it was cheaper at the store by a little bit.

I rarely look at the reviews but I do look at feedback on the seller sometimes. I don’t really think I have ever felt screwed over buying on Amazon.

 

[hube2]

I agree with looking at the Q&A. If there is a decent number of questions the answers are usually a better source of information than the reviews.

I do a lot of buying online. Time is more valuable to me than money.

 

[Larry Caldwell]

I use the internet to research products. I buy local. I can't remember a time that I purchased something from an "internet store".

I buy local if it's available locally. Feed and seed, groceries, stuff like that.

The things I have ordered online lately were:

1. Oscilloscope.
2. Vietnamese wild print Hawaiian shirts.
3. Replacement battery for an old laptop.
4. N95 masks that don't use ear loops.
5. Truffle infused salt.
6. SSD for the old laptop.

None of these things are available locally.

 

[k0ua]

I have better stuff to do than drive around all day and wait in long checkout lines. Ordering online is much faster and easier.

Agreed.

 

[grsthegreat]

weird thing is about amazon. i wanted to purchase an airfilter for my F350 diesel. checked ebay and amazon for prices first. then called ford dealer. ford was 1/3 the cost of amazon. go figure

you really have to shop around. amazon and ebay arnt always the cheapest source.

now for the new mower deck for my Huskvarna mower i first tried my local Kubota dealer (as he also sells Husky). they told me part no longer made. i shopped ebay and amazon and found the part on ebay. got the new deck installed yesterday. i tried going local, they wernt interested in even looking up the part.

 

[fried1765]

I use the internet to research products. I buy local. I can't remember a time that I purchased something from an "internet store".

I agree with looking at the Q&A. If there is a decent number of questions the answers are usually a better source of information than the reviews.

I do a lot of buying online. Time is more valuable to me than money.

My time is not really worth squat!
I have been retired for 21 years.
Other than groceries, I buy most everything online.
Online selection is virtually unlimited, and feedback (if you screen it thoughtfully) is very helpful.
Both convenience, and gas mileage are good too.

I would rather hand dig a hole in solid clay, than drive 30 miles each way searching for the properly sized widget.

 

[hube2]

I would rather hand dig a hole in solid clay, than drive 30 miles each way searching for the properly sized widget.

Well, I have to agree with that, sometimes it takes less time to just dig the hole... or whatever task is at hand then waste your time looking for something faster.

 

[TheMan419]

Often times if you put something in your cart and then abandon it for a period of time the web site will send you a discount code for 5 or 10% off to entice you back to buy the item.

 

[ning]

Even when ordering online, I often read reviews on amazon and then hunt for a different source. I refuse to go into a store to find the right product and then shop a better price on-line - I don't find that ethical at all (especially shoes, which due to funky shaped feet I'm rolling dice if I buy on-line). (I realize both of these examples raise ethical questions, but my ethics are more flexible when it comes to using amazon's reviews than the local shoe store's physical stock to try on.)

I buy the majority of my hardware at the "corner" hardware store 6 miles away and rarely consider the price; they're honest good people and I value having them there and I'm happy to support them.

Recent things ordered online: house air filters (local prices are 2-3x, I can't do that, and the above hardware store doesn't carry these anyhow); pool filter (locals would have to order them too); solar battery charger panel. I have a strong preference for local, made that much easier by the fact that there's no HD or Costco right nearby - we do a Costco run every couple of months, but the vast majority of our shopping is local.

 

[dmccarty]

On product reviews, I looked for thousands of reviews, if possible and depending on what I am buying, then if the top two ratings are 75-80% of the ratings, that is a good sign. I will still read some of the 1 and 5 ratings to see what people are saying though. Average, i.e., 3 ratings, I ignore, UNLESS, there are a bunch of them.

One does still have to shop prices online, they are not always the cheapest, but my time is worth something, especially when I stop at a store and they do not have the item I need. My JD dealer used to have cheapest prices for fuel and oil filters for my Ford truck. Go figure. I would call them up and they would mail me the parts. Twas a bit more hassle than Amazon though. Then they merged dealerships and prices went up so it was off to Amazon. I have had count less visits to multiple parts stores for fuel and oil filters that they did not have in stock. I just buy from Amazon now. They have the filters in stock.

The other advantage of online ordering is simply you can order what you need when you know you need it. I was at the auto parts store the other day looking for some stuff. They did NOT have what I needed which was not something difficult. I got sidetracked looking for what they should have, but did not, and forgot I needed something else, which of course I remembered later on. Amazon got the order, along with some other things that I looked for locally, but which were not in stock.

Later,
Dan