While browsing the New York Times, I stumbled over an article that made me more conscious of the times we live in. It made me realize the way I hunt for products over the internet is completely wrong and it’s a recurring problem everyone is going through, without even knowing it.
Whether it’s buying a new game, sheet music like Joanne Chen in her article or a new piece for your computer, you are likely being misled by the way you are used to online shopping.
The article “Do Not Trust That Stranger’s 5-Star Review” inspired me to write a piece tackling internet shopping errors and how we can become better consumers. It is time to expose the reviews on our trusted internet commerce websites and bring home something we are confident is the best product.
Emily Pearce | Argonaut
Chen is a senior writer for WIRECUTTER, a New York Times product review website. It is her job to scan through reviews online and find the best product, so she knows what she is doing.
We have reached a point where we trust reviews rather than our product providers, and with great power to sell comes great responsibility to know what we are buying.
We can have a tendency to be overly nice when it comes to reviewing mediocre products, online or “irl.” Although this is a kind gesture, it is only helping the purchase of crappy products and takes advantage of the consumer.
As Chen puts it, we “validate” our purchases all the time using the five-star method. We automatically look at the stars next to the product, and which ever has the most surely must be the best.
The problem here is that it can be quite the opposite. I had this same problem when I was trying to buy fake air pods to fit in with the rich youth. It was almost like there was a flood of five stars on each product, even though most of them were crap.
We validate all kinds of products all the time, and in my opinion, the five-star method doesn’t work.
When we rely on ratings, we look past important parts in buying the product such as where it was made, who was it made by, product specifics and more.
Chen also says it is a lot more helpful when the product has a few helpful reviews, rather than a product with 500 five-star ratings. It is meant to be more authentic and less “flooded.”
It may seem like a no brainer, but to find the best product you have to look past the review. Yes, in some cases it may help looking at reviews from valid purchases to see if it is not a scam. It is so easy for other people to leave positive reviews with the company’s influence.
When buying online it is very important to not look past specifics, but to look further than the review.
The best advice is that you simply have to go the extra mile. As Chen puts it, “the majority of products and business reviews are positive. … since reviewing is such a subject matter, I hope people would take the star rating with a grain of salt. Because let’s be honest, ratings shouldn’t be taken so seriously.
Emily Pearce can be reached at [email protected]