I never make a purchase based on reviews from outside sources

Mindy D · ‎05-23-2010

I never make a purchase based on reviews from outside sources. When sites post reviews taken from outside sources, I ignore them. Here on the Q, I usually don't even read them. The same thing goes for me at all other sites. I am interested in reviews from actual customers that bought on the site where I'm buying. I usually read every single review before I buy. How do you feel about these outside reviews?

jlynn14 · ‎01-11-2016

Ok. Not sure why we all need to know that, but You Do You.

Mindy D · ‎05-23-2010

@jlynn14 @I'm curious how others use the outside reviews.

Janey2 · ‎06-07-2010

If any review starts with something like...was given to me in exchange for a review I pass it. I also do not like to read reviews on the website where only that brand is sold.

moonandthestars · ‎03-11-2010

@Mindy D If I'm understanding what you are asking correctly - I look at all reviews and it doesn't matter to me if they came from another site - the product is the same .... yes?

I am always interested in reviews and always suspicous too! The ones that I am the least interested in are the ones by people who were given the product for free for their 'honest' opinion. I'm also quite suspicous when there are many reviews given on the same day or the same few days - it always strikes me that it could be staged. But as always, can never be sure.

What is the most frustrating to me about reviews is when there is such a contrast with how people rate them. 1/2 the people say it's the best product ever! and 1/2 the people say it's the worst. How is that even possible? How do you evaluate that?

Mindy D · ‎05-23-2010

@moonandthestars @I evaluate based on the features or conditions that half the reviewers like or don't like. For example, if half the reviewers say they are tall and the sleeves are not long enough, so they have rated the item a 3, this will be a good item for me, since I'm not tall. Same goes for reviewers that mention the sleeves are too long or the pants are too long, especially if the reviewer gives their height in the review. If quite a few reviewers are saying their sheets ripped in up to six months after they received the sheets, that's important to me. I try to CAREFULLY evaluate their reviews. Many negative reviews come from people that incorrectly use a product. I look for that.

When reviews say "taken from a person while visiting (company name) I usually, about 98% of the time, ignore these, or scan in case someone has something important to add. I've seen some of these reviewers post photos that I did find important.

Currently, Amazon is seems to be encouraging shorter reviews, except for reviews about infant items.

moonandthestars · ‎03-11-2010

@Mindy D yes, evaluating reviews can be time consuming! You are absolutely right you have to closely and evaluate the review based on the details. I guess the "it's the best" and "it's the worst" product reviews for the same product I was thinking of was for things like coffee makers, or fans or light bulbs, etc. things that should have nothing to do with fit or attractiveness on someone, etc. That sort of thing makes me uncomfortable - there shouldn't be that much of a dichotomy. And to add in here - also sometimes you see with clothing or something similar reviews like it wrinkles so easily! and then love it - it never wrinkles! The fabric is light and flowing - or the fabric is stiff and heavy. that sort of thing. Makes no sense to me. You can't even rely on the stars without reading further into it, because sometimes people leave a one star and then say - love it! (mistakening click the wrong star number) Personally, I think if someone leaves a low star rating they should have to leave a comment - just in case they really meant it to be a good thing. Also, would be nice to read the explanation.

I still think that reviews imported from other websites are done to assist and not nec. a bad or suspicious thing. If there are no reviews on let's say qvc because it's never been sold here before, it's helpful to have the reviews from where it has been sold before. We can google it too or instead of, but I can see why they post them here. works for the seller and buyer to some extent.

Re amazon - are shorter reviews better?

GenXmuse · ‎05-15-2016

I'd prefer they just stick to reviews from people who purchased through QVC since they include both positive and negative reviews. The ones that are imported seem to be all positive.
I do check other sources if it's not unique to QVC for reviews and to compare prices.

gertrudecloset · ‎02-13-2021

@Mindy D wrote:
I never make a purchase based on reviews from outside sources. When sites post reviews taken from outside sources, I ignore them. Here on the Q, I usually don't even read them. The same thing goes for me at all other sites. I am interested in reviews from actual customers that bought on the site where I'm buying. I usually read every single review before I buy. How do you feel about these outside reviews?

@Mindy D how do you differentiate which reviews are "outside" reviews or reviews that are truly by the people who purchased the product?

A Negative Mind ~ Will give you a Negative Life