When Evaluating Products, Which Sites Do You Trust?

Posted by Lynnae on February 7, 2008

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Research

When buying new products, I always do my research first.

The following is a guest post by Mrs. Micah from Mrs. Micah: Finance for a Freelance Life. Mrs. Micah blogs about personal finance, getting out of debt, and earning extra income through freelance work. She also sells her fabulous fabric arts on her blog and at her Etsy Shop. If you like this article, you might want to consider subscribing to Mrs. Micah’s RSS feed.

I don’t know whether I’m too trusting or not trusting enough. On the one hand, I like to read book reviews on Amazon or opinions on Epinions. At the same time, I sometimes find myself saying "Well, maybe they’re just fake reviews" or "maybe they’re already hostile to this point of view and I’d actually like it."

Here are some of the potential upsides and downsides I’ve come up as far as using online reviews to evaluate a product.

Potential upsides:

– If you’re going to spend money, you definitely want to do your research. These sites will give you plenty of feedback on almost anything.

– Many sites aren’t affiliated with the product, so the information is more likely to be unbiased.

– You may even be able to find comparisons to related products for even smarter shopping.

Potential downsides:

– It can be overwhelming to sift through all the information. Some products, like Proactiv, have a glut of user reviews–mostly overwhelmingly positive or negative.

– Reviews are essentially anonymous. You don’t know whether the person is working for the company, a competitor, or is a troll. Or maybe they’re a brilliant person with a great idea. You just don’t know.

Which sites do you trust? Do find them useful?

Photo by VolaVale.

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Comments

15 Responses to “When Evaluating Products, Which Sites Do You Trust?”

FFB on February 7th, 2008 4:43 am

I like to use Amazon reviews. But I take the reviews with a grain of salt. What I look for is whether the reviews are generally positive or negative. I’ve been swayed by what I’ve read. You still have to be careful though and make the final decision for yourself.
LJ on February 7th, 2008 6:35 am

I try to research every purchase I make and I do look at reviews, but try to get reviews from various sites, so I can see a broader picture. If most reviews I come across are the same, I tend to trust them, if there are all over the place, I just decide myself.
Take Care

LJ
Susan on February 7th, 2008 8:09 am

I look for details in reviews. If it just says, “This product sucks,” then I ignore it. If it talks about exactly why they didn’t like it, I will look at it more seriously. Sometimes the reason they didn’t like it would be a positive factor for me, or vice versa. Different people have different needs and expectations. We bought a nice digital camera last fall and I checked reviews from Consumer Reports, Amazon, several electronics stores and a variety of more professional digital photography sites before making any decisions.
Ryan S. on February 7th, 2008 9:04 am

I think overall the Amazon reviews are probably the best; lots of different opinions. For tech stuff I will also look at places like arstechnica and cnet, but overall, I go with Amazon.
Four Pillars on February 7th, 2008 9:31 am

I find book review opinions are useful but not so much for products.

When I’ve researched electronic products in the past - there was such a wide variance of opinion that they reviews were pretty useless.

Mike
Kyle @ Rather-Be-Shopping.com on February 7th, 2008 9:43 am

I use Amazon.com reviews as well. Some reviews may be biased but I think overall they are the best. Nothing is perfect but I tend to find their customer reviews honest and believable.
ChristianPF on February 7th, 2008 10:12 am

I am with susan - it is the detail in the review that helps you draw out the value… Everyone has an opinion and there will be people on both sides of the map. But recurring comments about a detail of the product will be a good indication of the truth…
Carrie at Natural Moms Products on February 7th, 2008 11:06 am

I’m losing faith in the Amazon reviews because I keep seeing big huge book launches in which it seems people are getting paid to promote their fellow marketer’s books.

I try to consider the source, if it’s a review site I look around or follow it for awhile to evaluate the reviews.

I have a review blog and all the reviews are written by actual moms (or myself or business partner). I pay the moms for their trouble, but I don’t pay a mom if she is submitting her own product for review, and I review products in which I have no financial interest in the product (including no affiliate link).
Ron@TheWisdomJournal on February 7th, 2008 12:25 pm

I also generally use Amazon, and I look at the general tone as well as the detail. Some people cannot be made happy no matter what and they are more likely to post something than a person with either an acceptable or fantastic experience.
Mrs. Micah on February 7th, 2008 1:43 pm

Thanks so much for posting this Lynnae.
Lisa on February 7th, 2008 1:55 pm

I think considering the source of opinion is important as well. e.g. If a scientific study gets published on the positive affects of caffeine, and I later find out the study was sponsered by Maxwell House, I’m concerned at it’s validity.

Lisa
Lin on February 7th, 2008 2:16 pm

I believe Amazon reviews are a very good place to start. I also use Consumer Reports as a guide, and it has proven very useful.
Bruce on February 7th, 2008 5:19 pm

I use the web alot for reviews. On technical stuff the detail are very important. I try to look for consensus. Frequently reviews are inconclusive. I look for bias. On some sites I’ve noticed a bias or probability that they are paid for the review. You have to follow a site for a while to catch on. With less important things like movies, I frequently find that I can read between the lines. From what is praised and what is panned, I often form a pretty good picture of whether I would like it even if the reviewer and I would completely disagree.
Lise on February 8th, 2008 8:54 am

I use Consumer Reports mainly. It’s a paid site, they’ve been around a long time and they have an outstanding reputation.

I also check out other sites like epinions, but for 100% confidence, Consumer Reports is my main source.