From madgeniusclub:
Since Amazon first opened its virtual doors, there have been concerns about reviews. Not just for books but for all the products sold through its site. It is no secret that authors have paid for reviews — and some still do. Or that there have been fake accounts set up to give sock puppet reviews.
. . . .
Amazon now requires you to purchase a minimum of $50 worth of books or other products before you can leave a review or answer questions about a product. These purchases, and it looks like it is a cumulative amount, must be purchased via credit card or debit card — gift cards won’t count.
Link to the rest at madgeniusclub and thanks to Nate at The Digital Reader for the tip.
Yes, I’m afraid this is old news. The $50 minimum went into effect in September 2016, followed by the new policy on incentivized reviews a few days later.
Hmm…was this ruling actually enforced? I seem to remember quite a few scandals about people scamming the rankings this last year. Either it’s not working or it wasn’t being enforced by the Amazon gremlins.
This isn’t news. I don’t recall when Amazon introduced the $50 requirement on Amazon US, but I think it was sometime in 2016.
What is new is that they have now extended the requirement to the UK (see https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=201929730 – GBP 50 minimum spend) and other countries (e.g. Australia: https://www.amazon.com.au/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=201929730 – AUD 50 minimum spend).
This is the first time I’ve seen this – although I admit I haven’t checked in a while. I had long thought this was a loophole.
Also, as far as I can tell, if you’re approved to contribute reviews on one Amazon site (e.g. US), you’re approved for them all. I’ve just submitted reviews to Amazon CA and AU – I know for a fact I’ve never bought anything from CA, and my purchase from AU are less than $50. Let’s see if the reviews stick.
What is also news is that Amazon’s reviewing guidelines page is currently blank … which could mean another change is in the pipeline.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html/ref=amb_link_1?ie=UTF8&nodeId=201602680&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=center-1&pf_rd_r=9QNF2J45FZ6Z34BN35TE&pf_rd_r=9QNF2J45FZ6Z34BN35TE&pf_rd_t=7001&pf_rd_p=0899374c-d640-4eb5-b09a-46f41837ca2b&pf_rd_p=0899374c-d640-4eb5-b09a-46f41837ca2b&pf_rd_i=customer-reviews-guidelines
Or it could mean that someone deleted the wrong information.
Well. Most of my book purchases are with gift cards. Gonna take me a while to hit that $50 threshold. LOL
Doesn’t seem like a terribly high bar to clear. I’m well over that just this last week or two.
Doesn’t have to be high to weed out bots…