You can use a tool like http://fakespot.com/ to try and get a different view of the Amazon reviews.

But I often also find myself searching a community like reddit for product suggestions through google. query: "product name" reddit, and I may add in tags like BIFL (buy it for life) or frugal to try and trigger different results, so I can see what people who are less likely to be shilling have to say.

For example, while fan searching today, I learned more from https://www.reddit.com/r/BuyItForLife/comments/3ad5rl/bifl_r... than I ever could have from Amazon reviews, and it even made me realize I already have a fan that circulates, I'm just using it wrong.

Generally speaking I only read 3 star reviews.

5 star and 1 star reviews are usually garbage - either fluffed fake reviews, or reviews outraged about something unrelated with the quality of the product itself.

I find 1 star reviews quite useful. If all the reviews are shipping complaints, the lemon rate of the product is probably low.

There's a lot of gaming on those low star ratings by competitors. The trustability of reviews on Amazon has sunk so low over the years that for many products, reading many (tens or several tens of) reviews across star ratings is what may help have some idea about the product's quality and the seller.

The problem with this is the expectation of a 5 star review for adequate performance. A lot of reviewers view 3 stars as "I didn't like it, but at least customer service didn't screw me and it didn't burn my house." I'm aware that this is terrible because it leaves no room for superior delivery, but it's just the way of things.

> I've bought some really mediocre products lately that had amazing reviews.

And that's where their amazing (by the standards of other etailers) return policy comes into play.

> 3rd party sellers shipping counterfeit goods. Amazon doesn't seem to be interested in regulating this.

Same here. I stopped buying commodity electronics items (cables, power supplies, headphones, etc.) on Amazon, because of all the fake products that claim to be 100% original.

Even the Amazon basics brand does not live up to its standards. I recently bought an Amazon basics USB/Lightning cable, "Apple certified". The lightning plug was so lose, it fell right out of the iPhone.

It's not just electronics, Amazon is full of fake everything and because they allow commingling of inventory a fake can be sold and shipped by Amazon.

This was an eye-opener when I first heard about it. I cannot fathom the thought process that allowed them to do this. It's such a black mark on the brand. FWIW I order a LOT from Amazon.

There is always YouTube for reviews. It's a good place to check if the Amazon reviews seem sketchy. I understand not everything will be on YouTube but you would be surprised at the amount of items that are there.

In my experience YouTubers who review things are running little lifestyle businesses, getting free products (or possibly kickbacks) in exchange for positive PR.

I would consider a YouTube channel that primarily reviews things less trustworthy than a rando on the internet, not more.

Even if the YouTuber is totally trustworthy, "professional" reviewers are only going to give short term impressions, how its features and cost stack up in the market, etc. which I can research for myself. What I want to know about is long term experience, failure modes, etc.

Pretty much only Consumer Reports is in that business, and only for big ticket items like cars.

The point of Amazon reviews is to quickly evaluate an item. Watching a youtube review is a much larger time commitment

I wonder. I'd argue that watching an unboxing gives me a much quicker idea of what's really going on than trying to tease out what's the truth from the reviews. ("20 positive reviews. How many are fakes? Let me read the 3 stars, maybe they're better. I'll read the 1 stars and try to assign weight).

Maybe I'm just picky but I find reading/judging Amazon reviews a pain in the ass.

I don't think I can tell much of anything from an unboxing video. I have no idea why they are so popular.

If you leave a bad review some sellers offer a refund if you delete the bad review and you can keep the product. That's how you get good product reviews for bad products.

Tackling quality control and superfluous/irrelevant/out-dated reviews are hard problems to tackle. That last if is a big if.

Jet.com?

I'll take another look at them now that they've dropped the membership fee.