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Re:Amazon, Amid Crackdown on Seller Scams, Fires Employees O... by j79 on Tuesday December 11, 2018 @02:19PM (#18657974)
> I just pay attention to the seller ratings and make sure they're better than 98%.

Maybe I'm just extremely cynical, but you don't feel those are somehow gamed? For parts that you've described, I've actually moved to eBay as my first stop.

Re:Amazon, Amid Crackdown on Seller Scams, Fires Employees O... by jasode on Tuesday December 11, 2018 @02:32PM (#18658090)
>Maybe I'm just extremely cynical, but you don't feel those are somehow gamed?

I think the reviews for products are gamed but I don't think the seller feedback ratings are.

I used to sell used books as a Amazon marketplace seller and I once sold a book that was damaged and put that condition in the description. The buyer bought and gave me 1 star rating for it and described the damage that I already put in the description. The buyer just didn't bother to read the description before he bought it. I couldn't get Amazon to remove that unfair rating.

If there's a way to game the seller feedback in a sustainable way across thousands of ratings, I'd like to know how. Sure, sellers could offer refunds to bribe customers to change their seller rating from 1 star to 5 stars (not sure if that's even possible) but eventually, the seller will run out of money with that scheme. On the other hand, product reviews are easier to hack.