Amazon says it has permanently banned the sale of 600 Chinese marks for fraudulent reviews.
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Amazon has permanently banned the sale of materials through its platform to more than 600 Chinese brands on 3.000 different vendor accounts. The company states that these 600 brands were banned because they knowingly and repeatedly violated Amazon's policies, especially those concerning customer abuse.
This crackdown began after reports by Wall Street Journal journalist Nicole Ngyuen about how companies like RavPower and others (Aukey, Mpow, Vava, TaoTronics, Choetech, etc.) offered end consumers gift cards in exchange for writing a review.
Following my fake review story, listings for Amazon-native electronics brand RAVPower are gone.
The company offered $35 gift cards for reviews on a product that was sold directly by Amazon itself. RAVPower acted as a wholesale vendor on that listing. https://t.co/6nazZZ5Wtb pic.twitter.com/znp9u48YHV
— nic nguyen (@nicnguyen) June 16, 2021
Amazon banned the practice of encouraging criticism in 2016 because it is considered unfair competition and essentially a paid critique that may not be true, but the process proved to be a difficult one.
Some of these offers are covered as a VIP trial program or extended warranty. Other companies offer incentives only after you leave a bad review. They will give you a free product or offer you a "refund" without the need for a refund, as long as you delete your negative review.
Today is Amazon Prime Day.
Humble request:
If you get any insert cards in your new purchases (they don't need to look this suspicious), please send me photos of them at sean@theverge.com for a story. pic.twitter.com/7337ookNPp
— @seanhollister.bsky.social (@StarFire2258) June 22, 2021
It's unclear what other Chinese brands might be included in Amazon's latest crackdown. While Aukey was one of the first high-profile brands to be banned by the company in May, the company is still selling headphones under a different brand name (Key Series) as of June, and you can still buy a pair from Amazon today.
In early July, parent company Shenzhen Youkeshu Technology (better known as YKS) said Amazon had closed 340 of YKS’s online stores and frozen its assets, worth more than $20 million. According to the South China Morning Post, YKS was one of the largest Chinese retailers on the platform.
Following is the full Amazon statement:
Amazon is working hard to create a great experience in our store so that customers can shop with confidence and sellers have the opportunity to grow their business in the midst of healthy competition.
Customers rely on the accuracy and authenticity of product reviews to make informed purchasing decisions and we have clear policies for both reviewers and sales associates.
We suspend, prohibit and take legal action against those who violate these policies, wherever they are in the world.
We will continue to improve the detection of misuse and take enforcement action against malicious agents, including those who knowingly engage in multiple and repeated policy violations, including the abuse of critics.
We are confident that the steps we take are in the best interest of our customers as well as the honest businesses that make up the vast majority of our global sales community.
Dimitris hates Mondays...
