Writing Quality Reviews!!

great tips

I've often wondered about the purpose of having the "I want this item" option. It seems counter-intuitive to have an option for people to write quality reviews about things they do not own or have not tried.

mmm that's strange because I've left reviews with this kind of information and I find them under my "spam" reviews, granted all of them may not have carried your desired weight but when I purchase a product from your site and I leave a review on after use and it gets marked as spam and taken down it seems counter intuitive for me to bother wasting my time on them when I only get points taken away and lose the ability to leave a review which has happened. It's funny I sign on in January and I have lost lots of points and apparently ALL my reviews marked as spam. 

Interesting question: Don't staff reviews artificially manipulate a products score?

The staff at Sie...Trusnow review products sold at Sierra, even Sierra boards. Often, several employees, Doug included, will conduct a review (I'm thinking Sierra boards). There is a conflict of interest here...the staff has a professional obligation to sell their product, but that produces questions about their reliability as objective reviewers.

I'm not calling the staff liars--in fact, I know very well it's their job to sell...and I am confident that they are as honest as possible within the limitations. But it's hard to imagine Doug getting on here review the RC and being like, "Sorry bros, this board is distinctly inferior to competitor reverse camber all mountain boards, etc." or even just a lukewarm, "Eh, this board is ok, but not great."

Yet, the star rating from staff are calculated in the product's score. So Doug, for ex., gives the Stunt 5 stars. The Stunt may well deserve 5 stars and Doug is certainly more qualified than I to rate it, but since it seems like Doug CAN'T get on and give it, say, 3 or 2 stars it seems like the staff are forced to be a kind of product sunshine-pumpers.

It might be the case that if Doug can't give a product a good rating, he simply doesn't rate it all. But that can't possibly be publicly helpful. After all, how are we to know which products the staff has not rated because they haven't tested it and which ones they haven't rated because it kinda sucks?

In general, I appreciate Doug's and others reviews, so please don't take offense. But I wonder how others think about these "institutional reviews", which have the irony of coming from people who are more qualified than the general public to assess products but are simultaneously more constrained.

I personally ignore the star ratings, but perhaps that's just me. And I appreciate that there's at least some transparency in knowing the reviewer is staff and therefore *might* have some bias (though just because they're staff doesn't mean they have to write 5 star reviews. Doug and Donald both gave the regular crew 4 stars.) There's no way you can eliminate all bias from a review, and I'm sure there's plenty you don't know about. Who's to say the stellar review you read on a Rome Pusher isn't some Rome rep using the anonymity of the internet to boost interest in their product? Or that the negative reviews aren't being done in the same fashion? It's really a law of averages, and you have to take every review with a grain of salt. That said, it helps that Doug writes expansive, thorough and specific reviews that really talk to the strengths of a product, and that is probably why they garner so much attention. 

http://www.trusnow.com/profile.asp?PF=314891

someone flag all his review. He obiously is here just for the points. 200points almost in 2 days. fishy fishy

I've really noticed an influx of horrible ones lately. I think there should be minimum amount of words or something like that. Saying "looks cool, works great" is not a review. Talking about fit, finish, use, details, features, etc. is. 

Originally posted by Goldberg13 TS should get a group of long time members who would be willing to "review" reviews before they are published and people are awarded points.

Are there any review reading expert roles? Dibs on that job if it doesn't exist

Originally posted by mrrorydigital stormhunter9 - Lamar Tripper Snowboard - Men's nice nice design and affordable awesome!!! Helpful Review?   (0) Yes    (0) No review - 9 minutes ago Leave first review comment   Kinda like that?

Originally posted by imnotacartoon eek, clearly I meant snowboard, not bag. Is the only way to report silly reviews like the one above by clicking the no button?

I think only about 5% of all the reviews are trustworthy and legit.  If you click the reviews tab on the community feed its just random names who review 3 items within 5 minutes. It's so aggravating.

Agree 100% It is about time people learn how to write reviews. So thankful for this forum.

Originally posted by andrethegiant we need to get snow4life banned hes up around 100 reviews and is really a pain in the chat.. also made me think he was buying my old board for about 20 days

Haha, he posts questions in pretty much everyone's classified ad and never buys but no surprise since he is like 15 year old and is a point hussy. 

I don't think anybody will flag your review if it is negative even if the person is a hardcore lover of that brand, but they might certainly post a response to your review. 

thanks for the tips

thanks very helpful!

Thank you for the advice. I will be more descriptive in the future.

true

Great post. I personally base a lot of my purchases on reviews and research. People please actually take the time to analyze an item, don't just say "greatest i've ever used"! that's just stupid..

Also. When writing a review the link intended to provide a good example of reviews leads to a blank page. (firefox 3.6.13)

Originally posted by gsrrr Originally posted by jhoang6 @ angrymidget Yo What sort of things are you looking for in a review for socks? Socks are socks...what more can you say about them? Then don't review them? Not everything needs a review.

I know this sounds stupid but I'd actually love a sock review.  I have great big crazy sized calves and time and time again I buy a sock that's far too narrow for a person that doesn't have chicken legs and has some muscle.

That being said - if there is something TO say about them... then do it.

for example:
If you have muscular calves, these socks may not fit properly.  Maybe try xxx brand instead.

or:
These socks are great for most riding conditions, however they are very thick, so if you prefer thinner socks, or are looking for a sock to wear in the spring, these are not for you.

Etc... the point being... any review should be value adding, and if it's not... don't review it.

review flagging required

http://www.trusnow.com/profile_points.asp?PF=317701

My last review was in English and Spanish.

ok, this thread is about tips for writing quality reviews... not about spam!

there another thread that deals specificallyl with spam...