Get an unfair advantage By Reading Amazon Reviews

Frequent Amazon BuyerThat's me, hiking in
Acadia National Park

As a member of Amazon's Affiliate program, I'm guilty (not necessarily a bad thing) of encouraging the readers of this Photography Tips website to purchase some of their gear from Amazon.

It's true that there's usually a small financial thank you that comes to me when someone clicks an Amazon link and makes a purchase.

Contrary to buying from Amazon, I'd like to share a little secret with you about Amazon. It's something I do frequently and I doubt Amazon knows anything about my little trick.

I frequently go to Amazon for information about a product, with no intention of buying it. With the exception of many of the books and informational type of products, the reviews can be a gold mine of helpful information on the strengths and weaknesses of camera gear.


How To Interpret Amazon Reviews

5-star tripod ball head review

The reviews can be very useful, but there are a few things you need to know first, before you get steered in the wrong direction about a specific product. Here are the 5 top strategic tips when you're reading Amazon reviews.

  1. Don't limit the reviews you read to the ones that support a bias before you do your research. In other words if you really like what you know about a product before you go to Amazon, don't just read the 5-star reviews to validate your opinion. Start with the one and two-star reviews to see what issues others have had first. Then read the positive reviews.
  2. It rarely makes sense to buy a product with an average rating of less than four stars. People have more of a tendency leave reviews when they're disappointed, so anything above a 4 is impressive
  3. Pay less attention to the very short reviews, both positive and negative, that don't contain specific comments. The longest reviews have the most.
  4. Products with a real high number of reviews left are the most popular and have the most potential for being useful to bank on. Ignore the occasional review that was accidentally left for a different product.
  5. You can get a good overview of the ratings of a product by hovering your cursor above the stars, then select any specific number of stars reviews you want to look at.

As an Amazon affiliate I may receive a small commission from qualifying purchases, at NO added cost to you.

Go to Amazon now to learn a lot by reading reviews.

Pros of Amazon Reviews

  • You may be able to learn about new ways the camera, lens or accessory was used in specific types of photography.
  • Learn about the most common issues that arise with the specific product.
  • Get a variety of opinions from photographers with different backgrounds.

Cons of Amazon Reviews

  • Fake Reviews. There are some people who are unscrupulous and leave phony reviews trying to falsely influence you one way or another. Be wary of over-the-top glowing reviews or super harsh negative reviews without back-up details.
  • Bias. Some reviews may be biased, strongly positively or negatively. For example, someone who received a damaged product, or delayed shipping, is likely to leave a negative review, even if the product itself is normally high-quality.
  • Dated. Some product reviews become outdated because some products are updated. This is usually not the case with most camera gear.

Of course, I don't complain when people do decide to buy because they like the reviews, the delivery schedule, and the price. They choose to buy for the convenience. Whether you purchase or not, the most important thing is to use the reviews to your advantage!

My wife, my 3 adult kids, several friends, and me, are all Amazon Prime members, so naturally we're biased. For us, as frequent buyers, Prime membership saves us money to pay the yearly fee to get a ton of ancillary benefits as well as save on a year of shipping.


As an Amazon affiliate I may receive a small commission from qualifying purchases, at NO added cost to you.

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Article published by Bruce Lovelace

ABOUT BRUCE LOVELACE

Bruce is the publisher of this website. He is the author of the book "Improve Your Photography Instantly."  Read more on Bruce on his Bio Page. He's been known as The Traveling Photographer ever since 1994. Read more about this website.

View some of Bruce's photos on Instagram.   Visit the Facebook Page. Watch him on YouTube.  Bruce runs photo workshops for kids and adults, and provides one-on-one photography coaching.

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