Fake Fishing Gear Reviews On Amazon - My Story

[schplurg]

I am here to give people a first-hand account of how the fake reviews work and how prevalent they are on Amazon.

 

This is maybe more for new anglers, as experienced anglers either don't shop at Amazon, or they know what they want when they do.

 

If you are going to Amazon looking for great deals and you're not a very experienced angler, this is for you.

 

If you go to Amazon and see brands like PLUSINNO, or SOUGILYANG, or SuperFunFishingForYou, and you wonder if their gear is any good, this is for you. But even more reputable sellers pull these same shenanigans.

 

My Experience

 

I was contacted by an Amazon seller through my tiny Youtube channel. I'm nobody. They asked if I wanted to try some free fishing gear in exchange for reviews. I said sure, but I will be honest in my reviews. They asked me to provide a lot of photos (this is key in spotting these fake reviews).

 

I received a rod stand that hold 6 rods and sits on the floor. It was pretty nice and I gave it a good review. It deserved it.

 

By the way, they PayPal you the money up front, then you make the purchase, that way you actually paid for the product and are able to review it.

 

Then they sent another product, and then another company contacted me as well. Wow, I'm important!

 

Finally, I received what I considered a less than perfect product and I gave my honest review. Still 4 stars, but that wan't good enough for the seller! A few days later I get an email asking why I gave a "bad" review and can they do anything to make me change it. "We have a nice fly rod for you to try next" they said. This is the long story short version.

 

I told them to bug off. They aren't the manufacturer so there's nothing they can do to fix it anyways. I've been trying to complain to Amazon ever since but they make it very difficult for some reason. Amazon is currently in litigation due to all of the fake reviews. It is a huge problem for them so they should be eager to learn about this.

 

How To Spot And Avoid The Fakes

 

The companies want a whole bunch of reviews as soon as they release a new product. They expect to get say 50 5-star reviews by recruiting people like me. And they want us to provide photos in our reviews. This is key.

 

If you see a $15 product and reviewers have bothered to post half a dozen photos and videos of the product, there is a good chance that those reviews are fake. Who the heck is going to post 6 photos of a fishing hook, or a roll of fishing line? Compensated reviewers, that's who.

 

And they did not ask me to say "This product was provided free in exchange for a review". You see that sometimes on Amazon, but it is absolutely not required.

 

To avoid these fakes, try sorting the reviews by "Most Recent" rather than "Most Popular" or whatever it is. Chances are good that most of the paid reviews are the earliest ones, but not always! If a product needs a boost they will ask for reviews for existing or older products as well, but not much. It's mainly the earliest reviews that are fake.

 

So, reviews with a lot of photos, or people who use the company name a lot in the review (like an ad would do), are most likely fake. Especially if you see a lot of them, and all 5 stars. "PLUSINNO continues to make great products! Thank you, PLUSINNO, for bla bla de bla bla..." Ya right.

 

If a reviewer seems overly excited about a fishing pole stand, or a reel stringer, or a mismatched box of terminal tackle, it's probably BS. Read the 3 star reviews for the real story.

 

It May Go Deeper Than Just Amazon

 

Recently I did a web search for "telescopic fishing pole". I found dozens of websites with "fishy" sounding names. I can't think of any but stuff that seemed translated from Korean or Chinese, like "BestFishReviews.com", or "BigGoodFunFish.com". Where are all the real fishing sites?

 

So I start reading these and they are ALL touting the same cheap garbage that the fake reviews are trying to sell. Really? The best collapsible fishing pole is made by PLUSINNO and Soungyilang(sp?) on every single review site? No way. And all of these sites read like translated Chinese (though they are getting better). It's like a big conspiracy from the reviews to the review sites.

 

They must buy up a bunch of URLs and SEO they heck out of them so they show up in a Google search. What a scam. They sell crap and they own the review sites too LOL. 

 

So you can't trust these so-called review sites either. They are disguised as fishing sites but they have no info other than these reviews.

 

And one site said they base their Top Ten off of Amazon reviews! Great, the fake reviews!

 

I hope this helps some people. It really makes me mad that people do this - the companies as well as the dishonest reviewers - so I wanted to share my story. I never left a phony review, in fact that's why I'm probably blacklisted now  "No more free fish big fun times for you!"

 

 

[Finessegenics]

Thank you for making this post. For some it may be obvious that they are fake reviews and it is cheap Chinese crap, but thus needed to be said

[MN Fisher]

Good 'review', @schplurg. I may buy from Amazon, but I don't trust their review process...never have. TackleTour, *** , and oldies but goodies like Field and Stream and Outdoor Life are where I go for reviews on gear.

[DanielG]

There are sites that help you evaluate reviews on Amazon. I use this one ReviewMeta You copy/past in the URL of the product you are looking at on Amazon and if it hasn't analyzed it yet, it will do it while you wait. It give a pass/fail rating and gives lots of data as to reasons why. Not perfect but better than nothing.

It looks at reviews with same wording, if someone reviews a lot of stuff the same way, Common cliches used, and many other parameters.

[jimmyjoe]

   Been going on for quite some time.    http://www.alanhawk.com/blog/rotr.html    Seems there is another side to this, too. One that's even seamier.    http://www.alanhawk.com/blog/zmb.html    As always, BUYER BEWARE!     jj

  

[schplurg]

32 minutes ago, DanielG said:

There are sites that help you evaluate reviews on Amazon. I use this one ReviewMeta You copy/past in the URL of the product you are looking at on Amazon and if it hasn't analyzed it yet, it will do it while you wait. It give a pass/fail rating and gives lots of data as to reasons why. Not perfect but better than nothing.

It looks at reviews with same wording, if someone reviews a lot of stuff the same way, Common cliches used, and many other parameters.

 

That's cool I'll have to check that out.

 

I leave a lot of Amazon reviews on my own, but I only did 4 for these companies. It didn't take long for them to show their true nature.

 

I also went back last week and lowered my review for one I had previously rated at 5 stars. Got an email from them too. This thing fell apart on me on 2nd use. First use was no problem, hence the good initial score.

 

It makes me wonder about all the other reviewers who continue to do this. Some of this stuff is okay in quality and free stuff is probably hard for a lot of people to walk away from. I see people fawning over the same item that I thought sucked and fell apart on me. They're obviously lying.

 

One reason I fish is because the older I get the more tired of people I get. Oh I still love meeting people...I guess what I mean is a person can be cool, but people suck

[Sam]

Great write up. Thanks for sharing.

I only get my reviews from Tackle Warehouse and other reputable retailers.

 

 

[NYWayfarer]

In regards to cheap fishing gear sold on Amazon no review is needed to tell me to avoid it. You know what you are getting if you buy a Plussino rod or reel for $20
 

I have no problem reading reviews with a third eye. I look for reviews that address my concerns with the item I am looking to purchase. I then make up my own mind if a purchase is worth it. That is becoming a lost art.

[Manly Studson]

This post is helpful. Sometimes I see gear from different no-name brands that look exactly the same, but the reviews are very good and similar.  I just wish Daiwa or Shimano would solicit my opinions in exchange for free gear.  I’m confident that my reviews would be great even before I received the product!

[schplurg]

1 hour ago, jimmyjoe said:

   Been going on for quite some time.    http://www.alanhawk.com/blog/rotr.html Seems there is another side to this, too. One that's even seamier.    http://www.alanhawk.com/blog/zmb.html As always, BUYER BEWARE!     jj

  

Still reading these. A lot of good info.

 

It surprised me that they would put money in my PayPal account so I could make the purchase.  I think that's a newer tactic. I called my sister when this all started because this smelled like a rip-off to me, and she said she reviewed a phone case for a seller once and it was the same process.

 

The emails always started with "Hey Mate!" then would continue in very broken and poorly translated sentences.

 

I want to say here that the company PLUSINNO (they spell it all caps) is not the one who bribed me to change my review, though I believe they were about to do so. I just didn't reply to their query on why I lowered my review.

 

The company that did bribe me was TopSport. They all sell the same stuff and who knows maybe they're all under one parent company, but wanted to clarify that. The rod stand Plusinno sent me was quite good and I use it.

 

By the way, I used to develop iPhone games and it's the same thing as far as reviews go, you can buy them, although I think Apple does a better job sorting them out. Apple is hardcore.

 

Edit to add: (why can't I bold anything suddenly?)

 

Speaking of iPhone games, I have been playing around with designing a bass fishing sim. This would be based on real bass behavior as much as possible, and I was thinking about starting a thread about it here.

 

Right now I have a large pond with a bass that can travel around. It seeks locations depending on time of day for now, very basic, but I'm working on water temp, depth, length of day, and other stuff. Hunger, fear, energy, aggressiveness...

 

What I'm trying to do is make a bass that will live a life cycle as a real bass would, getting bigger, smarter maybe, and then building a fishing sim around that. No BS in-app purchases - I'm too old-school for that. 

 

Anyways I thought maybe I could get insights from the experts here and maybe it would be a fun thing to do. I may start a thread.

 

I don't know that many people here would want to play it, but I'd make it easy even for non-gamers (easy to play, not easy to catch!). And I have written a best selling iPhone game so I'm no slouch. I'm not even looking to get rich (uh, it's a fishing game).

 

Oh and the fish at this point will attack and bite a bait I made but it's pretty basic so far. Nothing even close to playable.

 

We'll see.

[newriverfisherman1953]

If someone starts off with “Hey mate” with me, that’s as far as  they get. Sorry, but I’m gone. ?

[schplurg]

21 minutes ago, NYWayfarer said:

In regards to cheap fishing gear sold on Amazon no review is needed to tell me to avoid it. You know what you are getting if you buy a Plussino rod or reel for $20
 

I have no problem reading reviews with a third eye. I look for reviews that address my concerns with the item I am looking to purchase. I then make up my own mind if a purchase is worth it. That is becoming a lost art.

 

Thinking is a lost art.

[Hewhospeaksmuchbull]

1 hour ago, schplurg said:

One reason I fish is because the older I get the more tired of people I get. Oh I still love meeting people...I guess what I mean is a person can be cool, but people suck

Ya, well I'm liking you more and more all the time.

 

I get ya.

[galyonj]

1 hour ago, schplurg said:

Speaking of iPhone games, I have been playing around with designing a bass fishing sim.

Snipped for length.

 

That sounds amazing.

[Dirtyeggroll]

When I am reading reviews for an item I always sort it by “lowest rating” first. I read the bad ratings and if there is a recurring theme (not just people having unrealistic expectations or having a bad day), I’ll go search in other places to see if people have had similar experiences.

[Boomstick]

Thank you for this. I have recently noticed something similar with a guitar company. The owner has recently came under scrutiny for some of his less questionable use of his followers to bully anyone who doesn't do what he wants, and I recall seeing some of his expensive models with extremely major defects like fret edges that could literally cut your hands, which is not a problem on even a $200 Squier, let alone a much more expensive guitar. So after hearing others complain about this, I looked up reviews and I am pretty sure they were all fake, maybe even left by company employees -- even if they had to buy 3-5 of each model to get it to say verified user.

 

I no longer trust review sections on sites that are selling products. Instead I will look to select Youtube reviewers who I have came to trust. I recently watched an overall negative review of a kayak I plan on purchasing, but I thought the woman who gave it gave her honest opinion and also detailed what it did right, and as it turns out what she liked about it is what I am personally looking for. It would be hard to fabricate things like that just to give something a positive or bad review.

1 hour ago, schplurg said:

Speaking of iPhone games, I have been playing around with designing a bass fishing sim. This would be based on real bass behavior as much as possible, and I was thinking about starting a thread about it here.

I might have to buy a cell phone if it's a good enough game to feed my fishing itch during the colder months. I have only found one fishing game that's worth a d**n to be honest.

[schplurg]

2 hours ago, Boomstick said:

- snipped for brevity - 

 

 

I might have to buy a cell phone if it's a good enough game to feed my fishing itch during the colder months. I have only found one fishing game that's worth a d**n to be honest.

 

I figure some people might be inclined to try during the winter months. I've played "BPS The Strike" and it's "okay". There are a lot of others but I've never tried most. I just doubt/know they aren't what I want.

 

My goals with such a game would be (so far):

 

In a nutshell: I want people to be able to apply their fishing knowledge and catch bass in a beautiful and realistic video game.

 

- realistic fish behavior. Realistic fishing. No underwater camera help, though I'd like people to be able to watch the fish maybe. Sometimes I copy/paste twenty of my fish into the scene and watch them swim around. Kinda cool!

 

- beautiful settings that make you want to turn on the game even if you never play. I want you to feel like you are there. It's all about atmosphere. The game may not run on mobile because I want it to look jaw-dropping. Not sure.

 

- actual fish in the water swimming around doing fish stuff. If it's spawning time you may see them on beds, or the males preparing the bed (ignoring your baits!). If the conditions are right you may see a few under a dock. You'll see a swirl near the weeds maybe.

 

- They will bite when a bait is close enough, or vibrating enough, and if they are hungry or irritated enough, etc.

- You can fish the bank or from a rowboat, bass boat, yak or tube ("maybe" on some of these if I get serious enough). Full access to the water.

 

- No snags? Not sure. Maybe very difficult to snag? But there will be cover and structure to locate and fish around. Trees, stumps, pads,

- realistic weather, time, sun position throughout the year. Moon too.

 

What I have now...

- a large pond with a little bit of everything. Shallows, coves, 30 feet deep in spots, docks, areas that would serve to spawn. You can walk around it and on the water for now

 

- a fish that can swim, avoid obstacles, reach a destination and hold near that position, not float away out of the game into the sky, free swim. It also reads the sun angle. I have it programmed now to go to shallow water morning and evenings just as a test, then find cover from a couple of available docks during the day, or free swim.

 

- a sun that acts like a sun. It can do shorter (winter) days, and at different angles. Objects create shadows.

 

- I have a rudimentary way of figuring out (not realistically really) what temp the water should be at different depths using my very VERY basic "knowledge" of how temps change through the thermocline and the other layers. The fish can analyze the temp but it does not act on it yet.

 

I'm trying to determine how to make the water temps react (sloooowly) to air temps. I kinda know how but I haven't tried it yet.

 

This probably sounds a lot better than it really is, and most of it is very basic.

 

Now, I've only been learning about bass fishing for less than two years so I can only get so far with this on my own (cough Tom cough Help cough  ). I've learned a lot, but pfft!!! So that's why I've thought about mentioning it here.

 

This post is too long and off topic, so I'll think about starting a new one. May as well I guess. If it dies it dies. I don't want to start something I won't finish, but I've been playing with this for a month or so, so it looks like I'm kinda serious about it.

 

 

[schplurg]

 

You may be able to read some of the values/variables I have for the fish on the right of the image. The blocks at the bottom near the dock are for path-finding testing. Just thought I'd post a pic to show I'm actually doing this

 

Also nothing you see would ever be good enough to be seen in a finished game.

[Crestliner2008]

Thank you for this post. I frequently purchase items from Amazon, but when searching, I always start from the worst reviews and up from there.

[SWVABass]

Don’t be to quick to knock all the off brand cheap gear. There are pro anglers using on tour, in tournaments some of the $20 dollar reels available on Amazon. They know they are not the same as shimano or abu or any other name brand. But they tout them as disposable reels. Cheap efficient reels to use and then when they crap out toss them and use a new one. 
 

his term for them disposable reels.

[Glenn]

Which pros are you referencing? 

[Bass Junke]

Reading buyer reviews and sorting out the "reviews with ulterior motives", from the honest reviews can be tricky. Like Dirtyeggroll said, all you can do is look for trends. If there are 50 reviews and 20 of them report the same type of issue. I will not buy that product. Good post. Good info. Thanks.

[Hawkeye21]

I noticed while searching for flipping rods that I found multiple sites showing the same exact list of their top rated rods.  I found that to be a little suspicious so I made sure I checked as many reviews as possible.  Most of the rods look to be good and are good brands but it's strange that multiple site would have the same exact models picked.

2 hours ago, Glenn said:

Which pros are you referencing? 

I can't remember the angler's names but I know I've seen two different guys saying how all they use are cheap reels they order from China.  The one guy was on BTL and showed them.

[Paul Roberts]

Excellent review of "reviews". And excellent advice on navigating them.

[@reelChris]

6 hours ago, Swbass15 said:

Don’t be to quick to knock all the off brand cheap gear. There are pro anglers using on tour, in tournaments some of the $20 dollar reels available on Amazon. They know they are not the same as shimano or abu or any other name brand. But they tout them as disposable reels. Cheap efficient reels to use and then when they crap out toss them and use a new one. 
 

his term for them disposable reels.

What?  Reels that break during tournaments or practice cost you time and money.  That's the opposite of efficient.