How much importance do you give to customer reviews while shopping online?

I pay more attention to the negative reviews than the positive reviews. The positive ones are sometimes (often) planted by the manufacturer by handing out freebies of the product for review.

Negative ones have to be taken with a grain of salt too. There’s always a crank who wouldn’t know his ass from his elbow and is going to complain no matter what. So I look for trends. Toss out the outliers on both ends and you have a pretty good idea.

Many times I have been dissuaded from buying a particular brand because of the reviews. Positive reviews have less of an effect on my buying habits.

Many electronics reviews with “Poor” for a rating seem to have been from a user that has bitten off more than they could handle. A combination of operator error and overly complex technology cause the “Poor”.

I read reviews before I make a large purchase. I can’t remember which brand it was now, but there was a good deal on a 40 inch TV. I read the bad reviews, of which were a considerable amount, and all said about the same thing. Picture went out and the consumer had to pay for shipment to California and back to have it fixed. Shipment was more than the TV.
If there are less than 5 reviews, I don’t put much stock in them.

I have added the Fakespot extension to my Firefox. It does a scan of the reviews and give a grade on the quality using a proprietary algorithm. it can tell if many were from the same or similar writers, how many were cross linked on other pages,
If a product is rated highly but Fakespot give it or the vendor a “C” or below I won’t deal with them.
Conversely I will buy something that might not be rated highly but if everyone was honest I am going into it with open eyes.

^That’s a good idea @LuckyGuy..)

With a big grain of salt. Consumer reviews are very flawed. People from the producing company can post glowing reviews of it. Competitors can post very negative reviews. I tend to look for reviews by disinterested third parties with some expertise in the field. For example, Consumer Reports, PC Magazine, PC World, CNET.

usually not much. Things I buy on line are not usually things that I have discovered online. in other words, I know what I want before looking for it.

I pay a lot of attention to the online reviews and it is one reason why I usually prefer to shop online. I like to hear people describe their experiences when using the product and the specific good and the bad features they have identified. It can make shopping online a more meaningful experience than shopping in the High Street.

I’ll use Fakespot sometimes to sniff out BS reviews. Generally I focus on the negatives and think about the content of the review and if it makes sense given what I know of the product. I.e. if they couldn’t figure out how to put it together, or did something wrong, vs. having a horrible customer service experience, or the product failed catastrophically.

3 stars

I consider reviews when there’s a large number of them, and if there’s a good sampling of A-to-F. If the reviews are sparse, it seems likely that the glowing raves were posted by business owners and their friends, and that the really bad comments are from competitors.

It also depends on whether the reviews seem to have substance and make sense. If someone has a particular praise or complaint that sounds realistic, I might put some faith in it. I dismiss anything such as, “Their rude and stupid. Your wrong to go their.”

I definitely read the reviews. For example, yesterday I purchased a Nutri Bullet for making smoothies. There were 8 five-star reviews, all of which were specific and sounded genuine. When I put that info together with recommendations from friends, it all added up to a great big go for it signal. So I did.

I should more than I do.
I ignore the ratings which do not also include a review. I read reviews and sort through the ones who seem to be frustrated by some point which may have been user’s own lacking.
There are some reviews which appear to be attempts at simply blocking competition.
All in all, I use it mostly to see if the product has been helpful to someone like me. For instance, kitchen products with reviews which say, my daughter loves hers, but it is difficult for me because of my arthritis.
I never base buying solely on reviews, but some of the comments do help me decide if a product will be a good fit for me.

I read reviews about most things I buy or places like restaurants where I go. I look to see what percentage of reviews are bad. If there are a significant number of bad, I read a few to see if there is a common thread among the complaints. Then I decide if it is really that bad. Example: You are looking to buy a used car. You look at what owners have said about that model of car. If there are a significant number that were negative reviews because they felt the interior was cheaply made, that’s one thing. If there are a significant number that all complain about having to repair the transmission after 60,000 miles, that is another. I can live with a broken cup holder.

^very true.:)

I consider reviews strongly when shopping on non-trusted websites such as cheaper websites like Shein or anonymous sources like non-verified amazon sellers.

I always look for details of the time they experienced the product. I was with my cousin, I was in traffic, specific details….let you know it’s probably authentic.