Want to Review Amazon Products You Buy?

Who loves to shop on Amazon? (Me! Me! Me!) As a frequent shopper on Amazon, I am also a frequent reviewer. Since I already write reviews here on the blog, reviewing on Amazon comes naturally.

You may have heard of Amazon’s new rules regarding reviews. They no longer accept reviews written by people who received products for free in exchange for a review. This is due in part from too many reviewers writing fake reviews or not being honest about products.

And let’s be honest: you can spot those reviewers from a mile away. 

While that type of reviewing is now not accepted, reviewing items you purchased is still totally okay. Companies who sell on Amazon need quality reviews on their products to get their listing closer to the number one spot when people search for a product. Without reviews, people are reluctant to buy products. Consumers want to know how products work before they spend their money, especially when their buying things online. If you really like something, wouldn’t you want to tell everyone about it?

I regularly review products that I buy from Amazon. I am going to tell you how to write awesome reviews. Please note that I do everything honestly here.  This is not a method to get free products for reviewing on Amazon.

Before Reviewing on Amazon 

Sign up for Amazon. It’s free to sign up on Amazon. With just a regular account, you can still order anything, but with a Prime account, you can order many things and get FREE two-day shipping (PLUS so much more. Read more about that here.). A Prime account will pay for itself with all of the free shipping you can get and then some. When you actually buy products, you can get them faster as well.

Practice reviewing products by reviewing things you already have or bought from Amazon. If you can write up reviews of things you own, it’ll build up your profile. Bonus if you bought these things from Amazon because they’ll be counted as Verified Purchases, meaning that you actually care about what you’re writing (aka not being ‘paid’ to write it) since you yourself bought it at full price. Basically, it can build up your credibility. Add photos of you using the product (see “Take detailed pictures” below).

TIP: Create a Professional Amazon Profile

Log in to Amazon , go to Your Account, and scroll down to Your Public Profile. There you can add details about your self and also showcase your reviews and reviewer ranking. I included links to my blog and social media profiles and my email address. (Why? I often have Amazon sellers asking me to review their products on my blog or social media site, which is legit to do. For those, I don’t review directly on Amazon as it is no longer permitted. Also, other people get to see my blog and social media sites and may come visit!)

Buy Amazon Products to Review

Search for deals if you want to save money. Amazon regularly has deals (Daily Deals), and often companies post about discounts on social media or in emails.  If you want emails with discounts, try Blue Ribbons Review. If you are a blogger and have followers on social media, Tomoson is often a good place to start since you can find discounts there in exchange for social media posts.

How to Review Amazon Products

Follow Amazon’s Reviewing Guidelines

You must follow Amazon’s Customer Review Creation Guidelines. Read it and any other helpful articles on Amazon to make sure your review isn’t rejected.

Wait at least 10 days before reviewing a product. I believe this is part of Amazon’s TOS for reviewing (although I can’t find it at the moment…other than the review part is open 48 hours after the item ships), but even if it isn’t, you want to get to know a product before writing a review about it. Learn all of its pros and cons by actually using it.

Take detailed pictures and/or videos. Reviews with helpful pictures and videos tend to get more helpful votes, plus you can actually see the product in action. I make sure to add at least 2-3 photos of the product from various angles and in action. If it’s a beauty or health product, it’d be great to take before and after photos too.  DO NOT just take a picture of the product in the packaging. As an online shopper, I’d be less likely to believe that you actually used the product if you just post a picture of the product in the packaging.

Give detailed descriptions of how you use the product. How do you use the product? Why do you use the product? Where do you use the product? With whom do you use the product? How many times have you used the product? Would you order it again? Amazon recommends 75-500 words.

Be honest. It’s easy to tell who actually used a product and who wrote some fluff about it or copied the product description. Be absolutely honest about the product and use your own words. List all the positives about it, but don’t be afraid to list negatives if there are any. Not every product is perfect.

Don’t end every sentence in it”!” or use caps. This is the best product ever! I use it every day! I would never buy anything else! This is fantastic! YOU NEED TO BUY THIS! I LOVE EVERYTHING ABOUT IT! See what I’m getting at? It kinda kills your credibility when you write like this. Of course, a properly placed exclamation point or even caps can get a point across, but don’t over do it. Also, refer back to being honest…

Use proper grammar and spelling. Another thing that adds to your credibility is to use proper spelling and grammar. Don’t use ‘text speech’ in your reviews. For example, “Wud u buy products based on reviews dat read like this?” I wouldn’t trust the reviews, to be honest, and it probably will get you zero helpful votes.

Review things that you have bought often. Continue to write reviews of items you actually purchased yourself on a regular basis to help with your credibility. Not only are prospective customers looking at these reviews, but Amazon looks out for them too.

Example of Amazon Review

This is an example of just one of the reviews I wrote on Amazon.

 

Some Things to Consider 

1. Just because a product is discounted or on sale, doesn’t mean it’s worth your time or effort to buy it and review it. I try to only buy  products I actually use in real life on a regular basis. Accumulating stuff just because you can buy it  isn’t necessarily a good thing. Take the time to look into products before you order.
2. Another thing that people think is okay is getting something for free, never opening it, writing a ‘fake’ review about it, then selling it to someone else. This is frowned upon and may even be illegal .
3. Some companies may contact you directly to review more products on your blog or social media. If you make it a habit to write quality reviews, you may get invited to review other products on your blog or social media! Again, make sure they are worth your time and effort.
4. If you are a blogger and have a website, it would be beneficial to review products on Amazon and also share about them on your blog or social media profiles with an Affiliate Link. You’ll earn commissions on things that your followers buy or bounties on certain programs. You can choose to either get paid with an Amazon gift card or as direct deposit to your bank once you reach payout. (Go to Amazon and sign up for an account if you haven’t already. Scroll to the bottom of the page and click on Become an Affiliate. Follow the directions from there.)
5. It is NOT okay to receive payment to write a review. It’s against Amazon’s Customer Review Creation Guidelines. Please reference that article to see why.

I think I covered it all! Did I miss anything? Need an explanation? Leave a comment below!

Disclaimer: This is based on my experiences. I am not responsible for how any discount websites are run nor am I responsible for anything that happens once you try to review products on Amazon. This is just a basic tutorial.