How can I get more people to review my items?

[Antumbra]

I've been wondering how can I get people to review my items? I barely get any reviews >_< Is there any way I can get more people to review my items? 

[Sassy Romano]

• Ask them to write a review
• Pay them to write a review

Just a couple of things that you can do.  Both are permitted as long and payment or other incentive is permitted as long as it's offered regardless of whether the review is positive or not.

Both come across as "needy" to me but some people do it. 

Sometimes when someone has had a chat with me, possibly for help or whatever, they may comment about an item and how much they like it or be otherwise suitably complimentary, only in that situation might I ever throw into the conversation something like "well perhaps you wouldn't mind popping a review onto MP" but since MP is about a 50/50 split to inworld sales for me, I generally don't bother unless I already know that they purchased via MP.

People rarely review though and knowing this, i'm always highly sceptical of a new product that pops up and immediately has a bunch of reviews.  Maybe they're just lucky but i'm lucky if I get ONE review every five hundred sales.

 

[OzwellWayfarer]

I find talking to customers sometimes spurs people to write reviews. A little proactive customer service.

I sell a cave kit which can be tricky to use for people not familiar with building in-world. So I usually drop a quick IM saying thanks for shopping at my store and if they need any help, just ask. Consequently that is by far my most reviewed product. People like a personal touch.

Otherwise I am inclined to agree with Sassy. 1 review in 3-500 purchases seems to be average. People use the review system in a very strange way in SL. Usually to indicate delight or outrage. You dont see a lot of 2-3 star reviews. I have always taken a "zero star" product that has been on the market for a while to be "good but not amazing".

[Tari Landar]

Most people these days put very little faith in the review system.

Typically, in a review system, when a person has been given an incentive to review a product, it must be stated in the review. At least, that's how most good review systems work. In sl, that's not a requirement, though I think it should be. I do read reviews, but they very, very rarely have any affect on my purchasing habits. When I notice one person has several reviews from the same person in a short time frame, that can sometimes raise a red flag of  "oh, this person must know the creator, or was asked to leave a review", unless the reviews are negative which often makes me think "this person has somethign against the merchant". That's not always the case, but a very good possibility, which can, obviously, skew reviews. If an item doesn't have a review, I don't think any less of it.  Most merchants get few reviews anymore. I like to read reviews of items with 4 and less stars, particularly if the reviews have commentary. I have seen merchants have their friends write commentary to unsatisfied customers, as well as merchants replying to unsatisfied customers. I'd much rather see replies from a merchant, than replies from some other av. Lower reviews exist because of a customer having either technical issues because the product is not up to par, or the custoner not understanding the product at all and therefore it becomes user error for which the merchant gets blamed. The reason is usually pretty obvious by the reviews themselves.

The entire review system is a joke, though, and I honestly believe that putting too much faith in it, is a bad idea. It's not like it used to be. Most people don't review, even when satisfied with the purchase. I take every review I see with a grain of salt.

I don't personally believe in offering incentives to review. I don't think buying reviews is a good way to build one's reputation, and frankly, I'd question the quality of a product if a merchant has to ask for reviews. Reviews will come, from those who do review, but I doubt very much they have a whole lot of effect on sales, or purchases. People have come to realize that the review system is terrible, and not really meant to be taken seriously, anymore.

[Pamela Galli]

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Antumbra wrote:

 I barely get any reviews 

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Be glad. 

[BadEddy]

On the banner of my store and in the description of most of my item you can read: Leave a review and get a 250L gift card.

 

Since my items are pretty much all 1000L and up and since you can only use 1 of them per purchase, I can't risk much here. Doing this I got way more review over the last 6 months than I got in the last 2 years. On and as a bonus, people return to my shop to spend the gift card.

 

 

[Drake1 Nightfire]

It only works on some of your items? That seems a bit shady to me.. It should either be an all or nothing thing. There is one merchant that gives either 5 or 10% back for every review. So, they lose 5% to LL and they give a further 5-10% back for a review. 

Quick question. Say i buy a bed of yours and the poses are borked and i leave a 1 star review... Do I still get the gift card?