I was just wondering is there a way these can be "fiddled"

let me explain: I see an item I like and so I read some of the product review comments from other artists and there may be a lot of "oohh!  arrhhh! this is bloody marvellous, buy it!" kind of comments.

Now a few times some of these have been "over the top" so I look at the commentors homepage and what do I find?  "Nothing", No page views [hardly], no bio, no gallery, nothing!!

This then makes me think that this comment isn't real you know and so I don't buy it!!

Am I just being cynical or do I have a point, can it be fiddled to give the merchant good reviews??

I don't think they can be altered. However, I don't base my purchases on what other people have to say. The only way I'll know if I like something is to try it out myself.

For example, I bought something by a well known and respected merchant here based on rave reviews and gushing comments about this person's packages.  From my own personal experience, I didn't think the package that was being raved about so greatly was anything special. It was very difficult to work with and I wasn't at all impressed by the end result either.

Read the comments but take them with a grain of salt.  I found that even if a package isn't that great, some people just have a hard time speaking up and being honest.

Yea! That's all very well Acadia but I have to be picky about what I buy due to fund limitations [I'm sure we've all been there, lol] so I do kind of look at them as a guide but I'm thinking lately that  a lot of it is hogwash!!!

I gotta say I was put off buying something yesterday due to a really gushing comment from one member about how it had done his renders wonders, yada, yada and when I checked he/she didn't have a gallery. I know that's not unusual but it just didn't sit right! 

thefixer I have at times done exactly the same thing you did.
Sounds like normal healthy caution to me. If there were a bunch of gushing reviews from people who became members the same week or day or have no galleries at all then I would be prone to act the same way.
:biggrin:

It would be nice to have someone from admin respond like I asked!!!

Ooooooo, you're treading in murky waters here methinks. Ever try to leave a less than good comment on a product? They tend not to stay up for long.

Hi fixer, Sorry for the delay in getting back with you.

"I was just wondering is there a way these can be "fiddled""

No...They cant be edited.

Hi Fixer!!!!!!!! i make my purchases based on how many pictures they have of the product!!! and if say it was clothes how many morphs and/or textures it comes with!!!! so if it didn't come with many morphs,i would know it might not fit a character i have created!!! i don't know ,but i would guess it would be allright for you to start a thread asking for pros or cons about a specific product!!! i know if i was selling my own stuff here,it wouldn't bother me to see a thread about whether my product was any good or not!!! as the results would show whether i was doing good or had some work to do to please more people!!!good result equals promo!!! bad result means i would get the info on how to improve my product!!!!! i guess an admin has to respond to this to determine whether this is ok or not!!!!!!!!!!!!!

If I see a product review by an artist here that I respect, then that review has credibility to me.  Sometimes I wonder if certain fantastic reviews are made by friends of the merchant who are just trying to promote sales for the product.  It's hard not to be cynical sometimes.   

I usually base on a few things.. and this is just me..

 I tend to look closely at the product.. I examine each and every promo with a fine tooth comb..LOL Then I read reviews.. I fi like teh promos and it has quite a few good review I look to see how many "over the top" reviews it has.. you now the ones just gushing with THIS IS THE MOST FANTASTIC INCREDIBLE LIFE ALTERING PRODUCT EVER!!!!!! 3000 STARS!!.. those types.. if it has a lot of those I look at the merchants other products.. are there product reviews like that for their other products?  More importantly.. are they from the same reviewer(s) that gave the other gushing reviews.. if they are I tend to think like you.. that they may just be friends of said merchant trying to promote sales.

should members be able to leave a review without first making a purchase of the said item.that would nip in the bud anyone trying to make fake reviews

Quote - should members be able to leave a review without first making a purchase of the said item.that would nip in the bud anyone trying to make fake reviews

You do actually have had to purchase a copy of the product.. or a product of the product has to be given to you as a gift through Renderosity.  The problem arrises when people buy thier own product through the marketplace for thier friends in order to get good reviews.  While I am not sure how many merchants do this I have heard whispers that there are some that do:(

I'm not sure how significant it is that purchasers don't have galleries, home pages and so on. Many of the buyers of my models don't (though my stuff isn't Poser-specific so that might be a factor).

I'm sure there are those who just shop here but don't exhibit, which is fair enough.