How Scammers in China Manipulate Amazon | WSJ

Chinese sellers resort to a wide range of cunning techniques to manipulate product listings on Amazon and boost sales. WSJ’s Jon Emont investigates their strategies and explains how consumers can detect sham listings. Image: Crystal Tai. Video: Clément Bürge/WSJ
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[@BlankedEye]

Funny the chinese guy speaks english as perfectly as the israeli guy and they still need to put the subtitles

[@PHlophe]

we all noticed this, it was their way of "othering" him. that shade is as bright as the white dude's bald head.

[@fanjin.z]

He is obviously not Chinese, mostly likely an US Asian.

[@zombieswillomnomnom]

Fanjin Zeng he would still be ethically chinese. also, that doesn’t change the fact that they put subtitles on him when he can be very easily understood

[@peterchen1966]

@@fanjin.z Let's be real. That guy is definitely born and raised in China. We can clearly hear the accent, and please don't think it's a compliment when you say that one person is Asain American. You're just being stupid. We should give him credit for studying English so hard.

[@lehuy7306]

You're being shallow here what about the people with hearing illness? Or people whose listening in English is not good so they need subtitles?

[@bullbear3345]

Interview him as entrepreneur. Report him as scammer. What a double face news channel

[@seanbrown8920]

They are the same thing in China.

[@kmcl11]

I support it. They are scammers so who cares.

[@AchwaqKhalid]

Low key interrogation 😁

[@labyebmor5068]

Bull Bear calm down mr communist troll

[@sovereignspirit7640]

Bull Bear The interviewer didn't know he was a scammer until he interviewed him as an entrepreneur. You people are as dumb as dumb gets

[@black__bread]

Chinese - scammer American - marketing and B2C optimization consultant

[@Predestinated1]

😂

[@black__bread]

@Watchdog You say scams, I say a weak regulatory environment and limited legal recourse. And if you think 'murika is above scams howabout I register you for an online marketing course at Trump University. Here have some Flint water and opiod painkillers while we fill out the form

[@doesnotcompute3174]

Martin Ersatz Because there are actual rules and regulations in America that go hard after offenders, something which the authoritarian government of China seems to lack. That’s not a defense of the scummy tactics businesses in America conduct their operations, but it seems China allows exploitation to a much higher degree.

[@hizboo7670]

@@black__bread Chinese don't even care about the Chinese, sad

[@rhythmmaster4128]

@@hizboo7670 U think American care about the other Americans?

[@bluzshadez]

I didn't realize how "dirty" the business practices were just to get ahead of competitors. Everything can easily be faked. What a scary world we live in now.

[@bryanshoemaker6120]

its even worse then that. china in the last 30 years has done many things. fake web pages, fake bar codes, fake tags, shipping parts from china to some other country then to destination to avoid made in china label. buying a test product dont work to. buy the time you buy 1 product and test it. some shady entity already stole theyre intellectual property and is making a knock off causing your legal and proper business to die in a matter of 2 weeks.

[@bryanshoemaker6120]

@Drakilicious that would be stupid. what would the point of that be?

[@danishbutter1847]

scary world? this is only China, i trust most sellers from most countries except China, Pakistan, and India with a grain of salt.

[@blakeg4166]

CAPITALISM makes people stupid mindless money chasers

[@orenishii4268]

Yeah the sanlu mike, it's only happends in china

[@rea8585]

As a web-redactor, I've been asked tons of times to do fake Amazon reviews. And none of them was coming from China, this is something sellers from the whole world are doing and they also often ask local redactors to do it.

[@americansniper1641]

Quick Fix - Thought Provoking Videos as a web designer who knows hard numbers in China people do ask for fake reviews in amazon people don’t understand people see amazon as a bank

[@soupwithnosoup4706]

@@andyk192 And you don't suppose any other foreign person could be asking for them? Just curious.

[@cballena5785]

Well, another US propaganda for trade war with China

[@rich2583]

What is a web redactor? I've searched Google and nothing.

[@DerekFullerWhoIsGovt]

Quick Fix - Thought Provoking Videos: Thanks 🙏🏽

[@DavichiG]

Amazon Rule number one: only read 3 stars reviews, these are the most honest and real ones

[@Acemans]

I typically leave 4 star reviews if I really liked the product, 5 only if it did more than I expected.

[@martineyety1419]

ehh, solid state of mind but not always true my friend

[@sunisii]

The real way is to see the type of language the reviewer uses and if it is repetitive. Fake reviews sometimes say the same thing, but try to put it in different words. If they make multiple reviews within the same day (and only that day) they are probably (most likely) fake.

[@JacyndaMinor]

Idk they seem to have figured this out. I look for repetition and merits that no one cares about. Like, who says “the color really matches my decor” when talking about a speaker? I just disregard all products that have any fake reviews, although it really is getting rampant.i hate this, everything is a fckn trap nowadays. It’s gross. BE RICH AND SHOP LOCAL YALL

[@ArtStoneUS]

@@sunisii let’s say I was looking at toasters - if a review would look just as real if it was describing a pair of shoes, it is fake. I have decided to not buy items when a reviewer points out something about the product I did not notice or misleading language in the description. In general, Amazon is doing a pretty effective job of managing the reviews, at least for the items I buy.

[@hunter21331]

So basically.... White-consumer Chinese-manufacture Indian-customer service

[@junaidkhan-vz5br]

Yeeeea

[@malcolmholmes2596]

SEA/Vietnam etc. Landfills

[@Coolence_]

Black-kfc

[@BrianBBBB]

@@Coolence_ nah it's Popeye's

[@Pippie5555]

And the whites become cheated, and the whites own industry is closing down.

[@unreliablenarrator6649]

These tactics are not unique to China. They are used globally.

[@whereaboutsunknown3822]

No one said it's unique to China.

[@miss.bitchswerve6329]

I think America’s proved to be easily manipulated specifically after trump’s win.

[@magnusbutch4174]

then how will the news be entertaining without a bogeyman?

[@rafaelgabrielsantos1246]

India is the 2nd faker

[@mwkcheng]

The tactics are nothing new. But the scale is very different. In China (and India too) the labour cost is so cheap and there are hundred of thousands of people working full time to create fake accounts, making fake sales and fake reviews, for very very low prices. It's a pity this video did not show those people in action. It's actually amazing to watch how a huge team of people each controlling tens of mobile devices and working in high efficiency. You cannot fight that by trying to be a humble honest online seller.

[@ziljin]

Howard's English is better than the narrator. Why do we need subtitles for him but not the narrator?

[@dizzy6745]

But it isn't.

[@bowenzhu9720]

dizzy6745 What about the guy from isreal

[@revilo8oliver]

coz he is not white

[@s._3560]

Simply because even though poor Howard is willing to smear China and Chinese's reputations on WSJ's behalf, they still don't view him as their equal. He is still an lowly immigrant in their eyes, who has unintelligible English and requires subtitles in order to be understood. Just because Howard has an American accent, doesn't consitute him being their equal!

[@HSan1503]

Obviously it's for the blind viewers.

[@asdfgoogle]

Why do only the Chinese speakers have subtitles when they speak? The dude from Israel had a stronger accent than that Chinese entrepreneur.

[@His-ln7yd]

Because he was made in China ? 😁

[@Blacktolite]

How many isrealis own shares in WSJ?? Follow the money 💰💰💵💶💶💸📫💲

[@tomservo5007]

because people that read lips would never 'guess' what he was saying. You know deaf people.

[@MrStone125]

@@sethwagoner3430 nah

[@user-rh2pv2kc5g]

WSJ is a zionist......

[@5MAnThe]

This just makes me not want to buy from Amazon and just walk into the store instead.

[@ernst91]

Do it.

[@ajanimandara9137]

@who knows? lol

[@umsiee]

@who knows? 😂😂

[@laraoneal7284]

Asif Sarfaraz Yes and soon there will be no stores period.

[@veroniquefaison]

Hubby and I made a cautious decision 3 years ago to limit our shopping on Uncle Jeff Bezos store. We probably purchase only 3 things a year and that is because it was not a available at any of the brick/mortar stores. Even during the beginning of the pandemic, we refused to purchase from Uncle Jeff.

[@cberh]

I sold on amazon for a year and a bit before I quit. I had the review scam and someone bought all my products and returned them after Christmas( which cost me money per item). I contacted amazon daily for like a a month and nothing was done I packed up paid my losses and now have over 1000 pairs of headphone sitting at home.

[@cutielol0]

But why did the person buy them all just to return it later

[@Irfan-pr1lu]

@@cutielol0 maybe for an event, and return it after used so there almost no cost spent.

[@lamtube8565]

@@cutielol0 To kill competitions.

[@miss.bitchswerve6329]

Irfan Agoes Mursalin so true 😂

[@lamtube8565]

@@Irfan-pr1lu If you do it too often, they will ban you.

[@shobino]

It's funny there is cc when Chinese guy speaks and not when Israel guy lol

[@illeh9590]

Poor jews right?

[@jasonhsu3375]

political correctness？this story needs a fu-manchu style negative character，the jew? come on ,dudes, u guys know the DEAL......

[@GillianBrown13]

Yeah and the Israeli guy even has more of an accent

[@hizboo7670]

Who cares, why does the Chinese have Ane English names, is that one of his scam

[@h8GW]

Even more funny when the Chinese guy has no Chinese accent.

[@Mwolf888]

So why does the Chinese guy with a fluent American accent need subtitles and the Israeli guy not need subtitles when he clearly has a thicker accent. Smh.

[@A0pplePapple]

I like the Israeli accent, its sounds really thicker btw I'm Israeli

[@drtomato]

@@A0pplePapple There's nothing wrong with Chinese accents.

[@A0pplePapple]

i never said there was something wrong with the Chinese accents...

[@urbosasfurry2126]

"We hired a Chinese subtitle guy and by golly, we're gonna use him even if the Chinese guy's English is great!"

[@lichan133]

Good point, the Chinese dude spoke good English. That's why I didn't even notice the subtitles, only noticed it from your comment.

[@DarkElfDiva]

Amazon: *Pays employees pitiful wages, keeping them desparate and destitute* Amazon Employees: *take bribes* Amazon: *shocked pikachu meme*

[@Alexa27396]

Let me simplify it: Humanity: *uses capitalism* Humanity: *suffers the consequences: corruption, artificial inefficiencies, artificial scarcity, etc.* Humanity: *shocked pikachu meme*

[@DMihai]

Pitiful? Please do tell me more which of their competitiors pays more. 15/h at least..i don't see a problem there.

[@mluqman]

The people who get paid low are Amazon warehouse workers, the warehouse worker don't have the power to influence product listings

[@kendrabennett2843]

Bahaha!🤣🤣

[@SBCBears]

@@Alexa27396 Someone using Cyrillic accuses capitalism of corruption, artificial inefficiencies and artificial scarcity. Ironic! Not from Ukraine, are you, where millions of people were starved to death by the very corruption you claim for capitalism. The world has fewer people in poverty now than ever before due to capitalism.

[@yk15115]

Lol "Everyday I wake up to check reviews to see if I'm in business" Amazon basically owns you and your "business" and do whatever they please with you.

[@Legion849]

Yeah and some of us still support them with our money. Amazon has to be stopped or none will be in business or even own one .

[@abhisheksharma1921]

@@Legion849 it's too late now

[@abhisheksharma1921]

@@Crowbar44 exactly we are not living in stone age era anymore.

[@jayesper4390]

@@Crowbar44 They've already got a near equal in Alibaba. Rakuten isn't too far behind either.

[@anthonyc4138]

@@Crowbar44 yep

[@smonyboy]

asian man spoke more eloquently than the israeli guy but the former needed subtitles, dafuq.

[@salenow8866]

I think it's due to the background noise. :)

[@smonyboy]

@@salenow8866c'mon now, who we kidding

[@GM-xk1nw]

Americans hate and fear China but love Israelis

[@BobbDogg]

MUH OUTRAGE!!!! INTERNAT BAD! *ANGRY NPC NOISES*

[@sholmesbrown]

That profile picture🤣🤣🤣 OF COURSE!!!! god he's such a leftist tool, soy runs through his veins

[@SheldonKreger]

Amazon seller here. My business was destroyed by the kind of attack from competitors described in this video. Amazon does not respond to these cases and never took any retribution against the company attacking me. I am no longer selling on Amazon because there is no protection for legitimate sellers and fraud is the norm across the entire platform.

[@movinon1242]

Westerners should stick to independent Western companies. Otherwise, you all are just feeding this beast intent on your own destructions.

[@grindTIME1985]

amazon fba is dead since 2017.. thats why all these proclaimed gurus sell 500 courses

[@MrLuffy9131]

I swear I think Bezos got rich because China is giving him bunch of money

[@oa2560]

What do you do now for passive income then?

[@landonic81]

@@movinon1242 You literally have no idea what your talking about

[@nottodaylilbaldhead]

This is why I don’t buy from Amazon. I prefer to go to the actual site itself for the product.

[@mahadragon]

The fake reviews often get called out by people like me who actually look at the reviewers to see how long they’ve been online.

[@JacyndaMinor]

Mahadragon yeah but how, and then what? I want to do this too (on many e-commerce platforms) but oftentimes there’s nowhere to report to :/ it’s good to know I’m not alone but I wonder if there’s more to be done, or that could be done, to help. It’s def laborious af. Are you saying you call them out to the platform or you call them out in the reviews section? it’s good that you care tho it’s important to try and combat the scourge of bs on these here internetz I’m just interested in your methods, experiences, etc.

[@mahadragon]

Jacynda Minor I do it in the reviews section. People will see it.

[@MyJohnrox]

Not really scammers in China.... alot of people do it all over the world. All those tactics can be done anywhere... thats the harmful side of online businesses. As Amazon marketplace gets more saturated, no doubt sellers would do anything they can to drive up sales. The title is misleading, and should just say how scammers manipulate Amz marketplace and not specify 'China'. Thats discrimination, at least back it up with statistics if you want to mention China.

[@fanjin.z]

This video doesn't show any of the scammers is Chinese citizen. Amazon is an US company and Howard is not an Chinese (He speaks perfect English, most likely a US Asian).

[@boogeymanws]

I used to be the guy protecting the platform and almost all the scammers were from china. Which I agree is pretty weird since it could be done from anywhere.

[@smileandlaughs]

Scammer will be everywhere, but the bulk of most simple manufactured product comes from China and that create an environment where many sellers be from China.

[@JackyUnoriginal]

China because the investigation was done in China maybe? Where exactly did they claim this was never done anywhere else? It is indeed true a bulk of these bad products with fake reviews originate form China.

[@Mike-vh1ur]

most of the country thus but not in big scale!! china does ... Retarded country

[@billaddison82]

As a buyer I’ve noticed the experience on amazon has deteriorated significantly because of this issue, to the point where I’d rather just pay more in person and save myself the time and sanity.

[@JoshuaDegreiff]

At the end of the day I think Amazon doesn’t care much when they get commissions

[@amjidali588]

Mate I’ve had my best listings hijacked by Chinese sellers and changed. Reported to Amazon and they really don’t care

[@nerychristian]

Amazon should just ban Chinese sellers.

[@AgnostosGnostos]

I very rarely trust third party sellers of Amazon. Many many of them are so obvious scams especially with flash USB drives and SD cards. Even when an item is sold by a third party seller and delivered by Amazon that doesn't mean that the Amazon has the knowledge or the responsibility to check what is exactly delivering. I trust and love Amazon when something is sold and delivered by Amazon. eBay is by far better with individual sellers.

[@Pernection]

That is the whole point of selling on Amazon is that other sellers can sell not now with Amazon trying to cut them out by making their own stuff.

[@baluandhavarapu5786]

Responsibility is something that you cannot deny that they have. Until now, I have never had a good enough experience with searching via Amazon. Most of the times, I reach the product directly via the product's official website or via Google Shopping.

[@nerychristian]

I only buy products where they allow returns and refunds.

[@rayansalama2155]

How do you know if a product is sold by amazon itself or the third party sellers ?

[@rlvsun]

I only buy on Amazon because of free shipping. Prices are higher than other website business that does not offer free shipping like Walmart.

[@laughingman7882]

BREAKING NEWS; This just in, companies use fake reviews to gain sales! Did they seriously claim to have spent actual months investigating this 🤣😂💀

[@dianegonzalez4748]

😵😎😖🇺🇸

[@Serai3]

Yeah, that's how ACTUAL REPORTING is done, asshole. You're just used to click-happy websites throwing whatever they hear up on the web without ever bothering to check anything out first.

[@gmr2gnr]

They have to show their boss they are doing work.

[@asahel980]

fake investigation or not. as myself as an online seller. this is true and even as an adult who knows about adult world this is vey very true , other people dont play by the rules it is a fact. even in big corporations happens like Samsung and other android phones copying Iphone designs.

[@timmykirls2352]

You wont get it unless you know the market. Everything they said was true. I hate wsj too but they're right about this fake reviews are a big problem no matter where they come from.

[@TsetsiStoyanova]

They did not say how this man does it

[@AckzaTV]

They didnt buy his consulting, you want that for free? nice try lol

[@serzhanurazbayev3826]

you gotta pay for knowledge. thats how businesses work

[@marlinabasir]

Trade secret

[@KrtNeo]

Then watch it again , just because you did not pay attention does not mean he did not say it lol. I heard how he did it.

[@MyLife-og2kr]

@@KrtNeo so can you explain how he does it? Edit: I want to know exactly how he does it and in the most detailed instructions that will provide me with what I need to do.

[@oblivionzzzmike]

This is old news. You should really look into the ongoing speculation from thousands of online retail businesses, who buy really cheap fake products on Aliexpress/Alibaba etc, brand and resell it on Ebay and Amazon. Their level of automation is extreme. They heavily promote this scheme as a fast way of doing money. Advertising apps/algorithms and database software through which you reduce number of transactions, practically buying cheap products, branding and reselling without having to even check the product. You see these kind of ads everywhere on Facebook, Instagram or any social media platform out there. It's a disease really!

[@1up4evr7]

This explains partly why most of the reviews on Amazon are garbage.

[@Supperconductor]

I use fakespot.com to check the reviews - but that’s algorithm based too and I guess subject to being tricked as well.

[@weirdo1060]

@@Supperconductor I use it too. There is no foolproof way, but it will at least check for basic fake reviews. It is similar to counterfeit currency, although there is extremely good fakes, there are also tools to spot poorly done ones.

[@attilagabor535]

Eim Unbannable so you admit most of the garbage reviews are made by chinese?

[@dvessel]

LOL, he did indeed.

[@DavidSmith-nx3zw]

Thanks to the chinese

[@TheBkdot]

This happened to me so many times I was convinced Amazon was complicit and didn't want me to sell on their platform.

[@chgone5034]

That Chinese guy seems to have no sense of shame about his business practice. He sounds very proud of what he is doing. He even called himself a ‘Professor of Amazon’

[@homerlovedonuts]

don't always trust reviews, i was offered a refund for a good review

[@GrnXnham]

I order off of Amazon several times per week. Yes, it's a jungle sorting through all the reviews. Yes, companies all over the world are participating in these same scams, however, I've noticed it's more prolific among the Chinese companies. So, IMHO, this video is legit and is not just "picking on" Chinese companies. There's nothing wrong with letting the buyer beware!

[@daviddavis5689]

But then its not just Chinese companies that post fake reviews. Tho reading some are a good laugh.

[@sambee4927]

Most scammers are from China.

[@Tyw7]

I was asked to do reviews on a Amazon but that stopped once I gave honest 3* reviews. They keep on pestering me to give them 5*. I refused.

[@AckzaTV]

"It's a Jungle" ... yeah man, youre selling on a site called Amazon lol try ebay

[@JoaoOliveira-zy8qd]

A nova superpotência é a América do Sul saudações do Brasil

[@SandyRiverBlue]

@@JoaoOliveira-zy8qd Then why say it so hiddenly?

[@JoaoOliveira-zy8qd]

Do not sendyriderblue not sendyriderblue actually i have a dream of turning south america into a super power

[@SandyRiverBlue]

@@JoaoOliveira-zy8qd It's overrated.

[@funny-video-YouTube-channel]

*Same thing is happening for app reviews.* When we look at the most negative OR the most positive reviews. They are often fake. Ratings and reviews is like the currency of reputation on the Internet.

[@Rainbow-Reilly]

I've had my Amazon account hacked before and used to post fake reviews for products I never bought.

[@AirsoftNY]

This video awwsome. Would buy again A+++

[@movinon1242]

LOL!

[@ArcanePath360]

Does the job. Highly recommended

[@mosesberkowitz3298]

Video movie make me happi....for go to what again soon!

[@jessebashiri8224]

And i thought selling on eBay was cutthroat 😂

[@aida_amore]

I'm done with Amazon!!!! Products have 5 🌟 reviews, but when I get the item - it looks completely different from the picture advertised! And the worst part is - Amazon uses returns against you!!! They have horrible customer service. They treated me like it was my fault that I received a defective product!

[@yuguangzai]

Aida Amorre just hang up and call again. It’s always different depends on the person you get

[@aida_amore]

@@yuguangzai I've learned that and it's bunch of bs!!! I'm done with Amazon for good.

[@goddammitboi]

lol Never had that problem, only buy Amazon prime approved products

[@wejie]

Agree.

[@Cam-pt9ex]

Same here. I don’t even touch Amazon. Online shopping is trash

[@tekashi7044]

Amazon does not care about good or bad sellers, they need their customers and selling fee commission.

[@CalvinHodgson]

Amazon hosed a ton of reviewer accounts that were freebie in exchange for review, so my bet is more on ethics than a quick buck. They can still buy but can't leave reviews.

[@TheBkdot]

BS I've never actually been suspended but many of my accounts have been in the yellow or red because someone with a Chinese name has ordered from me and claimed the item was defective and in other cases claim the item was not in the package.

[@carloalberto4132]

@@TheBkdot seems like people who are caught doing fake reviews should get bigger punishments.

[@nautical1078]

You're very short-sighted if you think Amazon doesn't care, it affects their reputation and customer satisfaction, which can hurt their bottom line (look at eBay, their reputation took a hit and they aren't the big dog in e-commerce).

[@mrpeanutbutter6094]

I don’t understand this wsj why you need to put subtitle every time the guy speaks, I could hear every word that coming from his mouth.

[@allwecanseeisaboveusnow]

The Mijonju Show then why not put the subtitles for everyone who is speaking???

[@anthonyshope8408]

jason millan Dude,you even type with an accent ! LOL

[@tomservo5007]

@@kevinlification because they can read lips.

[@Mijonju]

@@kevinlification I'm sure they'd put subtitles for the retards if they appear in the video. Let me watch again, I don't think there's any people with disabilities.

[@mrpeanutbutter6094]

@@anthonyshope8408 You know what so funny I look up the word accent in the internet and they gave me the 2019 Hyundia accent as a search result.

[@eq4611]

I think I learned enough ancient Chinese secrets for today.🤖🤖🤖👁️👌

[@cozyvamp]

It's been my experience as an Amazon consumer that, when I give a very bad review because a product is totally misrepresented, my reviews are immediately removed. For example, a Kindle version of a cookbook in French. I read enough French and have been cooking long enough that I frequently buy books like this is they aren't available in English. One such book I ordered, when I opened it on my Kindle, was only three pages long, and those were random photos that had little to do with the topic of the cookbook. Amazon had no explanation as to why my review was removed, nor, more significant, why they continued to sell these non-books. Somebody's got a friend in Amazon management. Ditto a DVD I ordered that had no DVD in the case. My review was removed, and I was offered neither a refund nor a replacement. This one is fairly common, if you watch reviews as closely as I do. Cheating at Amazon. You bet. Maybe they should be watching their employees more closely because sellers don't get away with these tactics without help from someone inside the company.

[@jestes7]

Omg, I had a review removed as well. It was a good negative review describing a problem with a fuel line breaking down and I even took a picture of the chunks of rubber coming off of it. It's B.S.

[@fastrice3461]

Exactly! I don’t even bother leaving reviews because the negative ones are always removed!

[@nerychristian]

It could be that the seller just complained to Amazon about your review being fake.

[@thinhtranba5352]

Despite the click bait, I learn a few or two about online business. Thanks or no thanks WSJ.

[@superxbert]

My authentic negative review (with photos of the product attached) was rejected by Amazon for not abiding by their rules and regulations.

[@nautical1078]

Then follow the rules.

[@tnndll4294]

Wow! Actual investigative journalism in this day and age. on things we use. Wish we had more journalists that tested things and systems like this.

[@stevenmosley7917]

"How All Successful Hard Working Online Businessmen Stay in Business"

[@rotate85]

Wow. What an amazing piece of investigative journalism. 🙄

[@TechZG]

I assume Americans also do this... but that wouldn’t be an attractive clickbait title would it?

[@zodiacfml]

This is the reason why the title is clickbait. It is not exactly a scam or China only, these are tactics employed by Amazon FBA sellers as the competition is high.

[@stsk7]

It would be more attractive

[@JonSmith-yq1dw]

I'm sure they do too as well as other countries but the rate of Chinese products that are manipulated in these ways are way way more numerous

[@harryedwards4987]

@blue copper I do dropshipping too bro, made my first $7k month! What's your ig?

[@cerebrumexcrement]

Some do, but American Amazon sellers are usually mom and pops and don’t have the financial power like Chinese sellers. If you’ve ever dealt with Chinese sellers, you’ll know how ruthless they are.

[@CommandoMaster]

They need to make it so that only people who have bought at least a certain number of products and confirmed their purchases can leave reviews on products. Also make it so it's not too easy for one person at a certain IP to spam fake reviews. There needs to be an algorithm that filters through low reviews and sees if this person is just a bot or a person that bought only 1 item and is leaving negative reviews.

[@nautical1078]

Lol you think they haven't thought of these things and done benefit analysis? They should hire you as a consultant.

[@hanglam2910]

They already hire people to buy products and send them empty boxes just to be able to provide a fake review.

[@stephendean2896]

Have you notice that people who a little shady or straight up con They all find reasons to justify their action

[@stevedomenech5292]

i knew this was thing, when u get a poor quality product on amazon with great reviews, had to be fake. so hard to eshop

[@Cam-pt9ex]

Steve D Yup amazon consists of fake reviews. Local shopping is better

[@ScottTangents]

I usually cross interview the sellers. I directly ask a string questions related to the product and demand pictures before buying. This has helped me most times.

[@0nslaught2383]

Why did WSJ put subtitle for Howard Thai, an Asian person with more American accent; whereas no subtitle for Simhi, supposedly an Israeli with a slight accent?

[@nihleigleca6702]

Coz for the Western media, Israeli > American > Chinese, accent or otherwise.

[@HusseinDoha]

@@nihleigleca6702 More like American > The world.

[@ed4all33]

And that is exactly why i love going to malls . Exercise , retail therapy , satisfaction , all in one . Lets bring our malls back instead of relying heavily on online scam artists and negligent companies.

[@spongecake951]

This is still true today. There are still a bunch of Chinese sellers offering free products for positive reviews over platforms like WeChat

[@wannaberedneckprepper7030]

Means Amazon no longer get my biz. Sorry. Good to know.

[@movinon1242]

The more of us that feel and act this way, the better chance our society has to survive! Bless you!

[@alfredoalcantar8691]

It’s funny because somebody will buy

[@KirbyZhang]

hey you scammed professor amazon by pretending friendly then making him look bad.

[@nayodeenletsplay9420]

u idiot

[@KirbyZhang]

@It's Private if he was scamming he wouldn't have told it to bloomberg, would he?

[@KirbyZhang]

@It's Private what did he steal? he's sales consultant. criminals don't talk to media especially not in china.

[@iCapaS]

"The wall street journal investigated for months around the world" lol, investigated

[@enricosanchez894]

"Investigated for moths" more likely

[@guuurlforreal4734]

Ok that’s it, I’m done with buying from amazon, walking around is healthier anyway

[@alexanderosullivan9764]

You can still buy books off amazon

[@JunkBondTrader]

Is walking and buying things off Amazon mutually exclusive??

[@theshivelyfamily]

Appreciate the long term research and production quality in this video. Contrary to some viewers' opinions, it doesn't show China or its people in a bad light. It just so happens that a LOT of Amazon's products are manufactured in China. There are companies in every country that participate in the manipulation.

[@Sha_Fermo]

It isn’t about a LOT of products being manufacturers being located in China, it is the title and how it implies that China as a whole is manipulating the market. It is a clickbait title and shows a bias.

[@MrLuffy9131]

The problem is that bunch of counterfeits are being produced so you can't tell which is real or fake

[@tylersmith7054]

As a seller on Amazon you are constantly in fear of their heavy hand. They ban first and ask questions later. Even when the claims against the seller are false being shut down for days or weeks can cost you dearly and boost a competitors sales. I wish I had a solution but I'm just a little fish in a huge ocean of online sales.

[@june049]

80% of stuff I've bought on Amazon is JUNK!

[@Showmetheevidence-]

christie bowman Stop wasting your money.

[@professorofamazon4877]

I just wanted to let everyone know that i didn't know WSJ would make the video subject like this. I was told it was going to be a interview of me as a consultant.

[@professorofamazon4877]

www.professorofamazon.com or follow me on faceboook Professor Of Amazon facebook page

[@jackyjiang1006]

CHANGE THE TITLE. Amazon's customer review system is just not perfect enough to filter out fake reviews. Not on Chinese people.

[@will16320]

Hah Jacky please, Chinese people can't even watch youtube

[@Serai3]

China is doing this way more than other countries, so that's why they went there. Sorry you don't like the facts, bub.

[@_september_4799]

Serai3 Nothing especially bad or meaningful about it happening in China it’s basically the industrial capital of the world after all if anywhere else was the capital off-course this would happen there too.

[@Serai3]

That's completely beside the point. It's a crappy thing and it's happening in China. That's why the piece is about it happening in China.

[@JRYin]

@@will16320 Use VPN, very simple, I am watching youtube right now.

[@JD-tn8nb]

I pay more attention to the negative reviews. Good reviews mean nothing. People ruin everything.

[@movinon1242]

Didn't you watch? They post negatives, too. Best to put faith in American, European, Korean, Japanese and Taiwanese manufacturers over Chinese, regardless of the price difference. If we all do this, the Chinese menace will dissipate on its own.

[@mikrichie6662]

Lady J- That is exactly what I do. To determine if the problems are worse than the benefits.

[@nautical1078]

Read the reviews with pictures and updates (usually lengthy). Negative reviews are faked too.

[@Loftikaz]

This video presentation I think was of a great quality especially it contains high definition and included was a free subtitles. Highly recommending

[@naturesfriend812]

Thank you!!! I have shopped Amazon products for awhile and trusted the positive product reviews in the beginning. After awhile buying Amazon products based on reviews I was baffled why products I purchased were substandard or discount Dollar Store worthy at above grade prices. I would post my reviews of my disappointing experiences. Then my phone rang late into the night from callers representing the China or Asian companies I had purchased my Amazon products from. Emotionally they invariably told me to remove my reviews. Then in exchange for removing reviews offered to refund my money. Sometimes reviewers of Amazon products I wished to buy warned products were knock offs (Yeti and others ), based on their own buying experiences. I went to Yeti website and purchased products there and advised Yeti of the knock offs sold through Amazon. I have been amazed at Amazon for allowing these scam-y practices.

[@omesonyabs5244]

They will ruin Amazon just like they did eBay.

[@withaminutetogo]

What happened to eBay? Genuine question.

[@Michael-lc8yl]

Right. I’ve ordered a couple phones on eBay and found the screens were replaced with really terrible aftermarket ones. Well, at least eBay is still a good place to buy collectibles from honest sellers. I ordered a collectable on there from a small operation and it was very accurately described.

[@omesonyabs5244]

@@withaminutetogo Simple. Most companies make their stuff in China right? So how about you go to eBay and find that your product is now being sold dirt cheap and crappy in quality. Guess how that happens? The factory you manufacture at decides to undercut you and sell a crappy version of your product. Sooner or later it's gonna hit you in the pockets and customers on ebay lose trust in your product and in eBay itself.

[@LAZYLAM]

@@DavidSmith-nx3zw and then you buy the American made for the 4X price, that's how Trump is gonna do, so save your words:)

[@DavidSmith-nx3zw]

@@LAZYLAM But they last 40x longer

[@ChindiChitranna]

Most of the fake reviews I have seen are from US sellers ;)

[@professorofamazon4877]

Agree not just chinese does it, everyone in the world

[@alecnguyen838]

Nah I've done the fake reviews on a private group it was 100% Chinese sellers

[@sinmoneyy5253]

The majority is Asians though

[@happy_trails]

yea i'm sure your opinion is completely trustworthy LOL

[@LittleWhole]

6:29 see those battery bank phone cases in the right-bottom corner? I have the exact same case for my phone

[@dyrectory_com]

Thanks for the heads up!

[@thegoonist]

its a risk reward thing. theres low risk, high reward. same as what bankers have in the financial industry. you just need to make it much more costly for them to do this.

[@sk8queen]

About 3 years ago, my niece got lots of shipments from Amazon. I found we were supposed to go online and rate them. NOT! Thanks for the items though.

[@ValenceFlux]

I helped a small business owner list products and parts on his website some years ago. As the website grew, orders that customers received where constantly claimed to be not what they ordered and so they left negative reviews. Products were listed accurately but customers still made their arguments.

[@johnserling9843]

I have been contacted by Chinese sellers wanting to give me stuff in return for reviews. I said No to one. I told another that my positive review should be enough for him. One very active reviewer wrote about what they did to him, in his review. It was very telling. There certainly is corruption in Amazon reviews. But I am a semanticist and can read between the lines. The most important thing I take away from this video is to be wary of extremely short reviews that provide no clue about the writer's origin. I will look for an unusual percentage of such extremely short reviews, to discount the product rating. That's the thing about China. Apparently they hate English. You can tell by their writing or their lack of writing.

[@curiousgeorge6921]

How did they contact you

[@Trgn]

And can you even form a simple sentence in any other language?

[@thegoreetruth1074]

This is not true. People in China pay money to teach their kids English. They not only care about them learning English, but they want to have American pronunciation of English. Look up the success of the online ESL business centered in China.

[@thatgeekdad]

Another way a company fights back is by reporting good reviews on protects of their competitors to get the good review taken down and then the reviewer barred from ever being able to make a review. It's happen to me three times now over the course of 2 years. I don't get an email or anything from Amazon, I am just told i broke community guidelines. Since the first time it happened, I have been taking screen shots of every review i make and sure enough, I am barred a few months later. I don't slander, nor do I take in products for free and then review them or receive compensation. I just love tech and try out lots of different items of one particular category and give an honest opinion. I believe this last time it was because I give 2 bad reviews for a iPad Pro 11 case that used horrible magnets and wasn't compatible to charge the Apple Pencil 2. I then gave a glowing review to one that didn't use magnets but cupped the corners of the iPad AND you are able to charge the Apple Pencil 2. A day later, banned.

[@AAAAAAAA67890]

That’s why I never buy on amazon

[@kevinmeng5231]

This happens even more frequently on Taobao. Amazon has a pretty good security system already.

[@Retrobution]

ironically had an ad showing about selling on amazon and making money off dropshipping before watching this lol. its like training haha

[@ArslanMajeed]

Dint expect such a low value content from WSJ. Such things are done from everywhere around the world not just China, nothing fancy in them. Besides, if Amazon is so easily manipulatable by these 5th grader attacks then Amazon is to blame. Even the small group discussion forums run by individuals are better regulated

[@yanbrendel7114]

@Watchdog so i see you leaving this same comment everywhere, what is with all these hate?

[@junsu21]

well, blaming Amazon is kinda the last point made in the film. Both the Israeli and Chinese guru seller said that reliance on algorithms by Amazon is a weakness that human beings can exploit. This is a major problem in Silicon Valley. They keep thinking and wanting to create computers that are smarter than human beings yet a group of human beings manage to find loopholes and outsmart the machines who were….surprise, surprise, designed by human beings.

[@rhonnn_]

yea. but most scammers are from china and india. that 2 country are will know for scamming online shoppers. putting up fake reviews and ratings to their products. instead of blaming the scammers u blame amazon? lol your way of thinking and reasoning is fucked up just like most of your ppl.

[@Raymond2ism]

'sophisticated technologies, like machine learning' why do I find this hilarious! Does this guy know what he's talking about?

[@ItsEricPhung]

just a reporter

[@Raymond2ism]

@@ItsEricPhung you are right

[@juliem9096]

I appreciate this report, thanks!

[@TheAyomikun]

That electronics market in Shenzhen reminds me of Computer Village in Lagos

[@theotherside931]

*BREAKING NEWS.* *Wall Street Journal just did their 1,000th BLAME IT ON CHINA segment.*

[@fironfiron8843]

Murican media in nutshell. No mentions of Terrorist-loving State of America which supports Saudis.

[@asukayin6487]

As they should.

[@mikedee718]

They have a lot to be of blame

[@JT-fc2zm]

BREAKING NEWS. Chinese scammers are also manipulating youtube comments :)

[@theotherside931]

@@JT-fc2zm *BREAKING NEWS* *Chinese people are hiding under your bed. In your wardrobe. In your kitchen. Behind your church's podium. In your wife's handbag. And even in your dreams.* *

[@keithso988]

Why are you all so triggered by media targeting China? I am chinese myself and have seen this too many times, people are hired to manipulate reviews and comments regarding a product, service and even religious. Remember how China rose to become the world factory? cheap labor. Even cheaper to leave a review.

[@kimyungchai1798]

People will fake literally anything in China

[@dvessel]

They are taking a page from the Russian trolls trying to cast doubt on these types of reports. We all know how that’ll end. The truth will eventually surface to the mainstream laying bare all the lies and its eventual collapse.

[@Pedrooo317]

Thanks for this reporting

[@thedeetzes]

Very interesting! How badly his shirt needs to be ironed at the 6 minute mark made me laugh.

[@austncarsn]

thedeetzes it looks awful.

[@SoCalLAKid]

The West needs to realize how sneaky-clever the chinese are. Even my chinese friends say so about themselves, and not in a flattering way.

[@sussanalee430]

We need to realize how sneaky (maybe control is a better word) or how ignorant we are. We are giving away our right to choose medicine, food, education, right to bear arms (against any entity including government as in martial law) to oppress and control us. Our medical insurance allows only sickness management. No healing modalities. The push for fake sweeteners, fake meat, fake conceptions, fake and adulterated foods, contamination of foods with glyphosate, dicamba and other weed-bicides, GMOs, antibiotics, and IQ lowering fluoride, mercury and aluminum in water and vaccines. Safe level of mercury is 0. Especially the brain. Don't believe me. Ask or check with your body community "self" of 400T denizens if they want you to force feed (expose) them that food, smell, sound, vision, shampoo, lotion, object, or person. Called muscle-testing. Don't worry. Only brain power is required. No battereis. No FDA approval or dissing, no doc wants to admit to it. And probably banned in medical schools. Banned only by your decision. or not. More fun than Candy!

[@AcesizOfficial]

Interesting

[@keine031]

Does anyone know which flower or tree is it on the left at 4:48?

[@beeche17]

Bougainvillea

[@darkglobestudio4791]

Has anyone mentioned the subtitles yet?

[@ninja.saywhat]

i like how they put subtitle on the chinese guy with the better accent than the one with the israeli.

[@alexma1]

In this comment section you can see the bot army in action

[@awneetgupta35]

Also an asshole army who are blind to logic and reasoning

[@awneetgupta35]

Like you

[@distortionto1066]

actually ur comment seems more like a bot than theirs

[@_--_8581]

@@awneetgupta35 fake Indian bot

[@Nnubbs]

Would love more detail on this. I feel like the report ran long to fit a segment with the amount of information to fill a five minute video.

[@MARILYNANDERSON88]

Access to products is improved. Distribution is improving. markets are building. Quality is getting better. Hope for even better times becomes the directive: expect better times, demand better.

[@erickrcisneros]

How about Amazon.com using drivers license or ID number to identify you as the seller. That may help with multiple Fake accounts.

[@weirdo1060]

ID numbers can be bought on black market. It also may simply be pro forma (keep on file) unless there is cause for investigation

[@0fficialdregs]

i dont buy the TOP item i always have 4 tabs open and i browse each item features, prices, and location

[@YellowboyRickLee]

Is Fakespot a good tool to distinguish fake from real reviews? I use that whenever I'm thinking about purchasing on Amazon.

[@avatarcoolman]

I was about to report those fake 100% 5 star rating products. Good that I saw this clip.

[@cggc9510]

So he is the one responsible for the extra long, everything in the title, nonsense titles and descriptions. What they really need is someone who is a native English speaker to tone down the repetitive nature of the descriptions.