How useful do you find customer reviews on shopping sites such as Amazon and Rakuten?

my wife uses Amazon and is very satisfied.

When buying on Amazon I check the reviews and I also post them. But care is needed. Some are a setup.

Yeah, don't fall for those that have a heap of 5 star ratings and don't pay too much attention to the 1 star ratings. I sometimes check the reviews to find out if there is anything that might be helpful regarding product features, not so much for how good or bad something is. Different people have different needs so maybe they've bought something that doesn't suit and leave a bad review for something that is perfect for another person, or vice versa. Also, if I'm really interested in getting something, I'll check reviews on Youtube or Reddit as well.

Very useful. Essential when buying many items. Persistent issues are often picked up by multiple buyers. It's easy enough to read them critically, to get what you need out of them. Check both the reviews and the submitted questions.

In Japan, I find these are useful and I always read them via the translation. With clothes, I wish people would put their measurements rather than just say how well it fits

Pictures are very helpful in Amazon but you've gotta spot the bots. They're usually not difficult to tell which is which.

Rakuten reviews I find them untrusty, since sometimes sellers would offer you a free product with your order if you review the item... If your pre-review the item you have not received yet.

a lot of scam there and ratings-many are scams too.

so i dont care at all.

Jesus @Eastman. Your dislike and distrust of everything is quite amazing. What a fun chap you must be.

Depends on the product I'm buying in Amazon but I'm usually wary of products that have loads of 5-star reviews that seem just a tad too polished. Seems too good to be true. I usually read the 3 to 4 star reviews and compare some of the 1-star reviews to see if similar complaints pop up.

a lot of scam there and ratings-many are scams too.

so i dont care at all.

Fair point. There are types who spam under different names. Real trash.

Depends on the product I'm buying in Amazon but I'm usually wary of products that have loads of 5-star reviews that seem just a tad too polished. Seems too good to be true. I usually read the 3 to 4 star reviews and compare some of the 1-star reviews to see if similar complaints pop up

This is a pretty good approach.

Very helpful. The more reviews, the more comfortable I am that they are legit.

I used to read the reviews, but the last couple of items I ordered from Amazon came with a 'gift card'; give the product a glowing 5-star review, and they send you an amazon gift card worth ¥2,000.

In each case I gave the product 2 stars and explained in the review that the 'gift' made it impossible for me to give a better review, though the product itself was quite satisfactory.

Neither review has been posted.

They are useful in a broad sense. I often see negative reviews on the product I want to buy. I think customers writing negative reviews seem to be telling a truth. On the other hand, those writing positive reviews appear to be posting fake reviews, though most of them are telling a truth. Also negative reviews show specifications in detail. Therefore such information can be a good source of my decison on the product.

Too many FAKE reviews. Too many PAID reviews too