5 Amazon Review Manipulation Tactics Sellers Use (And How to Detect Them)

Running a review analysis platform means we see some interesting stuff. Sellers have gotten creative over the years, and the tactics they use to manipulate reviews have evolved. Here are five we've caught in the wild.

Tactic 1: The Review Hijacking

This one is sneaky. A seller finds a successful product listing, often one that's been discontinued or where the original seller left Amazon. They hijack the listing, swap in their own inferior product, and inherit all those positive reviews.

We flagged a phone charger listing with a Grade D trust score recently. The reviews raved about fast charging and build quality, but the photos in recent reviews showed a completely different product. The old charger was a reputable brand. The new one was a no-name knockoff riding the old reviews.

Tactic 2: Brush Orders and Self-Purchases

Sellers create fake buyer accounts, purchase their own products, and leave glowing reviews. To make it look legitimate, they ship actual products to random addresses (sometimes unsolicited packages show up at real homes).

The giveaway is in the timing and language. Brush orders often happen in clusters, and the reviews tend to post within days of each other with similar phrasing. Our AI picks up on these patterns pretty reliably.

Tactic 3: Review Manipulation Groups

There are entire Facebook groups and Discord servers dedicated to exchanging reviews. Sellers offer free products or PayPal payments in exchange for 5-star reviews. Participants are coached on what to say and when to post.

These reviews are technically from "real" people, but they're not genuine opinions. The language often feels forced and overly positive. Look for phrases that sound like marketing copy rather than natural speech.

Tactic 4: Negative Review Suppression

Some sellers contact buyers who left negative reviews, offering refunds or replacement products if they'll delete or update their review. Amazon doesn't love this practice, but it's hard to enforce.

We've seen products where the star distribution looks suspiciously clean. A natural product might have 60% 5-star, 15% 4-star, 10% 3-star, 8% 2-star, and 7% 1-star reviews. But manipulated products sometimes show 85% 5-star with barely any middle ratings because negative reviews got removed.

Tactic 5: Variation Listing Abuse

A seller creates multiple variations of a product (different colors or sizes), then merges all reviews onto a single listing. Even if only one variation has good reviews, customers see the combined review count and rating.

We analyzed a set of kitchen knives that showed 2,400 reviews with a 4.6 rating. But drilling into the data, 2,200 of those reviews were for a completely different knife set that shared the listing. The actual knife being sold had about 200 reviews and a 3.2 rating.

How to Protect Yourself

Beyond using RateBud, here's what we recommend: - Check the product photos in reviews, not just the listing photos - Read recent reviews specifically, not just top reviews - Be wary of new sellers with suspiciously perfect ratings - Look for reviews that mention the product by name and include specific details

The platforms are fighting back, but manipulation persists because it works. Staying informed is your best defense.