Reviews on Magic Websites

[Linguist_]

Has anyone else noticed that reviews on websites for magic tricks/decks/gear seem to be very very positive? Look around on websites such as Dan and Dave, T11, Ellusionist and you'll notice that it is often hard to find something lower than 4 stars. And the reviews use very hyperbolic language like 'this is the trick to end all tricks', 'I have been waiting all my life for this trick'. Those aren't actual quotes, but I wouldn't be surprised if they were similar to statements.

Does anyone else notice this, and if so, why do you think it is? When you read around magic forums, the mood is very different. People are disappointed with tricks left, right and centre. Even if people are pleased with their purchase, putting a more beneficial review than "Oh my God, you need to buy this trick now!" doesn't seem so hard to do.

In my experience of retail as a customer and as a seller (I sell books through Amazon) the people who tend to speak up are the people who have a complaint. The skeptical part of me thinks that it's either people employed by/volunteering for the companies for marketing; people who haven't bought the item (this problem is apparent in other places too - people writing reviews on Amazon for a DVD that isn't even released yet irks me).

Dan and Dave seems to be the worst. I don't think anything on that website is lower than 4 stars. Hell, even their $25 'sleight of hand lotion' has five 5-star reviews! Us magicians/cardists must be an easy bunch to please.

This was mostly a rant, but I'm genuinely interested to know if other people notice this and have any thoughts on it.

[NathanCanadas]

Has anyone else noticed that reviews on websites for magic tricks/decks/gear seem to be very very positive? Look around on websites such as Dan and Dave, T11, Ellusionist and you'll notice that it is often hard to find something lower than 4 stars. And the reviews use very hyperbolic language like 'this is the trick to end all tricks', 'I have been waiting all my life for this trick'. Those aren't actual quotes, but I wouldn't be surprised if they were similar to statements.

Does anyone else notice this, and if so, why do you think it is? When you read around magic forums, the mood is very different. People are disappointed with tricks left, right and centre. Even if people are pleased with their purchase, putting a more beneficial review than "Oh my God, you need to buy this trick now!" doesn't seem so hard to do.

In my experience of retail as a customer and as a seller (I sell books through Amazon) the people who tend to speak up are the people who have a complaint. The skeptical part of me thinks that it's either people employed by/volunteering for the companies for marketing; people who haven't bought the item (this problem is apparent in other places too - people writing reviews on Amazon for a DVD that isn't even released yet irks me).

Dan and Dave seems to be the worst. I don't think anything on that website is lower than 4 stars. Hell, even their $25 'sleight of hand lotion' has five 5-star reviews! Us magicians/cardists must be an easy bunch to please.

This was mostly a rant, but I'm genuinely interested to know if other people notice this and have any thoughts on it.

Personally I think that people with complaints usually just rate the trick low but don't give it a review. I don't know if you are implying that magic sites like T11, D&D and E don't choose to show reviews giving their products a bad grade, but I can tell you for a fact that T11 doesn't since all of my 1 and 2 star reviews were accepted. When it comes to D&D, people get 1$ for each review. So I think that the people who write reviews mostly make 4 and 5 star reviews because they want theirs to be published so they can get their $. As for Ellusionist, I have absolutely no clue. JMO

[Linguist_]

Personally I think that people with complaints usually just rate the trick low but don't give it a review. I don't know if you are implying that magic sites like T11, D&D and E don't choose to show reviews giving their products a bad grade, but I can tell you for a fact that T11 doesn't since all of my 1 and 2 star reviews were accepted. When it comes to D&D, people get 1$ for each review. So I think that the people who write reviews mostly make 4 and 5 star reviews because they want theirs to be published so they can get their $. As for Ellusionist, I have absolutely no clue. JMO

I did not know that about Dan and Dave . That explains that then, especially if your review gets moderated before it gets published. It would also explain why those reviews are much more lengthy.
Mainly my point was that on sites such as Amazon, I trust the reviews. I can look at all the reviews, and the comments on the reviews and I can get a pretty decent, impartial idea of what the product is like.
When it comes to magic sites, I don't trust the reviews at all. If I want to find out about a product I tend to search on magic fora and get an idea that way, or in the case of decks I tend to look on YouTube for videos. I don't know whether other people agree with me in that, but if they do it shouldn't be that way.

[Don Boyer]

Dan & Dave have gotten better about accepting just any old review - they're starting to vet reviews and reject ones that appear totally bogus and filled with vaporous hyperbole.  But yes, they do give a customer loyalty program dollar for published reviews.  When they were selling handmade Bee stripper decks, many people complained on the page about how difficult they were to use - to which I responded that they were pro-grade strippers, with an edge cut so shallow it's nearly impossible to detect with the eye, so it would fool gamblers and magicians alike.  And I did happen to like their hand lotion!  I reviewed it here as well.

Ellusionist actually does post negative reviews - you have to look a little deeper, though.  The ones on the product page aren't the only ones there.  I find they're the best at giving the dissatisfied reviewer a chance to air his complaints.

T11 doesn't generally post negative reviews that I've seen, but they do post reviews that are less than five stars, particularly if they're positive overall - I've submitted some and they were published.

The Blue Crown doesn't appear to get a lot of reviews, and some of the ones they do get are from prominent magicians.  But I did get a laugh at Alex Pandrea providing a review for Four Quarters, since he's the CEO of the Blue Crown!

David Blaine doesn't have a way to post reviews, but that may be different when his shop re-opens Monday.

[Frost]

Is David Blaine shop going to have new stuff in it ?

[Linguist_]

/splice

I suppose I just find the notion of a website screening reviews strange. It's not something I've come across in other online shops. I understand it from a spoiler point of view - giving the method away from a trick is a lot worse than spoiling the plot of a film in the review of a DVD - but I think it should be the users who determine what is a good review and what isn't, not the company. They could quite easily add a 'certified buyer' logo to indicate who actually bought the deck from that site if that was their issue.

[Don Boyer]

/splice

I suppose I just find the notion of a website screening reviews strange. It's not something I've come across in other online shops. I understand it from a spoiler point of view - giving the method away from a trick is a lot worse than spoiling the plot of a film in the review of a DVD - but I think it should be the users who determine what is a good review and what isn't, not the company. They could quite easily add a 'certified buyer' logo to indicate who actually bought the deck from that site if that was their issue.

Ellusionist actually does verify already.

Is David Blaine shop going to have new stuff in it ?

No idea.  You'll know in a day, just like the rest of us!

Aside from a simple software upgrade, I can only think of one reason for taking the site down like that - adding some new products, perhaps a lot of them.  But if it is just a software upgrade, they might not have a single new product to offer.