Competitors playing dirty on Amazon

[LPPC]

Hello all,

Some advice would be really appreciated on the following situation.

I am selling this product on Amazon that comes in different sizes and with different specs (electronic product). The size of the product, the battery capacity and material of the product are major selling points. The product does not have many sellers as of now. It has in total 4 pages of sellers.

Now I have found out that 3 of those sellers flat out lie about either the size and/or the battery capacity and/or the material of the product. Because their product is basically inferior, they can buy it in for a lower price and thus their selling price is significantly lower than mine. Their lies directly influences my sales.

I have managed to get a friend to buy the product and leave an honest (thus automatically bad) review about the product, but the seller combats this by upvoting all the other reviews so that the negative review gets to the bottom. I am also afraid that if I leave bad reviews for the other two sellers too, then that they might take revenge somehow by finding out who it is and leaving a bad review on my product page. On top of that, it's a pain in the a$$ to do all that and new sellers might repeat that behavior.

Some of them have 24+ reviews and no one has mentoned anything about those specs not being correct. So it does not seem like the problem will solve itself (soon).

What would you do in this situation? Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Maybe there is a creative way to solve this. Or is the only way to just leave a bad review and not be so afraid of them ''retaliating'''by leaving a negative on my product page?

I do have better branding and product pictures, but their way still affects my sales a lot. I am sure of that.

Thank you!

edit: @biophase I hope you can also chime in on this topic since you have a lot of experience with Amazon.

 

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[100ToOne]

One trick you can use is to show in your main images that other products where the specs are not correct and how it's a scam, and then show your product where it does in fact have the specs it is said to have, like a split us vs them photo.

Also have it in the description of the product. That way you can create awareness to the customer.

Also if they're really scamming then you can probably report it somehow anonymously to amazon service and then they could check it in their warehouse.

Amazon is not in your control. Therefore it's best to focus on yourself and your product whillst providing thea best value rather than looking how to crush the competition. Because Amazon is literally FILLED with crap listings and you will see tons of these bad methods used in the future

 

[alekssiht]

Yes, I also think that when your competitors are lying this can't go on forever. Isn't lying manipulation in amazon terms? It's bannable.
Mabye buy a product from your competitor, yourself, so you can be SURE that this is the case. If so, I guess Amazon would look into it.
Guess there are not many things you can do about it.

 

[biophase]

Hello all,

Some advice would be really appreciated on the following situation.

I am selling this product on Amazon that comes in different sizes and with different specs (electronic product). The size of the product, the battery capacity and material of the product are major selling points. The product does not have many sellers as of now. It has in total 4 pages of sellers.

Now I have found out that 3 of those sellers flat out lie about either the size and/or the battery capacity and/or the material of the product. Because their product is basically inferior, they can buy it in for a lower price and thus their selling price is significantly lower than mine. Their lies directly influences my sales.

I have managed to get a friend to buy the product and leave an honest (thus automatically bad) review about the product, but the seller combats this by upvoting all the other reviews so that the negative review gets to the bottom. I am also afraid that if I leave bad reviews for the other two sellers too, then that they might take revenge somehow by finding out who it is and leaving a bad review on my product page. On top of that, it's a pain in the a$$ to do all that and new sellers might repeat that behavior.

Some of them have 24+ reviews and no one has mentoned anything about those specs not being correct. So it does not seem like the problem will solve itself (soon).

What would you do in this situation? Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Maybe there is a creative way to solve this. Or is the only way to just leave a bad review and not be so afraid of them ''retaliating'''by leaving a negative on my product page?

I do have better branding and product pictures, but their way still affects my sales a lot. I am sure of that.

Thank you!

edit: @biophase I hope you can also chime in on this topic since you have a lot of experience with Amazon.

This is where your branding and information come into play. I wouldn't leave bad reviews on Amazon though. I would pack your webpage with so much information so that your customers can understand what they are buying.

Your brand website should have photos and examples of why your product is better and how they can spot inferior products. Show the component that they are talking about and explain how to find it.

An example would be, "if you open up the back and the battery says model CT1020, then you received a lower quality battery that won't last as long. Look for battery model CT6000 which is a true long lasting battery. This is the battery that we use."

"Does your plastic look like this, or this. See our plastic is 5mm thick while they use a 2mm cheaper more brittle version." Then show a bunch of photos or a video.

Things like that will educate your customer.

 

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[LPPC]

This is where your branding and information come into play. I wouldn't leave bad reviews on Amazon though. I would pack your webpage with so much information so that your customers can understand what they are buying.

Your brand website should have photos and examples of why your product is better and how they can spot inferior products. Show the component that they are talking about and explain how to find it.

An example would be, "if you open up the back and the battery says model CT1020, then you received a lower quality battery that won't last as long. Look for battery model CT6000 which is a true long lasting battery. This is the battery that we use."

"Does your plastic look like this, or this. See our plastic is 5mm thick while they use a 2mm cheaper more brittle version." Then show a bunch of photos or a video.

Things like that will educate your customer.

Thank you sooo much! This is real golden advice. I really hope you have the time to also answer the following questions as I am really eager to learn.

A)Could you tell me why you wouldn't leave a bad review?

Maybe in your experience educating them about the differences in quality and how to spot them is enough to have them choose mine instead of theirs in the first place, keeping in mind that the others promise the same specs? Or will they, armed with the education I provide, maybe still buy the competitor's product and return them when they find out it is not what they promise? Maybe in your opinion this makes it unworthy to take the risk of leaving a bad review..

B)Would you email amazon anonymously about it so that they can check it and maybe do something about it? And why yes or no?

C)As of now I don't have a website for my brand, but I will in the near future (I realise the importance of it). You mention specifically putting that kind of information on my brand website, but I guess I can also put it on the Amazon product page but in a less detailed way? Or is that bad copywriting for on Amazon? People might not visit my brand website so I think having it on Amazon might be good too.

D) Would you mention anything on Amazon product page or brand website about the competitors not delivering what they promise? I am not sure whether customers won't be put off by that.

One trick you can use is to show in your main images that other products where the specs are not correct and how it's a scam, and then show your product where it does in fact have the specs it is said to have, like a split us vs them photo.

Also have it in the description of the product. That way you can create awareness to the customer.

Also if they're really scamming then you can probably report it somehow anonymously to amazon service and then they could check it in their warehouse.

Amazon is not in your control. Therefore it's best to focus on yourself and your product whillst providing thea best value rather than looking how to crush the competition. Because Amazon is literally FILLED with crap listings and you will see tons of these bad methods used in the future

Thank you very much! Yes that is a very good idea to educate the customers about the difference in specs and how to spot them. Would you say anything in the copy about the competitors not delivering what they promise? I am not sure whether customer won't be put off by that.

About reporting to Amazon. Since there are not many sellers of this product and soon I will be the only one that mentions in my copy the difference in quality etc, they might link the report to me and want to retaliate. I really am unsure as to whether I should report them. What do you think?

Yes, I also think that when your competitors are lying this can't go on forever. Isn't lying manipulation in amazon terms? It's bannable.
Mabye buy a product from your competitor, yourself, so you can be SURE that this is the case. If so, I guess Amazon would look into it.
Guess there are not many things you can do about it.

Thank you for your input my friend. I am sure this is the case, since I ordered it and inspected the product. I have a lot of knowledge about the product.

@Yzn also mentioned reporting it to Amazon. I replied ''About reporting to Amazon. Since there are not many sellers of this product and soon I will be the only one that mentions in my copy the difference in quality etc, they might link the report to me and want to retaliate. I really am unsure as to whether I should report them. What do you think?''

Thanks again guys! You really are of big help!

 

[100ToOne]

Thank you sooo much! This is real golden advice. I really hope you have the time to also answer the following questions as I am really eager to learn.

A)Could you tell me why you wouldn't leave a bad review?

Maybe in your experience educating them about the differences in quality and how to spot them is enough to have them choose mine instead of theirs in the first place, keeping in mind that the others promise the same specs? Or will they, armed with the education I provide, maybe still buy the competitor's product and return them when they find out it is not what they promise? Maybe in your opinion this makes it unworthy to take the risk of leaving a bad review..

B)Would you email amazon anonymously about it so that they can check it and maybe do something about it? And why yes or no?

C)As of now I don't have a website for my brand, but I will in the near future (I realise the importance of it). You mention specifically putting that kind of information on my brand website, but I guess I can also put it on the Amazon product page but in a less detailed way? Or is that bad copywriting for on Amazon? People might not visit my brand website so I think having it on Amazon might be good too.

D) Would you mention anything on Amazon product page or brand website about the competitors not delivering what they promise? I am not sure whether customers won't be put off by that.



Thank you very much! Yes that is a very good idea to educate the customers about the difference in specs and how to spot them. Would you say anything in the copy about the competitors not delivering what they promise? I am not sure whether customer won't be put off by that.

About reporting to Amazon. Since there are not many sellers of this product and soon I will be the only one that mentions in my copy the difference in quality etc, they might link the report to me and want to retaliate. I really am unsure as to whether I should report them. What do you think?



Thank you for your input my friend. I am sure this is the case, since I ordered it and inspected the product. I have a lot of knowledge about the product.

@Yzn also mentioned reporting it to Amazon. I replied ''About reporting to Amazon. Since there are not many sellers of this product and soon I will be the only one that mentions in my copy the difference in quality etc, they might link the report to me and want to retaliate. I really am unsure as to whether I should report them. What do you think?''

Thanks again guys! You really are of big help!

A) You entirely have the right to do so as you're a selller, you're also a customer of Amazon and have the right to review others.

However what I'm saying is that if this is a winning product, soon you will find a flood of Chinese and other sellers that it won't be beneficial to use that method. The people on the long run will catch them out if they're scamming people.

B) Yes you can send them an e-mail or contact them through your account. They wont share your details with other sellers so you're safe.

C/D) well yes I was actually talking about your product description. Having a brand website is usually only useful if you're going to build the brand outside of Amazon, maybe when the product sells become good you'll be able to shift most of the sales to your brand website whilst selling on Amazon at the same time.

But don't include the link to your website in your listing because thats a red flag which can easily wipe off your listing.

Maybe mention it in the images and description since copy is only about your product's benefits.

Don't worry about them retaliating, usually scammers and copycats don't last long on Amazon because they only think short term whilst you're actually running a long-term business.

 

[biophase]

A)Could you tell me why you wouldn't leave a bad review?

Maybe in your experience educating them about the differences in quality and how to spot them is enough to have them choose mine instead of theirs in the first place, keeping in mind that the others promise the same specs? Or will they, armed with the education I provide, maybe still buy the competitor's product and return them when they find out it is not what they promise? Maybe in your opinion this makes it unworthy to take the risk of leaving a bad review..

B)Would you email amazon anonymously about it so that they can check it and maybe do something about it? And why yes or no?

C)As of now I don't have a website for my brand, but I will in the near future (I realise the importance of it). You mention specifically putting that kind of information on my brand website, but I guess I can also put it on the Amazon product page but in a less detailed way? Or is that bad copywriting for on Amazon? People might not visit my brand website so I think having it on Amazon might be good too.

D) Would you mention anything on Amazon product page or brand website about the competitors not delivering what they promise? I am not sure whether customers won't be put off by that.

a) Because like you said, nobody would really see it. You can leave a bad review, but that wouldn't be my main strategy.

b) Amazon won't do anything about it, unless your complaint is a safety hazard or about a counterfeit product.

c) Yes, you can put it on your listing, but I personally don't like negative stuff on my listings. I would put it in the images vs. the description.

d) I'd definitely mention it on my website. You can be as candid and real as you want on your website.

 

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[LPPC]

A) You entirely have the right to do so as you're a selller, you're also a customer of Amazon and have the right to review others.

However what I'm saying is that if this is a winning product, soon you will find a flood of Chinese and other sellers that it won't be beneficial to use that method. The people on the long run will catch them out if they're scamming people.

B) Yes you can send them an e-mail or contact them through your account. They wont share your details with other sellers so you're safe.

C/D) well yes I was actually talking about your product description. Having a brand website is usually only useful if you're going to build the brand outside of Amazon, maybe when the product sells become good you'll be able to shift most of the sales to your brand website whilst selling on Amazon at the same time.

But don't include the link to your website in your listing because thats a red flag which can easily wipe off your listing.

Maybe mention it in the images and description since copy is only about your product's benefits.

Don't worry about them retaliating, usually scammers and copycats don't last long on Amazon because they only think short term whilst you're actually running a long-term business.

Thank you for the detailed response! So if I understand it correctly, you are of the opinon that I can write about the other sellers not delivering what they promise in the product description.

I will be also asking in specific copywriting facebook groups and forums about how to best put this in the copy. I will report back with my findings, hopefully people can learn from it.

a) Because like you said, nobody would really see it. You can leave a bad review, but that wouldn't be my main strategy.

b) Amazon won't do anything about it, unless your complaint is a safety hazard or about a counterfeit product.

c) Yes, you can put it on your listing, but I personally don't like negative stuff on my listings. I would put it in the images vs. the description.

d) I'd definitely mention it on my website. You can be as candid and real as you want on your website.

Thank you for theanswers Biophase!

You are absolutely right in that it shouldn't be my main strategy.

You said that you don't like to put negative stuff on your listing. Do you mean with negative stuff also information/education about for example how to recognize the difference in plastic type and battery capacity? Or did you mean that writing about how the competitor is not delivering what the promise is negative? Or both?

And please correct me if I'm wrong, but if I understood it correctly you would rather put the negative stuff in the images instead of the description?