Online reviews can be incredibly useful. They can tell you whether a retailer delivers on time, handles refunds properly and sells products that match the description. But reviews can also be misleading. Some are fake, some are paid for and some are written by customers who had a one-off bad experience. The trick is learning how to read reviews properly.
Start by looking beyond the star rating. A shop with 4.8 stars might look excellent, but the details matter. How many reviews does it have? A retailer with 4.8 stars from 4,000 reviews is very different from one with 5 stars from six reviews. A small number of reviews is not always suspicious, especially for a new business, but it should make you check more carefully.
Read the most recent reviews first. A company may have been excellent two years ago but poor now. Delivery problems, customer service delays and refund issues often show up in recent reviews before the overall rating changes. Look for patterns across the last few weeks or months.
Pay close attention to negative reviews. You do not need to avoid every retailer with complaints. Every large business gets some bad feedback. What matters is the type of complaint. One person saying a parcel arrived late is not the same as dozens of people saying orders never arrived, refunds were ignored or customer service stopped replying.
The wording of reviews can also give clues. Fake positive reviews are often vague. They might say things like “Great product, fast delivery, highly recommend” without mentioning what was bought. Real reviews often include small details, such as sizing, packaging, delivery dates or how the retailer handled a problem.
Be careful with reviews that sound too polished or too similar. If lots of reviews use the same phrases, appear on the same day or mention the product in an unnatural way, they may not be genuine. Which? has published guidance on spotting fake reviews and warns shoppers to look for signs such as suspicious patterns, repeated wording and unrealistic praise.
Do not rely only on reviews shown on the retailer’s own website. On-site reviews can be useful, but the retailer controls how they are displayed. Search elsewhere too. Look at independent review platforms, social media comments, forums and search results. Try searching the retailer’s name with words like “complaints”, “returns”, “refund”, “fake” or “scam”.
It is also worth checking how the business responds to complaints. A good retailer will usually reply politely and try to resolve issues. A poor retailer may ignore complaints, blame the customer or reply with the same copied response every time.
For product reviews, look for photos from real customers. These can help you judge quality, size, colour and packaging. Be aware, though, that photos can also be reused or manipulated. They are helpful, but not perfect proof.
When shopping on marketplaces, separate the product review from the seller review. A product may have thousands of good reviews, but the individual seller might be unreliable. This is especially important when buying branded goods, electronics, beauty products or anything where counterfeits are common.
Reviews are not about finding perfection. They are about spotting risk. A few mixed reviews are normal. A clear pattern of missing orders, poor quality, fake goods or ignored refunds is a reason to shop elsewhere.
Before placing an order with a retailer you do not know, spend five minutes checking reviews from different places. It is one of the easiest ways to avoid disappointment.