Use Customer Reviews To Help Steer Your Purchase Decisions

With so many people out there trying to make money selling you a product, it can be difficult finding honest opinions about various products.  After all, if somebody stands to make money from your purchase, can they really be trusted to give an objective opinion or are they likely to steer you towards the product that will earn them the largest commission and not necessarily the one best suited for your needs?
That’s an interesting question and has a simple answer:  while there are plenty of honest reviews out there, even by people who stand to gain something from your purchase decisions (I do my best around here!), there are also plenty of people who will stop at nothing to make a quick buck.  So where to find unbiased opinions?  I think customer reviews of products on the major eCommerce sites, like Amazon.com, are a great start.  Even here, however, there are a few caveats.  Here are a few guidelines to help you sort the good from the bad.
Be Wary Of Products With Only A Few Reviews – Customer reviews are more likely to be objective for larger, more popular products than smaller ones.  For example, the Rosetta Stone customer reviews section on Amazon currently has over 130 reviews and counting.  While a few of these reviewers may have an agenda, the vast majority are likely to be honest people with something to say that they feel is important.  By contrast, a small product with only two or three reviews could easily be manipulated by the author and a few friends.
Be Wary Of Products With Only Stellar Reviews – No product is perfect, not even the best.  Any honest product review will draw attention to the product’s faults as well as strengths.  For example, FSI Spanish is a very effective program, but it has the disadvantage of being incredibly boring.  Similarly, Rosetta Stone excels at teaching pronunciation but is a bit weak in the grammar department.  A product with only positive reviews should set off an alarm in your head that maybe, just maybe, somebody is trying to make the product seem better than it really is.
Look For References For Competing Products – Often times, reviewers will attempt to compare and contrast the product in question with other popular products in the same niche.  These reviews can be gold mines of information because they allow you to get an idea of the strengths and weaknesses of both products without having to spend any money.  For example, the very first customer review of Fluenz Spanish (a software package gaining in popularity) is titled “Fluenz and Rosetta” and gives a detailed side-by-side comparison of what the author both likes and dislikes about both software packages.  It would be wise to learn from the experience of this reviewer rather than waste your own hard-earned cash.  You may not agree with their opinion, but at least it offers a different perspective.
So far, the best I've seen is Rocket Spanish. Check them out here to learn to speak Spanish fluently.
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