KEY POINTS

  • A report on RavPower's violation came out on June 15
  • It said the brand was offering a gift in exchange for a review
  • Incentivized reviews have been banned on Amazon since 2016
  • The ban is in place to maintain the review system's integrity

Amazon has confirmed that it removed RavPower from its store at it may have something to do with the brand's violation of the platform's ban on incentivized product reviews.

Amazon took down RavPower, a popular battery and charger brand from its shelves. In a statement, the company claimed that it was the one behind the brand's sudden disappearance from its store. It did not provide any reason behind the move, reported The Verge.

However, it's not too hard to notice that Amazon's decision came not long after a report on RavPower offering a reward in exchange for a product review came out.

It can be recalled that on June 15, Nicole Nguyen of The Wall Street Journal published a report saying that the RavPower charger she purchased came with an offer for a $35 dollar gift card, which could be redeemed by a customer after posting a review of the product.

The orange gift card, which was equivalent to almost half the price of the charger, was inserted into the delivered product. The back page of the card said the customer must email a screenshot of the order as well as the URL or a screenshot of the product review to claim their gift.

It was a violation of Amazon's guidelines, the report said, citing a representative from the company.

Following RavPower's disappearance from Amazon's shelves, Nguyen took to Twitter to confirm that the brand's listings on the platform had been gone after the publication of her story about fake product reviews and inflated ratings.

It was in 2016 when Amazon banned incentivized reviews on its platform, leaving only novels and non-fiction books as an exemption to the rule.

In a community guideline update released in October 2016, the world's largest online selling platform prohibited sellers from giving out incentives or discounts in exchange for positive product reviews. This is to maintain the integrity of the company's customer review system. Customers rely on the review system as they come up with purchase decisions. They also read reviews to avoid buying products that fall below their expectations.

Apart from RavPower, Amazon-first gadget brands Aukey and Mpow also vanished from the store's shelves last month. Amazon confirmed that it was also behind these two brands' disappearance from its platform, according to The Verge.

A big reason for Amazon's low tax rate has been its massive investments in warehouses and other services which can be deducted from profits but which potentially may deliver more revenue in the future, according to taxation specialist Daniel Shaviro
A big reason for Amazon's low tax rate has been its massive investments in warehouses and other services which can be deducted from profits but which potentially may deliver more revenue in the future, according to taxation specialist Daniel Shaviro AFP / INA FASSBENDER
RELATED STORIES
Amazon