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| {{Short description|Online ratings site}} | |||
| {{Infobox |
{{Infobox website | ||
| | name = ResellerRatings | | name = ResellerRatings | ||
| | favicon = | | favicon = | ||
| | logo = ] | | logo = ] | ||
| | screenshot = | | screenshot = | ||
| | caption = ResellerRatings home page<br />(March 6, 2007) | | caption = ResellerRatings home page<br />(March 6, 2007) | ||
| | url = | | url = | ||
| | alexa = {{IncreaseNegative}} 9,379 ({{as of|2014|4|1|alt=April 2014}})<ref name="alexa">{{cite web|url= http://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/resellerratings.com |title= Resellerratings.com Site Info | publisher= ] |accessdate= 2014-04-01 }}</ref><!--Updated monthly by OKBot.--> | |||
| | commercial = Yes | | commercial = Yes | ||
| | type = ] ] | | type = ] ] | ||
| | owner = |
| owner = | ||
| | author = | | author = | ||
| | |
| launch_date = {{start date and age|2001}} | ||
| | |
| current_status = Active | ||
| | revenue = | | revenue = | ||
| }} | }} | ||
| '''ResellerRatings''' is |
'''ResellerRatings''' is an online ratings site where consumers submit ratings and reviews of online retailers, and online retailers participate to respond to reviewers and to gather reviews from their customers post-purchase. As of July 11, 2017, the site had over 6.2 million user-submitted reviews for 202,000 stores.{{citation needed|date=July 2018}} | ||
| ResellerRatings operates a ] business model. Merchants can participate to receive certain features for free, and can subscribe for additional features.<ref name="premium">. ''resellerratings.com.'' Retrieved 2 October 2024</ref> | |||
| The site also lists deals, special offers, and other sales currently being offered at listed stores, as well as a forum for discussion. | |||
| ⚫ | ==History== | ||
| Although free to be listed, stores are required to pay for the ability to respond to and flag reviews, which has generated great controversy among many merchants, including claims of extortion. <ref>https://productforums.google.com/forum/#!topic/merchant-center/3nUkaO_hLhU</ref><ref>https://www.facebook.com/pages/Resellerratingscom-Scam/102838613191162</ref><ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dUK6x3wBGk0</ref><ref>http://www.resellerratingsclassaction.com/</ref> | |||
| ⚫ | ResellerRatings was launched in 1996 as a subsection of SysOpt.com (sysopt.com/resellerratings, at that time). Its founder, ], sold SysOpt.com and ResellerRatings.com to EarthWeb in 1999 for several million dollars. EarthWeb sold ResellerRatings to Internet.com in 2001. In 2002, Internet.com shut ResellerRatings.com down, and Wainner bought the site back for $32,000.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20020221-2305.html |title=Reseller Ratings.com shut down |author=Peter Yang | date=2002-02-21 |accessdate=2007-03-06}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite web |date=2010-07-19 |title=1Mby1M Deal Radar 2010: ResellerRatings.com, American Canyon, California |url=https://www.sramanamitra.com/2010/07/19/deal-radar-2010-resellerratings-com/ |access-date=2024-10-02 |website=Sramana Mitra |language=en-US}}</ref> | ||
| Initially, in 1996, ResellerRatings began as a hobby to help consumers, but over time it was developed into a SaaS platform with large retail customers including Zappos, HomeDepot, Newegg, and others.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite web |title=How I Built My Company in High School, Sold it at 21, Bought it Back and Sold it to Answers.com |url=http://yfsmagazine.com/2012/08/15/how-i-built-my-company-in-high-school-sold-it-at-21-bought-it-back-and-made-millions/ |access-date=2024-10-02 |website=yfsmagazine.com}}</ref> | |||
| To join the ResellerRatings Merchant Member program, merchants are required to pay a fee<ref>ResellerRatings Membership http://www.resellerratings.com/merchant-solutions</ref> on a sliding scale, which has been subject to increases without warning.<ref>https://www.internetretailer.com/2013/01/09/small-web-retailers-fume-resellerratings-price-hikes</ref><ref>https://productforums.google.com/forum/#!topic/merchant-center/PuEgT_hK9ws</ref> | |||
| ⚫ | In August 2012, ResellerRatings was acquired by Answers.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Lardinois |first=Frederic |date=2012-08-01 |title=Answers Acquires Online Merchant Review Service ResellerRatings |url=https://techcrunch.com/2012/08/01/answers-acquires-online-merchant-review-service-resellerratings/ |access-date=2024-10-02 |website=TechCrunch |language=en-US}}</ref> | ||
| Paying Merchant Members can, among other things, receive notifications and detailed information about new reviews, view order numbers attached to reviews, contact reviewers/customers to resolve issues, use the ResellerRatings Checkout Exit Survey to generate reviews from customers one week post-sale, flag reviews for non-customers whereby a ResellerRatings account manager contacts the reviewer to obtain proof of their order and removes the review if no proof is obtained, and use the ResellerRatings Customers Love Us Seal/badge. Non-paying merchants do not have these capabilities. All merchants receive syndication of ratings into Google Shopping and Google AdWords.<ref>ResellerRatings Membership http://www.resellerratings.com/merchant-solutions</ref> | |||
| In January 2013, ResellerRatings changed its pricing structure for some merchants and some small merchants disagreed with these changes. Other merchants felt that the changes were justified, such as Jose Prendes of PureFormulas.com who said, "You have to put it in context," Prendes says. "If it's a really small operation, it would probably affect them more and they might feel they can't afford it. For us, it's a great way of staying in touch with customers."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.internetretailer.com/2013/01/09/small-web-retailers-fume-resellerratings-price-hikes|title=Digital Commerce 360—Retail | Formerly Internet Retailer | Ecommerce |}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Gabe |first=Glenn |date=2010-08-10 |title="My God, It’s Full of Stars" - Seller Rating Extensions in Google AdWords |url=https://www.searchenginejournal.com/%E2%80%9Cmy-god-it%E2%80%99s-full-of-stars%E2%80%9D-seller-rating-extensions-in-google-adwords/23240/ |access-date=2024-10-02 |website=Search Engine Journal |language=en}}</ref> | |||
| ⚫ | "Shopping Review" websites like ResellerRatings or Angie's List are |
||
| ==Consumer Protection== | |||
| According to Google, the stars ratings within AdWords ads, powered by a variety of rating sites including ResellerRatings, lift ad CTR by 17%. <ref>Google Blog http://adwords.blogspot.com/2011/04/5-simple-ways-to-improve-your-adwords.html</ref> | |||
| The NY BBB and the NY Office of the Attorney General partnered with ResellerRatings in 2009 to detect and investigate illegal practices by Internet-based companies. ResellerRatings provided alerts whenever it determined that fake customer reviews were being posted on behalf of a merchant.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.ag.ny.gov/press-release/attorney-general-cuomo-secures-agreements-seven-electronics-companies-new-york-using|title = Attorney General Cuomo Secures Agreements with Seven Electronics Companies in New York for Using Illegal Online Business Practices to Scam Consumers Nationwide | New York State Attorney General}}</ref> | |||
| ⚫ | ==History== | ||
| ⚫ | ResellerRatings was launched in 1996 as a subsection of SysOpt.com (sysopt.com/resellerratings, at that time). Its founder, Scott Wainner, sold SysOpt.com and ResellerRatings.com to EarthWeb in 1999 for several million dollars. EarthWeb |
||
| In 2011, online retailer Full Home Appliances took issue with a customer over the contents of their review, citing the merchant's own terms of use stating that the customer essentially agreed not to post a negative review about the business, and claiming that the customer violated those terms by posting a review. At the time, the New York Times highlighted the merchant's aggressive terms.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/13/your-money/13haggler.html|title=Customer Bites Retailer? That's the Argument|newspaper=The New York Times|date=12 February 2011|last1=Segal|first1=David}}</ref> Later, merchant terms of use in regard to attempts to limit what a customer could or could not say online, became a central issue with merchant Kleargear.com in ], when Kleargear.com charged its customer, Palmer, $3,500 for writing a negative review that it claimed violated its terms of sale. ResellerRatings played a role in this when reviews began appearing on the site, illustrating KlearGear's history of customer issues.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://boingboing.net/2014/08/26/kleargears-new-street-addres.html|title=Kleargear's new street address is also home to notorious ripoff site|date=27 August 2014}}</ref> The Kleargear.com issue was an important catalyst for the Consumer Review Freedom act of 2015 ({{USBill|114|S|2044}}), to negate any such unreasonable terms of sale which attempted to penalize customers for stating their opinions.<ref>{{cite news |title=Sen. Moran Introduces Legislation to Protect Consumers from Fines for Negative Online Reviews |url=http://www.moran.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/news-releases?ID=405b9d86-0d31-467c-a1f4-6ed5affc141a |accessdate=October 30, 2015| agency=U.S. Senate |date=September 18, 2015}}</ref> | |||
| ==Merchant Tools== | |||
| Today, the site receives about 1.5 million unique users per month <ref>Quantcast Traffic http://www.quantcast.com/resellerratings.com</ref> and about 4,000 new reviews are submitted to the site daily.<ref>Homepage Stats http://www.resellerratings.com</ref> 2,000 online retailers including Barnes and Noble, HomeDepot.com, Newegg.com, Tigerdirect, Wayfair, L'Occitane, Vitacost, and 1800PetMeds, are Merchant Members at ResellerRatings, and monitor customer reviews to help resolve any issues.<ref>Participating Members http://www.resellerratings.com/merchant-members</ref> | |||
| ResellerRatings provides tools to merchants to interact with reviewers and gather reviews post-sale, and syndicates ratings and reviews to engines such as Google and Bing.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://techcrunch.com/2010/06/25/bing-taps-resellerratings-for-merchant-reviews/|title=Bing Taps ResellerRatings for Merchant Reviews|date=25 June 2010 }}</ref> | |||
| ⚫ | "Shopping Review" websites like ResellerRatings or ] are insulated from what their reviewers write due to the Internet Communications Decency Act protections which shields websites from what their users do or say.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.natlawreview.com/article/california-supreme-court-denies-review-ruling-allowing-restaurant-owner-s-false-adve|title=California Supreme Court Denies Review of Ruling Allowing Restaurant Owner's False Advertising Claims to Proceed Against Yelp}}</ref> | ||
| ⚫ | In August 2012, ResellerRatings was acquired by Answers.<ref> |
||
| ==References== | ==References== | ||
| {{Reflist| |
{{Reflist|30em}} | ||
| ==External links== | == External links == | ||
| <!-- Per ], choose one official website only --> | |||
| * |
* {{Official website|http://www.resellerratings.com}} | ||
| * | |||
| ⚫ | * | ||
| * | |||
| * | |||
| ⚫ | * | ||
| ] | ] | ||
| ] | ] | ||
Latest revision as of 10:18, 3 October 2024
Online ratings site | |
| Type of site | e-Commerce review site |
|---|---|
| URL | www.resellerratings.com |
| Commercial | Yes |
| Launched | 2001; 24 years ago (2001) |
| Current status | Active |
ResellerRatings is an online ratings site where consumers submit ratings and reviews of online retailers, and online retailers participate to respond to reviewers and to gather reviews from their customers post-purchase. As of July 11, 2017, the site had over 6.2 million user-submitted reviews for 202,000 stores.
ResellerRatings operates a freemium business model. Merchants can participate to receive certain features for free, and can subscribe for additional features.
History
ResellerRatings was launched in 1996 as a subsection of SysOpt.com (sysopt.com/resellerratings, at that time). Its founder, Scott Wainner, sold SysOpt.com and ResellerRatings.com to EarthWeb in 1999 for several million dollars. EarthWeb sold ResellerRatings to Internet.com in 2001. In 2002, Internet.com shut ResellerRatings.com down, and Wainner bought the site back for $32,000.
Initially, in 1996, ResellerRatings began as a hobby to help consumers, but over time it was developed into a SaaS platform with large retail customers including Zappos, HomeDepot, Newegg, and others.
In August 2012, ResellerRatings was acquired by Answers.
In January 2013, ResellerRatings changed its pricing structure for some merchants and some small merchants disagreed with these changes. Other merchants felt that the changes were justified, such as Jose Prendes of PureFormulas.com who said, "You have to put it in context," Prendes says. "If it's a really small operation, it would probably affect them more and they might feel they can't afford it. For us, it's a great way of staying in touch with customers."
Consumer Protection
The NY BBB and the NY Office of the Attorney General partnered with ResellerRatings in 2009 to detect and investigate illegal practices by Internet-based companies. ResellerRatings provided alerts whenever it determined that fake customer reviews were being posted on behalf of a merchant.
In 2011, online retailer Full Home Appliances took issue with a customer over the contents of their review, citing the merchant's own terms of use stating that the customer essentially agreed not to post a negative review about the business, and claiming that the customer violated those terms by posting a review. At the time, the New York Times highlighted the merchant's aggressive terms. Later, merchant terms of use in regard to attempts to limit what a customer could or could not say online, became a central issue with merchant Kleargear.com in Palmer v. Kleargear.com, when Kleargear.com charged its customer, Palmer, $3,500 for writing a negative review that it claimed violated its terms of sale. ResellerRatings played a role in this when reviews began appearing on the site, illustrating KlearGear's history of customer issues. The Kleargear.com issue was an important catalyst for the Consumer Review Freedom act of 2015 (S. 2044), to negate any such unreasonable terms of sale which attempted to penalize customers for stating their opinions.
Merchant Tools
ResellerRatings provides tools to merchants to interact with reviewers and gather reviews post-sale, and syndicates ratings and reviews to engines such as Google and Bing.
"Shopping Review" websites like ResellerRatings or Angie's List are insulated from what their reviewers write due to the Internet Communications Decency Act protections which shields websites from what their users do or say.
References
- ResellerRatings Membership. resellerratings.com. Retrieved 2 October 2024
- Peter Yang (2002-02-21). "Reseller Ratings.com shut down". Retrieved 2007-03-06.
- ^ "1Mby1M Deal Radar 2010: ResellerRatings.com, American Canyon, California". Sramana Mitra. 2010-07-19. Retrieved 2024-10-02.
- "How I Built My Company in High School, Sold it at 21, Bought it Back and Sold it to Answers.com". yfsmagazine.com. Retrieved 2024-10-02.
- Lardinois, Frederic (2012-08-01). "Answers Acquires Online Merchant Review Service ResellerRatings". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2024-10-02.
- "Digital Commerce 360—Retail | Formerly Internet Retailer | Ecommerce |".
- Gabe, Glenn (2010-08-10). ""My God, It's Full of Stars" - Seller Rating Extensions in Google AdWords". Search Engine Journal. Retrieved 2024-10-02.
- "Attorney General Cuomo Secures Agreements with Seven Electronics Companies in New York for Using Illegal Online Business Practices to Scam Consumers Nationwide | New York State Attorney General".
- Segal, David (12 February 2011). "Customer Bites Retailer? That's the Argument". The New York Times.
- "Kleargear's new street address is also home to notorious ripoff site". 27 August 2014.
- "Sen. Moran Introduces Legislation to Protect Consumers from Fines for Negative Online Reviews". U.S. Senate. September 18, 2015. Retrieved October 30, 2015.
- "Bing Taps ResellerRatings for Merchant Reviews". 25 June 2010.
- "California Supreme Court Denies Review of Ruling Allowing Restaurant Owner's False Advertising Claims to Proceed Against Yelp".