Why Online Reviews Matter

Spend any time on social media and you’re likely to encounter photos of online shopping gone wrong. This is all the more important when you are purchasing something like athletic footwear. There are dozens of generic models that look like they are high quality but they cannot even compare to the real deal. On the other hand, many “brands” opt to skimp on manufacturing and produce low quality shoes. Here are a few testimonies from my friends that show why online reviews matter. 

 

Jessica: Sprained Ankles

I recently decided to get into cross training, even though I was never really an athletic person. However, I didn’t want to invest too much just in case I don’t enjoy it. Whenever I searched online I would find that any no bull shoes review I read was ultimately positive. But I was not convinced that it was worth the price tag. Instead, a pair of counterfeit shoes was enough for me, despite several warnings I found online of the potential risk of injury.

 

Needless to say, when I received the shoes the first thing I noticed was that my feet stood sloping sideways. I didn’t think much of it until I sprained my ankle for the second time. Soon after buying the more expensive pair, the difference was immediately apparent and there were no more visits to the emergency room. 

 

Sean: A Waste Of Money

As an avid DIYer, I knew my brother would enjoy a set of power tools I found online. The price was acceptable (in my humble opinion) so I decided to get them as a Christmas present. No research, not even reading a single review on Amazon. While he was grateful for the present, they proved to be extremely weak power tools that lasted approximately a week of light work. I was furious with myself, and decided to give a bad review online. Before I did, I realized that many before me had commented on the weakness of these power tools. Had I taken the time to read even a few reviews, I wouldn’t have wasted my money on the gift and gotten something else instead. 

 

Michael: First Date Gone Wrong

Ask anyone about me and they’ll tell you that I’m a clean freak. On a first date with a girl I was really interested in, I decided to go with the flow and let her choose the restaurant. She was in the mood for Italian food, so we searched for the closest one to where we were, but forgot to have a look at the reviews. Had we done so, we wouldn’t need to find out the hard way that the tagliatelle came with a side of roaches and that lipstick stains on (supposedly clean) glasses was the norm for this restaurant!  

 

As you can see, online reviews are one of the best things that the internet has given us. Of course, not all reviews are honest—so it’s best to read a few and summarize to get a better outcome.