The Clever World of Amazon.Com's Unusual Items
Amazon's Customer Reviews are Fun for Shoppers and Creative Writers
Oct 18, 2008
When Amazon.com launched in 1995, the world watched in amazement as the Internet book shop became an Internet business heavy-weight. Not only did Amazon.com sell products under its own name, it allowed individuals to partner with Amazon's powerful search engine and payment system to sell in an Amazon.com marketplace. This opened the door for unusual items to be sold at Amazon.com, and it also opened the door for some incredible customer reviews.
Finding Strange Items on Amazon.com
Finding books on Amazon.com is tricky enough sometimes; but if a person is looking for uranium, it is easy enough to type in the word. For the less discriminating consumer, or a curious reader seeking out delightfully written customer reviews, finding products no one knew existed becomes an exercise in advanced website searches.
Using Everything Else
The best starting point is "Everything Else", Amazon's catch-all category. Getting to Everything Else is at times, a chore. Sometimes the category appears in the drop-down menu. If a shopper is getting desperate, type "uranium" into the search box and it will appear in the "Everything Else category". Then, run a blank search in the Everything Else department, and new items will appear. Dr. John's Famous Pee Pee is there, as is a Badonkadonk Land Cruiser/Tank.
Sorting Everything Else Results
On the left side of the screen, Amazon sorts "Everything Else" into price categories. Anything in the spendy categories will have the potential for some interesting reviews. Once shoppers have selected a category, results should be sorted by "Avg. Customer Review" in the top right drop-down menu. Some exciting items have been reviewed multiple times, and the reviews are delightful.
Reviewing Unusual Items
Amazon.com does not require that customers purchase an item to review it; this would be hard to enforce because many items are sold by independent Amazon Marketplace sellers. While a reviewer needs to be logged into an Amazon.com account and the reviews need to be written for a public audience, Amazon.com does not hinder creativity.
Customer Reviews of Unusual Items
Most of the reviewers claim to have purchased an item, and rate the item with stars. Some of the more popular items have received these creative reviews:
- Terry Lake gave the 10x18 Wedding Chapel (retailing for $21, 420.47) three stars, because, "On the up side, it arrived fairly fast ....However, there was no groom to marry with it. I tried to talk the UPS guy into staying to "try it out" with me."
- Captain Tetanus reviewed the $39,995.00 Relaxman Relaxation Capsule with three stars, saying, "Unfortunately due to the price we've lost our home and have taken to living in the capsule outside our local Walmart. We are both very relaxed about it."
- Absolut Me reviews the $29.95 Uranium Ore Cake, saying "Many people purchased this for home use, but for me it is simply a sentimental object...My husband said this present has made Earth Day 2008 the best Earth Day yet."
- Billy Bob McRobert "Billy Boy" has one of the most popular reviews, writing that the $19,999.95 Badonkadonk Land Cruiser/Tank is "not recommended Badonkadonk ... more like a Badonkajunk."
Once a curious reader has discovered a reviewer who has rated one item, clicking on "read all of my reviews" becomes a wise move, because writing creative reviews is habit-forming, and people review multiple items. This helps find more items and, for lucky readers, more reviews.
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