marti
Junior Member
Posts: 44
Joined: Mar 27, 2012 18:13:30 GMT -8
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Post by marti on Jun 14, 2012 19:27:19 GMT -8
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Post by Ted on Jun 15, 2012 4:42:14 GMT -8
Interesting article. Thanks, marti.
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marti
Junior Member
Posts: 44
Joined: Mar 27, 2012 18:13:30 GMT -8
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Post by marti on Jun 15, 2012 6:24:06 GMT -8
What do you think their chances are of success? They plan to take on Amazon. I think their biggest problem will be getting customers to trust them enough to give their credit card info. That is one advantage Amazon has always had over other booksellers.
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Post by Ted on Jun 15, 2012 8:17:19 GMT -8
... I think their biggest problem will be getting customers to trust them enough to give their credit card info. That is one advantage Amazon has always had over other booksellers. Amazon doesn't have any secret method of ensuring credit card security or trustworthiness as their credit card information can be exploited like any other business. Assuming a company is trustworthy because they are big or well-known is like trusting JP Morgan or Bernie Madoff to look after your money wisely. I use a Secured Credit Card for all my online transactions, as do most of my friends. I'm more concerned about my credit card/debit card information being stolen at a restaurant, hotel, car rental, convenience store, etc than I am about using my credit card online. |
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marti
Junior Member
Posts: 44
Joined: Mar 27, 2012 18:13:30 GMT -8
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Post by marti on Jun 15, 2012 10:41:43 GMT -8
That's interesting. I worry about it too. It took a long time before people began to use their credit cards to buy online and I still don't trust new sites.
Did you see the part about Zola not having customer reviews? Wonder what readers will think of that?
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Post by Ted on Jun 15, 2012 15:19:44 GMT -8
I've bought most of my printed books without reading a review. I do look at reviews of ebooks, but mainly to see if they are fake. If the sample section of an ebook catches me then a wonderful review, or a terrible review, isn't going to sway my purchasing decision.
A bad review, and 1 star rating, of one of my puzzle ebooks hasn't stopped sales of the book or even slowed sales; the reviewer mentioned the puzzles contained numerous spelling errors. The reviewer simply didn't read the Introduction to the puzzle book, which explained the words used in the puzzles may contain Canadian, British, Australian or American spelling of English words. While the remaining reviews were positive, the first review seen is the bad review.
I don't trust reviews any more, not since the proliferation of companies offering to 'promote' or 'market' a book through positive reviews. The ease of creating fake email address has also tempted some authors to post multiple positive reviews of their works in the hope that someone will believe them and buy the book. For those reasons alone it may be a good idea not to have customer reviews, unless of course Zola follows Smashwords and allows only the purchaser to review a work.
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marti
Junior Member
Posts: 44
Joined: Mar 27, 2012 18:13:30 GMT -8
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Post by marti on Jun 15, 2012 18:31:42 GMT -8
Oh, so that's what's happening. I wondered about companies that do reviews.
Making sure someone purchases a book before they can review it has problems on Kindle. Too many people do that and then return the book.
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jenniferp
SWF Writers
Posts: 111
Joined: Mar 29, 2012 6:47:30 GMT -8
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Post by jenniferp on Jun 16, 2012 8:28:41 GMT -8
All I have to say on reviews is I'd rather have a bad review than silence.
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