How to Get Good Reviews for Your Business (for the Ethically Challenged)
- by Michael Stillman
Get your 5-star reviews here.
If you operate a book selling business, or any other for that matter, you undoubtedly know the importance of online customer reviews. As customers, I imagine most of us look at these when evaluating a merchant, even if we aren't entirely sure whether all of the reviews are real. Maybe your mother gave your business a good review, or a competitor a bad one. Still, we tend to feel the reviews as a whole, whether more good or bad, give us a sense of whether that is a merchant we want to patronize. Certainly, when traveling, I look at the motel and hotel reviews and afford them more credence than perhaps they deserve.
On the other hand, I rarely provide my input. I mean to. Particularly if I'm very pleased with my experience, I want to recognize the merchant. However, there are lots of review sites and I'm very busy, so my legitimate input rarely makes it to the web.
Recently, we received an offer designed to help our business with this problem. Obviously, they think this is good for a book-related site or they wouldn't have contacted us. It is a way to increase our positive reviews, 5-star ones no less.
The email pointed out, “A low number of reviews coupled with negative feedback can significantly affect potential customers' perception of your brand, ultimately leading to missed opportunities.” Fortunately, it continued, “The good news is that we specialize in turning such situations around. We specialize in boosting businesses like yours with positive GMB (Google My Business) reviews.”
How do you get these good reviews? The process is very straightforward. Money. $30 buys you ten 5-star positive reviews, $150 gets you 50 (no volume discounts). They describe these as coming from “verified USA accounts.” In more detail, “We will provide positive and relevant feedbacks to your Google My Business. All will appear to be from verified accounts. You can write the text, or I can write it to save your time.” That's nice, but I think I'd prefer to write my own “verified” reviews. The “USA accounts” is reassuring as their WhatsApp number indicates they come from Bangladesh. If your business is in the West, you probably don't have ten customers from Bangladesh, let alone 50.
They say their reviews are posted in many of the most important review sites. They list Google, Facebook, Yelp, and Trustpilot, along with specialty sites HomeAdvisor and Tripadvisor. They also claim reviews come from different IP addresses, another sign of legitimacy. No bots, programs, or software is used, they add. Indeed, “The right thing to do is order our service now so that you get more 5-star reviews and build your reputation as an outstanding business. The more reviews you have, the better it is for your business.”
Are they legitimate? Maybe from the business' standpoint in that they say you don't have to pay until after the reviews are posted. They can't just take your money and run. Perhaps that's an advantage Bangladesh has over Nigeria. Are they legitimate from the customers' standpoint? Of course not. Do you really need to ask?
There are companies that provide reviews not quite as shady but still not ones I want to see. They hire people knowledgeable about certain products to evaluate them, but considering the people who pay the bills want to see good reviews, that doesn't quite meet my standard of objectivity.
I don't know how many merchants avail themselves of these services, especially those from Bangladesh. Hopefully, no one who reads this article is so ethically challenged as to even consider such a scam. I can't imagine anyone trusting a merchant who resorted to such tactics if they knew. But, this should be a caution in your role as a consumer. Now you know what's out there. Reviews are helpful, but not always what they seem to be.
Aste Bolaffi, June 17-18: Galileo Galilei. Dialogo sopra i due massimi sistemi del mondo tolemaico, e copernicano. Firenze, 1632
Aste Bolaffi, June 17-18: Saverio Manetti. Storia naturale degli uccelli. Firenze, 1771-76
Aste Bolaffi, June 17-18: Fortunato Depero. Depero futurista. Rovereto, 1927
Aste Bolaffi, June 17-18: Nicolas Visscher. Atlas minor sive totius orbis terrarum contracta delineat ex conatibus. Amsterdam, circa 1649-95
Aste Bolaffi, June 17-18: Andreas Vesalius. Anatomia. Addita nunc. Antiquorum Anatome. Venezia, 1604
Aste Bolaffi, June 17-18: Tristan Tzara and Salvador Dalì. Grains et Issues. Parigi, 1935
June 25, 2026
Doyle, June 25: Houdini's biography, boldly signed. $3,000 to $5,000.
Doyle, June 25: A volume from Abraham Lincoln's library, signed just before heading to Washington for his inauguration. $20,000 to $30,000.
Doyle, June 25: A very early Confederate recruiting manual belonging to the chief commissary in Lee's Army. $600 to $800.
Doyle, June 25: Rare hand-colored lithographs of the life of Napoleon. $20,000 to $30,000.
Doyle, June 25: The "Holster Atlas" of the American Revolution. $5,000 to $8,000.
Doyle, June 25: Jewish ceremonies in fine hand-colored engravings. $7,000 to $10,000.
Doyle, June 25: A very rare work on Turkish military costume. $1,000 to $1,500.
June 25, 2026
Doyle, June 25: The most important illustrated work on the Mexican-American War. $10,000 to $15,000.
Doyle, June 25: The finest illustrated book on Afghanistan. $10,000 to $15,000.
Doyle, June 25: Henry Justice Ford St. George rescues the Princess from the horrible Dragon. $2,000 to $3,000.
Doyle, June 25: A rare work of Prussian Army uniforms under Frederick William II, with exquisite hand-colored engravings. $800 to $1,200.
Doyle, June 25: Lenny Bruce typed letter signed to a Village bohemian during his obscenity trials, with a manuscript note and drawing. $300 to $500.
Doyle, June 25: Schiff's scarce Shanghai Sketchbook. $300 to $500.
Doyle, June 25: The first accurate published representation of the American flag. $2,000 to $4,000.
Old World Auctions (June 17): Lot 123. Celebrate 250 Years of Independence with Original Stars and Stripes (1790) Est. $1,400 - $1,700
Old World Auctions (June 17): Lot 20. Keulen's Spectacular Chart of the World Featuring California as an Island (1728) Est. $12,000 - $15,000
Old World Auctions (June 17): Lot 42. Schedel's Ancient World Map with Fantastic Humanoid Creatures (1493) Est. $14,000 - $17,000
Old World Auctions (June 17): Lot 591. Matching Set of 3 Stunning Globe Gores of Eastern Asia from Coronelli's 3.5 Foot Globe (1688) Est. $5,500 - $7,000
Old World Auctions (June 17): Lot 9. Speed's Popular World Map with Allegorical Representations of the Elements (1651) Est. $14,000 - $17,000
Old World Auctions (June 17): Lot 168. First Separate Map of Kansas & Nebraska Territories (1854) Est. $5,500 - $7,000
Old World Auctions (June 17): Lot 43. Only Macrobius Map with Britain Attached to Europe (1515) Est. $800 - $950
Old World Auctions (June 17): Lot 250. Rare Map of Boston and One of the Earliest Maps of the Revolutionary War (1775) Est. $2,000 - $2,300
Old World Auctions (June 17): Lot 79. Schenk's Uncommon Map Featuring Two Figurative Title Cartouches (1696) Est. $1,200 - $1,500
Old World Auctions (June 17): Lot 681. Hand-Colored Image of the Annunciation to the Shepherds (1502) Est. $800 - $950
Sotheby's Book Week 2 June - 9 July
Sotheby’s, June 25: Smith, Adam. The Wealth of Nations, on its 250th anniversary. $180,000 to $250,000.
Sotheby’s, June 17: Fontana, Lucio. Concetto Spaziale. 1967. Leporello en papier doré. Bel exemplaire signé. €4,000 to $€,000.
Sotheby’s, June 25: Fitzgerald, F. Scott. "So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past”. $150,000 to $200,000.
Sotheby’s, June 25: Washington, George (as First President). Washington decries “an ostentatious imitation, or mimickry of Royalty” in his Presidency. $250,000 to $500,000.
Sotheby’s, June 17: Lope de Vega. Rare manuscrit autographe signé de la préface dédicatoire de "El Cardenal de Belen" (le cardinal de Bethléem), pièce composée en 1610. €40,000 to €60,000.
