It’s tough to get a start freelancing on sites life Fiverr, Upwork or many of the other freelance sites. When you don’t have any reviews potential clients are not as trusting and review swapping looks like a great way to get a start. It’s also a common practice with authors.
What is review swapping?
I’m an Android developer, maybe you’re an iOS developer. We’re both trying to get that first gig, get that first 5 star review. You’ve been trying to get that first gig for over a month. We could buy each other’s gigs and give each other a great review.
That’s the basic idea of review swapping, though it’s possible you could just pay people to give you great reviews. That’s actually quite a popular gig on Fiverr.
The advantages of review swapping
From what I can tell, it works. Most people looking at paying for either goods or services don’t scrutinize reviews. All they see is a heap of 5 star reviews saying how awesome that person is. If they deliver work at the same standard as the fake reviews, they’re likely to get a legitimate great review. Getting more reviews means more work which means more great reviews which means more work etc….. Once you can get in that loop things become easier and over time the majority of your reviews are legitimate.
Is review swapping legal?
I’m not a lawyer and different countries have different laws so this is just my basic understanding. As far as I’m aware it is perfectly legal to pay for someone to do some work, give them a great review and for them to do the same for you…. if it’s an honest review. Here is where review swapping falls into a bit more of a grey area. Writing false reviews is a crime in a number of countries, and while it is possible to swap reviews honestly, often there’s nothing honest about it. Often there’s not even any work done, just two people publicly saying each other is great.
Disadvantages of review swapping
Even if you’re swapping “honest” reviews, it’s going to be hard to stay objective. What happens when they give you a glowing review for the work you did for them, but their work didn’t even come close to what you wanted. Do you give them a 1 star review because they deserve it, expecting they’re going to be furious with you. Or do you give them a great review knowing that the next person to hire them will get ripped off.
What I see as the biggest disadvantage to review swapping is the risk to your reputation. It’s probably a small risk, but once people know that you swap reviews they also know that your word is worthless. Maybe you’re telling the truth and that thing you’re saying is awesome, or maybe it’s awesome because someone paid $5 to say it is.
Is it morally wrong?
I have no idea, if we’re talking about morals, well, they’re entirely subjective. Is it ok for someone to tell lies if it means they can eat? My opinion is that as far as bad things you can do, review swapping is not exactly a heinous act. I personally think that in the long-term the risks outweigh the potential benefits.
While morals are subjective, whether or not something is dishonest is totally objective. Review swapping is a dishonest practice, that’s just a fact. So if you’re fine with being dishonest and think the rewards of review swapping are worth it… I’ll try not to judge.
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