That label means that Amazon has “verified that the person writing the review purchased the product at Amazon and didn’t receive the product at a deep discount.”

Some authors believe that if you didn’t purchase the book on Amazon so that it’s “verified,” you can’t review it.

Others think that reviews that aren’t verified have no value and aren’t worth securing.

Amazon Verified Purchase reviews myth busting

They believe this even though Amazon states, “Reviews that are not marked ‘Amazon Verified Purchase’ are valuable as well, but we either can’t confirm that the product was purchased at Amazon or the customer did not pay a price available to most Amazon shoppers.”

Here are the facts about verified and unverified reader reviews on Amazon.

1. You don’t have buy the book on Amazon to review it.

Amazon states on the site that readers “can review any product on Amazon, regardless of where they purchased that product” as long as they “have spent at least $50 on Amazon.com using a valid credit or debit card in the past 12 months.”

This means you can review a book you’ve borrowed, bought elsewhere, or received as a gift as long as you meet the spending requirement.

That’s important to understand because some authors insist that if reviews aren’t verified, Amazon won’t post them. That simply isn’t true.

2. Verified Purchase reviews carry more weight than those that aren’t verified.

To verify this anecdotally, I looked at the reviews of several books, including my own. In every case, the first reviews presented have the Amazon Verified Purchase label.

“Anecdotally” isn’t enough, though, so I contacted Amazon.

Here’s what a representative told me via email:

“We continue to evolve the ranking order in which reviews are displayed, seeking to show the most useful & trustworthy reviews to help shoppers make decisions. We use machine learned models and factors such as age of a review, whether it was a verified purchase, customer feedback on helpfulness, and other factors to constantly improve our ability to help shoppers make the best decisions, even if that decision is not to buy.”

How can you use this information?

There are three things you can do with this information immediately.

1. Stop obsessing about how a reader acquired your book.

Continue to solicit reviews because all reviews, not just Amazon Verified Purchase reviews, are important. (And if you don’t have the Build Book Buzz Reader Book Review Form that simplifies and facilitates this process for readers , get it here.)

2. Encourage people to click “helpful” on any reviews that help them make a purchase decision. 

Amazon relies on its customers to tell it what information is helpful, so support that process with action.

I’m not talking about manipulating reviews on your books — far from it. This is about helping Amazon assess which reviews are and aren’t useful to readers and other product purchasers.

In addition to encouraging readers to take this extra step, set an example by doing this with customer feedback on all types of products you’re considering. Don’t limit review feedback to books.

3. Study Amazon’s rules for reader reviews.

This should be standard operating procedure for authors, but isn’t. And what you don’t know can get you and your books kicked off this important sales platform.

Here are links to nearly everything you need to know about reader reviews on Amazon:

• Customer product reviews policies
• Answers to Questions about Product Reviews
• Community Guidelines

Bookmark or save these links so that you can return to them each time you plan a review campaign. Rules can change, and Amazon will update these pages as needed.

What’s your best tip for securing honest reader reviews? Please tell us in a comment.