When thousands of carefully accumulated product reviews vanish overnight, cross-border e-commerce sellers experience what can only be described as a "digital tsunami." Amazon's intensified campaign against fraudulent reviews has left many merchants reeling, with previously reliable strategies collapsing and established listings losing their competitive edge.
The Collapse of Review-Sharing Strategies
Numerous sellers report that Amazon's recent policy changes have rendered their "seed listing" merging tactics ineffective. The once-reliable review-sharing mechanism between product variants now appears broken, with many merged listings being forcibly separated by Amazon's systems. Some product variations have seen their review counts reset to zero, effectively returning them to "new product" status overnight.
More alarmingly, when reviews are purged, negative evaluations often surface prominently, dealing devastating blows to product ratings and conversion rates. "Can seed listings still work?" has become the burning question throughout the e-commerce community.
Amazon's Tightening Grip on Reviews
The platform appears to be testing a new "Improved Review Sharing Guidelines" mechanism, signaling stricter controls over review ecosystems. This move represents Amazon's latest effort to purge inauthentic reviews, following the permanent suspension of approximately 194,000 seller accounts suspected of review manipulation and the removal of over 310 million questionable reviews as of Q3 2025.
The platform's intensified scrutiny became particularly evident during July's large-scale review purge, where many listings saw their review counts halved overnight, accompanied by warning notices to affected stores.
The Human Toll of the Purge
One electronics seller reported losing 5,000 of their 6,000 accumulated reviews in a single night. A personal care products merchant saw their average rating plummet from 4.7 to 3.7 stars, with sales immediately dropping by 50%. Perhaps most devastating was the case of a new seller who invested $80,000 in advertising to push a new product into top rankings, only to see all reviews deleted and their ranking crash beyond the top 1,000 due to improper review team practices.
The Survival Strategies of Top Sellers
While smaller sellers struggle, some major merchants continue thriving under Amazon's stricter regime, consistently creating best-selling listings. These top performers typically achieve advertising cost of sales (ACoS) below 10% within about 20 days, relying primarily on organic traffic. Their success appears rooted in a "genuine review + listing merge" model that emphasizes:
- Exclusively overseas reviewers: All reviewing accounts must be at least six months old with established credibility.
- Global coverage: Review campaigns span major markets including North America, Europe, and Japan.
- Keyword-specific testing: Buyers must search using designated keywords to boost targeted rankings.
- Precise account matching: Reviewer profiles must align with product categories for authentic-looking purchases.
As Amazon's policies continue evolving, even these sophisticated approaches face growing risks. Sellers must remain vigilant about policy changes and adaptable in their strategies to survive in this increasingly regulated marketplace.