OK, I have been watching this thread closely.
Many have said that reviews are the most important thing in customers selecting who to print from. This is dramatically false. Customers will assume prints are the same based on the category of print, and the #1 reason a hub is chosen is it’s location in the search results.
1. Reviews are not easy to see when comparing hubs. They really are not. You can see one review at a time when comparing printers.
2. Reviews do not affect results of where a hub shows up very much. They do not. Perfect reviews do not equal primary placement. In fact, not accepting prints, or customers canceling when you explain prints will not be optimum, affect ranking far more than reviews, as does location.
3. Customers who do get bad prints do not reviews as often. Simple as that. If you know a hub is doing lower quality prints, you will see they have less reviews. There is supporting science that reviews tilt towards the upper end, inaccurately reflecting the quality of the reviewed item.
Right now, bad hubs can easily get ranked first, based solely on number of prints. And ranking in the search is the number one reason folks in my area choose a printer, as I have been surveying them. It also does not help that 3dhubs states the first printer in the search is the best match. (as opposed to suggestd matches or best matches. So saying reviews over price is how customers choose hubs is naive.
In the US, buyer attitude is weighted towards price. (I know, I do this sort of research for a living). Our culture leans towards price as the primary determining factor in making a purchase. If the ranking system worked better, than it would help customers see beyond that, but the 3dhubs reviews do not inform a customer much.
That combined with the fact it shows only one review while comparing, means you can do 100 perfect prints, and one misinformed customer can post a bad review and put the brakes on.
