So one of the topics we have seen pop up recently a lot within some of our platforms both here on the site as well as other platforms like social media, is that some Amazon shoppers are noticing that they can no longer upload images when leaving a product review.
Kind of a random topic for us, but it was worth pointing out that if you are running into this, you aren’t alone. We too are experiencing the same thing and we are an Influencer on Amazon. It appears that Amazon might have simply turned this feature off.
Most likely, this is a temporary move on their part in order to conserve resources as they deal with the increased amount of orders that have been pouring in due to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) quarantines. A lot of online retailers have been noticing huge spikes in traffic and this causes a lot of strain on their resources. Given, Amazon is one of the largest in the world when it comes to said resources. They are backed by their very own cloud services after all. Nonetheless, they seem to be affected, or at least concerned about something. Maybe their confidence in their own cloud isn’t as high as some would assume.
We have reached out to Amazon for comment, however, their replies have not provided us with any answers. In fact, their replies have not had anything to do with the questions we sent their way (the answers, so far, have been quite abstract and unrelated), so they are likely having trouble in many areas right now. All we can say is sit back and wait it out. Likely, when all of this commotion comes to an end, there is a good chance that you will see this option pop back up.
Update 05/07/2020: Amazon has returned the feature to their review platform.
35 Comments
same issue here! trying to add pictures to a review so that future potential customers of this particular product might be made aware of the issues I have run into, but NOOOO, I am unable to upload any images!!! What a crock!!
It’s March 2023 and still can’t upload photos to reviews! WTH? The box is there to add photos, but I get a message try again or “click on the thumbnail”. What thumbnail? Photo won’t load. I tried 3 different browsers so it’s not me, it’s Amazon! And I’m not restricted.
Amazon hasn’t added the ability to add photos back to their reviews. I just submitted a very lengthy review and when I clicked the + sign to add photos it sent my review off for appoval without the pictures. I thought this might be something new for Amazon…approve the review and then allow the customer to add photos. So, I went to an older review and clicked “Edit.” Same thing happened…I clicked the + sign to add photo and the review went straight off for approval without a photo. I then reached out to Amazon Chat and the representative said she didn’t know what was going on and that she would complete a form to have someone look into this. So as of May 12th we are not able to use the photo option in our Amazon reviews.
That seems to be the first experience of this we have heard about so far. Thank you for sharing this with everyone. Our staff seems to all have access to uploading images via their individual accounts right now (including myself). Have you tried clearing the cache in your browser and/or trying another browser? It could possibly be that the browser got a little mixed up between cache and the transition back to images (just a thought).
Good to know that others are having this issue and not just me! I wondered what was going on, since it seemed odd that Amazon would take away posting pictures. It was something they used to encourage, so I couldn’t figure out why it was gone. Maybe it will come back in the future.
Ahhh! Thanks for this.
I was perplexed because I wanted to give a great product I bought recently (a desk) a review with photos because we did our whole office for work from home and it came out awesome looking. It’s kind of a bummer to remove the photos feature in the reviews because that company, and I’m sure many others, really deserve the good product reviews and it helps sell the item. Plus it helps others who are considering the product.
I’ve noticed a few articles regarding this. This article is a bit late to the party, but this issue has been going on for months now. I noticed it in February, but others have noticed it as early as December of last year.
Hello Buster. There might have been some actions taken directly against certain accounts for other reasons (which would have been unrelated to this), but the global switch, that we have highlighted here, wasn’t thrown for Amazon reviews until/near the end of March (I believe the 23rd or 24th was where it occurred). This was also confirmed by Amazon to us, however without a direct reason why. It was only recently within the last week or so that they started responding with a generic statement of safety for their employees, without explaining how images vs no images affect any of that since they have to review the submitted content either way.
It is still this way isn’t it.. but you can upload videos though. I guess more people do photos anyway so it ends up being too many resources still. Maybe sometime this month it will be back to normal?
I did not have a video or photo option on a recent review. This was since March.
This has been frustrating the heck out of me! Well at least I don’t feel crazy anymore
All the same here. I also look at customer images before ordering. I don’t want to post a review without the image. Maybe I will just post (under the review) that I will leave a detailed review when I can post a picture. Maybe if enough customers do this, the sellers will get on them to get it fixed…? I don’t want to give a low rating when it has nothing to do with the product, but I’ve no idea what else to do. Ideas?
Until Amazon makes a move, there isn’t much you can do outside of mentioning it within your review that you would have normally included images if it wasn’t for Amazon turning that feature off for everyone at this time. We ourselves are influencers and top reviewers and have been forced to do the same. It’s tough when a company like that makes this kind of decision but doesn’t want to talk about it. A popular tactic for large companies: for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction (unless you ignore it and pretend it doesn’t exist).
Thank you! I was wondering if my app was glitching. I know I base a lot of my purchases off of the images customers submit. So I wanted to be able to do the same with some items!
That is the exact same reply I got today via email:
“On Apr 30, 2020, at 12:32 PM, Amazon.com wrote:
Hello,
We apologize for the inconvenience this may have caused.
?
During the COVID-19 situation, we are taking steps to protect the health of our team members. As a result, there are some temporary limitations in how you can review products on Amazon.
We appreciate your understanding.
Best regards,
Lea T
Thank you.
Amazon.com”
EXACT same response I received. I know reviews have to be reviewed and approved by Amazon before they’re posted. Maybe they just don’t have enough people to review all the photos or what? So dumb!! My reviews always include photos and I like reading reviews that have photos as well. Hopefully they fix this soon and let us add photos to existing reviews I’ve written since they discontinued it!
I found the same issue….
I reached out to amazon through the chat feature. They said someone would contact me through email.
I did receive an email in the next few days…
“This is Elvine from Amazon Communities.
During the COVID-19 situation, we are taking steps to protect the health of our team members. As a result, there are some temporary limitations in how you can review products on Amazon.
I hope this helps.”
That’s all I got! 🙂
Hmmmm. Interesting. So uploading images to your reviews puts their staff in harms way. Noted….
I came across this problem today when trying to review an item that I recently purchased. It’s a shame if the option to add an image isn’t added back because most of the Amazon purchases that I make come after I’ve seen images in people’s reviews.
Same; on all orders. I contacted Amazon via chat today about it; the person thanked me for alerting them to the issue (they seemed unaware of it) and said they would send notice to the appropriate department (no follow up). Thought I was crazy at first, glad you wrote this!
Thank you for this! I am an Amazon “top contributor” in baby and parenting products, meaning I leave a ton of reviews that apparently people find “helpful”, which almost always include pictures. So I was extremely confused and frustrated by the fact that I could no longer add photos to my reviews! I searched up and down for an answer on their customer service page with no luck. I’m so glad I came across this. It is incredibly strange that Amazon is not acknowledging or addressing this issue, because seeing customer product photos plays a HUGE part for me personally when it comes to deciding whether or not to purchase that item, as I’m sure it does for many others. Very odd. Hopefully there will be an answer soon!
thanks for the info I reached out to amazon via chat and they said they would call me. Which they did. I described the issue, was put on hold so the person could speak to their supervisor, she came back on the line a couple times to tell me to hold on, then just hung up on me. I thought it was an accident, so the next day when I had a moment in front of the computer I tried the chat feature again. I described the issue, they said they had to speak with someone, it took a while, then I was told someone would be emailing me. That never happened.
Somehow I doubt a few people adding pics to product reviews strains their resources. I think it’s more likely that a lot of unvetted covid related products are being sold and they want to make it a little harder for people to trash bad or wrong products. Or maybe they just don’t have the person power to review the pictures and make sure they comply with decency and would rather not deal with it.
Also we ordered a beard trimmer and a completely different trimmer came. After reaching out, they said they would send the right one, which never came.
Whatever the issue is it seems like a personnel issue and not a computing one. That’s fine and completely understandable considering what’s going on, but they should just say that.
We agree. Images are one of the most powerful tools when leaving a product review for something. Seeing is believing where anything can be thrown about within the text of it. Hopefully, they bring the feature back soon.
OMG!!! So glad it’s not just me! I thought it was because I was trying to do it on my phone, tried my iPad with no luck, so went to my computer where I usually posted my reviews and still no luck! I contacted Amazon through chat, after asking what I needed help with and me telling them, they took about 15 minutes to reply. The response was that some products do not allow for photos, so the option doesn’t appear with those products. My response was that I could have sworn I saw photos with some of the reviews of the products I’m trying to review, but I’d have to look. The person QUICKLY said “yes! You will see that when there is no option to post photos, it isn’t an option with that product. Is there anything else I can help you with?” Like we were just done there. So, I quickly looked, and of course like I thought there were photos with the specific products I was trying to review. So, I said WRONG! The products I’m trying to review have reviews with photos, so that can’t be the case. Again, the person took about 15 minutes replying (funny how it kept taking so long for those responses but the response to get rid of me was quick!). When they finally replied, they said they sent the issue to higher up with someone that will be able to help me and they’ll get back to me in 24-48 hours.
So, I’m so glad I found this and it wasn’t just me! When I first was searching to see if anyone else had this issue I wasn’t finding anything, until this! So THANK YOU!!
What a relieve that I am not alone!
Thank you, Ryan! I was starting to wonder if I’m the only one experiencing this!
Thanks for the information, Ryan! At least I know I’m not alone, now! I have also opened an inquiry ticket with Amazon, and I am waiting for my response from their website techs, but I think you’ve answered the question!
I am a random internet guy who googled this because I cannot add my photo to my amazon review. Very confusing.
I just called Amazon about this and no answer. They said theyll get back to me in 48 hour . We need answers. If I cannot see pictures and reviews i will no longer purchase
LOL..Why would you ask them about it?
To find out, obviously. “LOL…” who else would he ask about it?
Conserving cloud resources sounds good but I can leave videos on a review but not photos…….
I think you who has touched on this. Weird that I can’t find any information on this anywhere else.
This is true. Amazon never reached out to alert anyone about the changes. Nor are they commenting on it for some reason. However, every user leaving a review can see that it is missing.
Thanks for writing this up- I noticed this the other day and found it odd.