Frequently asked questions

Search by product name, brand, or barcode. On a phone, open Scan and point the camera at the product barcode. You can also enter the barcode or upload a clear photo of the front label.

Check and edit the brand, product name, size, variant, category, and reference URL before adding the product. Scanned details are suggestions, not a final product record.

The package text may be unclear, or the external catalogue may not contain every field. Try a sharper front-facing photo, then enter any missing details manually.

Choose Add product and enter the exact brand, product name, size or variant, and category. A barcode is useful but optional.

Search or scan first and confirm the package size and variant. Used & Rated also checks the barcode and product name while you complete the form.

Brand, product name, size or variant, and product category are required. Required fields are marked with an asterisk.

Yes. Review every captured field and correct it before adding the product.

A catalogue or retailer page may have helped identify the product. It is a reference source only and does not mean you purchased from that retailer.

Yes. Use the remove icon beside Product reference URL, or replace it with a more suitable public product page.

A product photo is optional. Only upload a photo you took and confirm that Used & Rated may display it with the product. The photo remains private while awaiting moderation and is displayed publicly only after approval. Images supplied by catalogue and discovery sources are for identification, not for users to republish as their own photos.

The overall rating, buy-again choice, category-specific scores, usage duration, headline, and review text are required. Purchase price, retailer, purchase URL, date, and receipt are optional.

No. You may review a product you genuinely used without purchasing it. Use the I bought it and I used it controls to describe your experience accurately.

Yes. Reviews belong to the exact product and variant, not to a retailer listing.

Yes. Purchase URL is optional and is shown publicly with the review. Use a public retailer product page, not a private order, account, or tracking link.

Yes. Publishing another review for the same product from the same account updates your existing review.

The criteria are tailored to what matters for that product type, such as taste for groceries or packaging and value for other categories.

No. Receipt upload is optional. You can publish a review without purchase evidence.

It means an automated evidence check found receipt-specific transaction details and a likely match to the reviewed product, or a moderator accepted an uncertain receipt. Shelf labels, pending evidence, rejected images, and non-matching evidence do not receive the label. Verification is a supporting trust signal, not proof that a purchase occurred or that the opinion is correct.

Receipt images are not displayed publicly. They can be accessed by the account owner and authorised moderators, and processed by our automated verification service. Public pages show verification status, not the original receipt.

Remove or cover names, loyalty numbers, payment details, unrelated purchases, and anything else you do not want authorised reviewers to see.

You can replace the selected receipt before publishing. There is currently no self-service removal after publication; contact privacy@usedandrated.com for help.

Verification does not change the stars submitted or the public rating average. It can contribute a small amount to confidence weighting used for eligible product rankings, alongside review volume and other integrity signals. It does not guarantee that an opinion is honest, and brands or retailers cannot buy verification or ranking.

Reviews attach to an exact product and variant. Retailer and price details are optional context.

No. Commercial support does not alter ratings, rankings, verification, or contributor trust.

Reviews with unusual integrity signals are held before they affect the public rating. A moderator can publish, hide, or reject them after checking the reasons. A hidden or rejected review cannot be republished simply by editing it.

No. Each account has one review per exact product. Publishing again updates that review instead of adding another rating. Updates are rate-limited and kept in the review’s revision count.

We look for combinations rather than treating any one signal as proof. Signals include sudden high-rating bursts, very new or unusually active accounts, multiple accounts using the same first-party device or network, mailbox aliases, repeated review wording, reused purchase evidence, and coordinated helpful-vote patterns. Reviews that cross the integrity threshold wait for moderation and do not affect ratings or rankings.

No cross-site fingerprint is used. For abuse prevention, the service stores one-way hashes derived from network information and a random first-party security cookie. These signals help identify coordinated accounts without displaying or retaining the raw values in review records.

Each account can vote once and cannot vote for its own review. Votes are rate-limited, and votes linked by the same device, a concentrated network pattern, or recent reciprocal voting are held out of public helpful counts.

The product page shows the raw average of published reviews. Rankings use a separate confidence score that considers review history, account maturity, and verified-purchase status, and low-volume scores are pulled toward the wider community average. A product needs enough confidence-weighted reviews before it enters the ranked list.

It reflects contribution history and trust signals such as useful reviews and verified purchases. It is not a professional qualification or product-safety certification.

Yes. You can browse products and reviews without an account, but publishing a review requires sign-in.

Public reviews show your display name, reviewer activity, trust level, review content, and any optional purchase context you provide. Your email address and private receipt are not displayed.

Approved product photos may be displayed publicly; pending and rejected photos are not public. Receipt images are not displayed publicly. Purchase links added to reviews are public, so use only a public retailer page.

Use the Feedback link when it is available. For personal-information access, correction, or deletion requests, email privacy@usedandrated.com.