Website reviews

I'm in the middle of setting up my website and am unsure whether to add testimonials or a link to a review site.

Are reviews/testimonials worth having, do they generate trust in your business for new customers, or are they a timewaster?

Does anyone really believe reviews?

Thanks
Jules x

I'm not able to advise as a seller Jules, but as a buyer I don't rate positive reviews very highly, because they can reflect just the first impression on receipt, or be engineered by bribing or pressuring the buyer in some way. For instance a company argued when I gave it four stars. they said they would only accept five.

I always look at negative reviews, because they describe what might also happen to me. Recent examples are 'Utter rubbish-sent it back', or 'very cheap looking' Dennis.

Thanks for your response Dennis. I've never given a review for anything I've bought, as I just don't have the time, but do look at them to see how many positive or negative ones there are. I do check the spelling, as something which is not spelt correctly makes me feel they have been 'paid' to write reviews, whether good or bad. I've been researching other jewellery websites and some of them have reviews direct on their sites, whereas others have a link to separate 'review' sites.

Does anyone else leave reviews, or are they like me a non reviewer?

I don't leave reviews, as a rule, however I have left one positive feed back, I am old school and rate by the service I receive and word of mouth, I know in this climate of mobile phone addiction this puts me in the minority, any one can create a review be it positive or negative, it gives your opposition free rein to discredit you.