Iâve just seen Zanflare pushing one of their lights on a thread where someone was asking for recommendations, and that feels borderline to me.
I feel that people asking for recommendations are looking for ideas from real users like them, rather than manufacturers pushing their stuff. The manufacturerâs vested interest in getting sales makes me nervous in that scenario.
Just PM the vendor, and ask. It helps if you can show examples of previous reviews. Some prefer new reviewers to review lower cost products first, and if they are happy, then they will allow you to review higher priced products. They also like it if you are on multiple forums (e.g. BLF, CPF, Reddit), post videos (YouTube), and are on multiple social media platforms. Iâve never had any issues from vendors with any negative comments in reviews, though I try to word things politically e.g. if a light overheats in 30secs, recommend it for âexperienced usersâ who can manually step down, rather than complaining too much about poor heat handling.
if you click that link you will see at least NINE separate âreviewsâ of the Manker E02, just on the first page of the search result. I searched for âreview marker E02â
this is another example of a Vendor using âreviewsâ for Social Media Marketing.
imo, ALL âreviewsâ should be in the commercial forum. When I click the non commercial link on BLF, I do NOT want to see multiple âreviewsâ of the same light, over and over, and over and over, and over and over, and over and over, and overâŚ. (that was 9 times over)
if you go to page 2 of the search result, you will find even more E02 âreviewsâ
You would think the E02 is a very popular light, but actually its just a pile of freebies being distributed to âreviewersâ.
As long as people continue to get free samples, they will continue to SPAM the NON COMMERCIAL forums with âreviewsâ.
People who get free lights are participating in SPAMMING, unless they post their reviews in the Commercial Forums ONLY!
Yeah, but sometimes you can be asked to review a light that you ordinarily wouldnât buy. Eg, Iâm not a fan of AA lights at all except a very few 1ĂAA lights, so Iâd never go and buy on my own a light like a Zanflare F2, or Jaxman M2, etc., even if theyâre exceptional lights in their own right.
But if Iâm asked to review one of them, hellyeah Iâll say yes. 20bux, even 10bux, itâs not worth it to me. 0bux (or loose change like with a 99%-off code), absolutely. From there, I can give it away, sell it (tacky, butâŚ), or if I do grow attached to it somehow, keep it.
The criteria I use is whether/not the review is honest enough to help me make a good decision whether/not Iâd want one. Doesnât matter to me if the reviewer paid full freight, or got it as a freebie, as long as itâs honest.
reviews ARE commercial by nature, and that is my point, reviews belong in the Commercial forums
when I click NON Commercial, reviews should not show up.
Im not against reviews, I just donât think they belong in the NON Commercial Forums
Especially not TWELVE Times, like the E02
Lets just stop pretending that reviews are non commercial, they are SPAM, intended to generate sales. Put them in the Commercial Forum, to STOP flooding the non commercial forum with multiple reviews of the same product.
But where does that stop? Nichia vs Cree vs SSC vsâŚ
âOoh, the new XP-L3 came out, hereâs my reviewâŚâ And no one from Cree sent anyone any samples. Tekkie info like Vf, efficacy, thermal performance, etc., are âreviewsâ of a sort.
I paid full freight on all my RJ02s and DV-S9s, yet I canât help but sing their praises when anyone asks for a rec about a headlamp or variable-output light. I just like them that much.
Lots of people here love Simon/Convoy, and RMM/MTN, and recommend them at every turn, and for good reason. That doesnât bother me in the slightest, even though thatâs clearly âcommercialâ, recommending a business.
Part of why people come to BLF is to see âreviewsâ of lights that they may be interested in. Or what LED to use, or where to get parts from, or⌠Iâd have a hard time trying to figure out where that line is even if I put my mind to it. Getting slapped down for not âreviewingâ a product in the commercial section is a good way to scare away n00bz and veterans alike.
To paint the picture of ALL reviews being Spam is dangerous in the fact that a Negative review that warns of a possible big time problem, whether it be extreme overcharging inside the flashlight or a battery short possibility due to bad engineering is of a huge Help to this community and not a liability.
That is not commercial in any form.
That is being a good beta field tester.
Look at how many times these âcountless reviewsâ have given way to the manufacturer actually improving the products, better spaced modes, better tint, etc. Thorfire is a perfect example of a company that gives away tons of flashlights to be tested, abused, torn apart so that they can better understand what the customer actually wants/needs/demands and then applies this knowledge to improve their product.
No tell me again, where is the problem with that???
I have read many reviews from members here that saved me much money and frustration because of their honest review of a flashlight that they were provided by the vendor free of charge.
What section it is listed in makes no difference, Iâm going to read it and give the same smell test to what was written regardless.
Later,
1. The reviewer buys their own light at full price.
2. The reviewer is given the light (or a discount), but no other compensation.
3. The reviewer receives money for sales of the lights.
Personally, I find all reviews useful, as long as I know what compensation (if any) the reviewer receives.
Given the amount of time it takes to put together a review, getting a free $30 light is not a big incentive to do a review (especially if the light sucks!). Youâre probably making $1 / hour. Reviewers in category (1) and (2) have to actually like doing a review. Nobody is going to be a shill for $1/hour.
I agree that (3) may be a little spammy, but I still like to know what kind of new lights are coming on the market, and what the features and specs are. I have no idea how much people make doing this, but itâs probably not a lot. A minimum wage job probably pays more (though I admit thatâs a total guess).
That assumes that the review is original and honest. If all they do is grab the manufacturerâs marketing slides and repost it, then yeah itâs total spam.
Finally, some manufacturers and retailers actually use the feedback from their reviewers to update specs (to the correct ones), or get manufacturers to fix flaws. Is the manufacturer getting something out of these reviews? Sure, of course, otherwise they wouldnât give away lights to get the reviews. But itâs not all one-sided. If reviewers were limited to type (1), then thereâd be far less reviews.
I agree with your Devil. Everything on BLF is ultimately related to purchasing products. Im only objecting to the practice of putting multipole âReviewsâ of the same light, in the non Commercial forum.
My only point is that the âreviewsâ are Commercial, and belong in that area.
That is my point. The problem of having many âreviewsâ of the same light, is caused by Vendors giving many free samples.
A very large proportion of most âreviewsâ is not new info, just a requote of the Commercial Web Page that sells the lights.
There are some very small, by comparison, contributions made by âreviewersâ, that are Original tests the Vendor did not do. I find these valuable. I just donât need a dozen âreviewsâ requoting all the MFG images and specs, to find the one or two paragraphs of the âreviewersâ conclusions and original data.
I yield to the distinguished gentlemen intent on pointing out that âReviewsâ are commercially useful (they help me decide what to buy as well as what not to buy). I agree. But 12 âreviewsâ of the E02, most of which are just requotes of images and specs? That is the problem I propose to solve by forcing âreviewersâ to post in the Commercial Forum.
Again, I LIKE reviews, and I do search for them. They simply are out of control due to Vendors gaming the system, by giving free lights that lead to âreviewsâ being posted in the NON commercial forums.
but, no biggie, I realize All areas of BLF are ultimately commercial. Maybe we just need to get rid of the ânon commercialâ link at the top of the BLF page. Then let the flood of âreviewsâ continue