I’ve had offers as the OP describes. It always felt a little unethical to me, and I didn’t do them.
At the very least, I think the reviewer should make it clear in the review that he got the light for free. But that would probably violate terms-of-service. So, yeah, it just somehow feels unethical. It’s probably common, though.
I would not call it a scam if you are wondering if you will really get your money refunded. Most likely you will have to give a very good opiion of the light though.
However, this sort of thing is unethical. They are paying you to provide a favorable review. That gives them better placement in Amazon’s results when someone searches there for a flashlight, or whatever.
I had the same thing happen to me Amazon "Verified Purchase" Reviews
I decided it was not worth prostituting myself for the sake of receiving a flashlight.
YMMV
Good article regarding this sort of thing This Amazon Customer Has Received Hundreds Of Free Products In Exchange For 5-Star Reviews
Yep.
i also realized i was reviewing and getting lights i didn;t really want or need
if one came along that i actually wanted, i might consider again
(but some of them, like a wuben 26650 light, i might have wanted if it had a better UI but i didn;t know that til i got it)
if there were no ‘’quid pro quo’’ vis a vis approved review
wle
https://budgetlightforum.com/t/-/54595/edit?destination=node/64309
Trustfire send me a charger asking for a review, some time ago.
I opened a placeholder thread, tried it out, and I told them it sucked.
End of story.
I just got a PM here asking me to review a Wurkos dive light.
What, “do us a favor”??
They want me to investigate some Ukranian company?
Nope, they have no reason to think I dive (I don’t).
Blatant violation of Amazon’s and the FTC’s rules about paid reviews.
It is probably the same I got.
Anyway I decided to refuse the request.
Thank you all for your opinions
Once again BLF proved it is a great and helpful community (with some ethics)
I asked how deep I’d need to dive, and for how long, to verify the dive light’s claim.
Let’s see what they say.
Oh, and I asked where they wanted a review to appear.
Maybe the person is reading this thread, time will tell.
there are other things you could review
ie, they might say ’ if you do not dive, then say that, but you can still review functions, quality, ui, price, reputation, waterproofness in a bathtub, etc ’
wle
I already covered that.
I turned it down also. I’d probably accept for a light I wanted, but my review would state that I got the light in exchange for the review.
I feel the average Amazon flashlight customer could actually benefit from a BLF member review. It could help them separate the crap from the garbage. As long as the company doesn’t say it must be a 5 star.
That (receiving merchandise in exchange for the review) is a direct violation of Amazon’s rules.
So a person is damned is they do or damned if they don’t….
From a “safety”(?) standpoint, there’s near-zero risk doing a review on Amazon. They screw you on the rebate, you return the item, get back your bux, and can then be free to trash the product as much as you want even out of spite. So it’d be stoopit of them to not give you that rebate or whatever.
Best, though, is to make sure that it’s something that you’d want to keep for yourself (or at least give as a gift). If it’s something you don’t want, and would likely just throw it out, you’re not doing anyone any favors by reviewing it. I got a few queries about reviewing items I had no interest in, and politely declined.
More important, though, is to try to ascertain if it’s good enough for you to be honest in your review. If it’s a “10000lm zoom AA tactical light” that looks like a mutant SK68, there’s no way you can give an honest review, let alone 5 stars. 100lm, maybe if you’re lucky, but… How can you not trash it in a review?
So assuming it looks nice, fits the description, seems honestly advertised, and is something you think you could honestly review, why not? (Repetitive word in there is “honestly”, so if there’s anything that seems deceitful, just pass, and don’t wrestle with your conscience. It ain’t worth the grief.)
One thing I’ve done in the past is to stress, “Okay, but I’ll do an honest review, is that okay?”. If you get the “No, we want 5-star!” demand, just pass. Say thanks-but-no-thanks, and don’t respond any more. Those are typically the 10000lm zoomie products, garbage, so don’t even bother.
Curious which is “brand S” everyone’s going on about, though. 
Ofirn? Unwayman? Treamlight? I feel so left out…
That’s what I did, in a utility sink. :laughing: Okay, so maybe not diving, but at least snorkeling.
Those dive-lights are quite nice, though! No problem giving them a great review. After I reviewed one I bought another on my own dime.
I read they do not pay until the return window is closed to protect themselves from that.
In order to get paid, you need to post a 5-star verified review and be stuck with it.
I just got a request from Wurkkos, so given the timing, that might be what the OP is referring to. As per my usual, I responded:
I haven’t gotten a response (it’s only been a few hours), but it’s a dive light that looks a lot like my Sofirn SD05, so I’m interested in it.
S is probably sofirn
as far as getting paid for an ‘’approved review’’, at least on amazon, you can delete or edit your review at any time…
…if you were really mad at company “S”, or whatever.
That makes sense from their point of view. The more I think about this the more annoyed I get. I guess I shouldn’t think about it.
At the same time I begin to doubt whether or not I am even going to bother giving this company any good reviews even when I am very happy with something I have spent my own money on. We’ve established that they have rather loose morals so why would I want to give a positive review, even if genuine, when I know that any other 5 star reviews on any of their other products may be bogus?
Do you have a source for that?