I think that is probably a workable solution. Policy could dictate what use of AFF links is tolerable, and everything else could be dealt with.
The good deals are about to go away. Most of the people who post affiliate links go out and negotiate good deals for us. No affiliate links, no more deals. Maybe a special area on the forum where people could use affiliate links.
I kind of disagree with that. Some deals are negotiated by some that post AFF links. Not all of them. Quite a few of the companies have begun updating their own threads consistently with good deals and take requests from the people here. I don’t really care about AFF links, IF they are from somebody that actually contributes to the forum instead of using it as a store and as long as they aren’t posting up garbage products. All of the AFF links posted for craptastic items need to go away. Also, posting 20 links a days is some BS. AFF links, if published, should be clearly noted as such and should be for items a decent percentage of forum members would be interested in. If they don’t know what we would be interested in then they clearly don’t belong here.
If somebody negotiated a deal for a crate of Sony VTC5’s that were found and we got them for $5 a piece, I could care less if the person that got that deal for us made a $0.25 per battery. The cost to me would be the same whether they made the money of not. Suppliers have already factored that money into their pricing since there will be affiliate links posted somewhere even if not here. As long as companies support affiliate links, their pricing will include what they are having to pay out, no matter what deal is made. Some companies price items lower than others because they focus on quantity of sells. Making 5% per sale on 1000 sales is better than making 20% on 100 sales. They use thousands of affiliates to get their quantity of sales so they make money. So since that money is already factored into the pricing, I have no problem with the negotiator making a few bucks for getting us a special group buy code or whatever. Either the money goes to the negotiator or the selling company just makes more profit.
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Sorry, but I beg to disagree. No affiliate links, no more deals you say? Of course not…the more active vendors, like GB and BG, even have BLF accounts, and post deals here in BLF also…and I always send them a pm for coupons, just like anyone of us.
Some AFF members say they help us by giving us lower prices, I’d say that’s only half-true…Why?
Because they can be MORE HELPFUL by negotiating with the vendors TO FOREGO THE COMMISSION GIVEN TO THEM in a form of MORE DISCOUNT to the buyers. ( but that’s the aff member’s freedom of choice if they won’t, of which I have no issue with, same with the buyers who click on aff links)
It doesn’t matter if they forego their commission. The Chinese companies have to have that extra cost built into the price for the other people that come here and post group buy codes elsewhere with their AFF links. The only way to do that is if people only get group buy codes by PM which is time consuming and few retailers will do that. How do they know that somebody doesn’t join the group buy just to get the code to post elsewhere.
if there would be less deals, than it clearly shows what all those AFF link were for.
also, I dont think we had too less "deals" in the first 3 years of BLF
if we are looking for a light, we can simply ask all vendors we know and see which is the cheapest (with or without coupon), and when we find out, we can post it in the BLF deals thread if its a good deal.
nothing special about that.
I have 10,000 flashlights that prove otherwise :P
Ok. I nominate ChibiM to contact ALL of the vendors to find the best deal when we want something for a good price. Can we just PM you our requests?
I’ll go ahead with my first two here. I need you to get me the best deal on a 104mm aspheric lens, and find me a dealer with a great price on a Ledil Seanna optic.
that includes you.. if you want a light, ask your top 3 or 4 vendors..
why would you ask a person to ask for you, if you can just contact the seller?
copy and paste the question... whats so difficult about that?
But I have a 6 foot 3 inch red headed Asian wife and she wants this flashlight for our anniversary in a month. It sometimes takes a week or more to get a reply back from vendors. I don’t have all of their skype accounts to ask them quickly. I can’t afford this light without a discount. If I have to wait a week or two on their replies, it won’t get here in time. Why can’t you come to my rescue? Have you ever seen a disappointed and unhappy 6’3” red headed Asian woman?
Me either :bigsmile: just a hypothetical situation so I could mess with ya.
I can think of a few members whom I respect that use clearly labelled aff links. The fact that they use aff links does not affect my view of them in any way. I think of an affiliate link as a way to ‘tip’ a user with no cost to me. If I think that user deserves a tip for their review or deal, then I use their aff link.
I think there should be 3 rules:
- No aff links in the deal alerts thread
- All aff links must be clearly labelled
- Only use aff links for products you personally own and recommend
The 3rd could be hard to police, but it’s usually fairly clear when someone doesn’t have the product they’re linking.
Aff links also let a store know how many sales a particular user’s reviews generate for them. If a reviewer here posts an honest review and it generates sales for the store, it may mean that reviewer gets more products sent to them for review. More reviews are good for the forum.
I agree. And I’ll add no battling between AFF linking people. Post your crap in your own thread, and no links to them to show you are cheaper than they are. Maybe only include links with an actual review, not some buy this because I posted some pictures review.
I’m on the fence about the “battling”. If I saw a deal that looked good to me and someone said “hey, it’s actually cheaper over here.” then I would be thankful that I got the best deal, but at the same time it can be distruptive and feel heavy handed. I think we are thinking about the same user, and I know it can be a little interesting for him because he isn’t allowed to post prices for most of his deals. He might be better off to keep his “advertising” in his own thread, even if it means some people miss the best deals on things.
I personally like picture reviews... with affiliate links, a cup of cafe au lait, and a chocolate biscuit!
I also like the post with PM me, for best deals, cookies, motorcycles and flashlights...
when you do that, you got my attention ;)
edit: I didnt want to say motorcycles, as I am too darn afraid of them..
A picture worths a thousand words. I prefer "picture" reviews, 70% pic/ 30% text. I do not use sugar-coated words to upsell any of my flashlights when I am reviewing, just facts that is reported by a average user (non-expert) perspective. Of course, I hope to improve as time goes.
Honestly, if AFF links is getting me a deal, I’m all for it as a buyer. Else, I just skip over it.
I’ve been so jaded by aff links by so many members ( I honestly don’t even know who posts and who does not post then) that as soon as I see ‘aff’ link I avoid it in the first place as the ‘deal’ is not really a great deal for the most part.
You get better deals on GB (group buys) I feel.
the point with “no aff links to products you don’t own“ is a problem (for me)
around 10 times a week I get a pm from a member asking me to negotiate with banggood (or hkequipment) about a code for a product he wants.
usually i can help and get a code.
i can’t have all of the things i am asked for - but the user should be allowed to tip me if he wants.
Again thanks for the awesome price on the Thrunite 
I just could not commit myself to buy it and now I’m loaded with 18650 flashlights 
I concur. AFF links don’t necessarily have to mean that you have purchased that exact item yourself. That would be unreasonable. The AFF link is not the same thing as a ‘positive’ review of a specific product. Some people seem to have those two things mixed up.